so we can get the xylene from a paint store? how complicated is this?

 

It's as easy as going in and picking up a couple gallons. An actual paint store is usually much cheaper than Home Depot. They usually sell it in the pints, gallons, and five gallon buckets. Most warn not to go above a 30% mixture. I keep it at 20% or below in the TL.

 

Acura replaced my knock sensor twice. It changed nothing. The software update did not fix the problem as it turns out. The pinging is slowly returning. I would imagine that as carbon builds up from the pinging, it exacerbates the problem. It is not as bad as it was but it is becoming more prevealent with each tank of gas.

 

That's too bad. So you had the update? While I know you can't calculate compression ratio from a compression number, it would be interesting to do a compression test and compare your numbers to what the factory specifies. FWIW, pinging will usually knock carbon off the combustion chamber. Does this car use any oil between changes?

 

You had mentioned that after the software update your engine felt somewhat stronger. Is this extra power also disappearing with the pinging? I would guess so.

This news may mean that Harddrivin1le was right - this issue may be due to, or at least exacerbated by, improper machining.

 

That's where I was headed too, asking him for compression results. Could be that Acura knows this and it would explain a lot of questions as to why it's taken so long for a software update for the masses.

It could be as simple as installing the wrong headgasket or some stupid mistake like that from the factory. Is the TL-S motor exactly the same mechanically as the RL? I'm talking about everything from compression to cam lift and duration.

Here's what I don't get. The software cured it for a while, now it's coming back. I cured mine for a while with cooler plugs and again by moving the intake air temp sensor. Now mine is back and worse than ever.

 

Funny, you guys talking about it going away and coming back.

As I noted, mine seemed to go away when the weather got cooler. Just the past week or 10 days, I've noticed it again.

It's a little higher in the rev range (closer to 4,000 or 4,200; was right on 3,500) and "requires" more throttle than before (say, 1/2 throttle before; 3/4 throttle now).

I wonder if this is something to do with the ECU learning to be "normal" after some change. Once it learns how to be "normal", the pinging returns? IOW - the pinging is some kind of inherent fault (like machining)?

I was at the dealer today and reported the problem (2nd time). My Service Advisor promised to call the Acura Tech Line to see if they could offer any suggestion/advise/information.

I need to follow up on my Client Services Case as well.

 

Where are the knock sensors located on the 3.5? Does anyone have a shop manual and can tell me what the tightening torque is supposed to be? If it isn't too much of a hassle to access, I'm going to retorque mine properly to see if that does the trick.

 

It "may" help protect the motor but still doesn't get rid of the root problem. If you get it too tight it might pick up other noises and retard the timing. Better than a hurt motor I guess but then you have to worry about high EGTs.

 

[QUOTE=Bearcat94]Funny, you guys talking about it going away and coming back.


I wonder if this is something to do with the ECU learning to be "normal" after some change. Once it learns how to be "normal", the pinging returns? IOW - the pinging is some kind of inherent fault (like machining)?

QUOTE]


Thats a good point. Does anyone know how many miles it takes the ECU to "LEARN" because I got my car with 12 miles brand new and then all of a sudden it started pinging

 

I agree. Great that the knock sensor picks up the knock and retards timing - limits possible damage to the engine, etc.

Point is, the Knock SHOULDN'T be occuring in the first place - at least not with this kind of persistence and regularity.

 

Is there a way that I as just a run-of-the-mill, day-to-day user can reset the ECU? You know, knock out and/or reset the "learned" shift points, etc?

 

Acura of Orange Park
Replaced knock sensor and cable , reset ECU.

Symptoms improved from a constant ping back to an intermittent, still heavy across powerband though, problem. The ECU reset is most likely the source of the perceived/confirmed power increase. Feels like the car I drove off the lot.

Rocker panel damaged during repair and noted on work order. Are there peices of the lift which still extend out to the sides which might have allowed it to crush my rocker panel during the lifting of the car in the garage? Techs please respond with any ideas.

I'm not too happy that I get additional damage having my car repaired. Is this common?

Running a little better but still pinging.

 

My car suffered some interior damage at the dealer on its very first visit--but they were responsive and fixed it. It was disappointing, but at least they took care of it, and I appreciate it.

 

I would also like to know if this can be done on my own without having to unplug the battery (or does unplugging the battery even reset the "learned" behavior?????

 

Word.

 

Absolutely. I almost did it a couple times when I was a mechanic. If they miss the lilft points the arm will hit the rockers first since that's the lowest point. Difference is I actually watched the lift as it went up and caught it before contact was made. They should've said something...

 

I was driving my wifes 06 MDX the last couple of days and I am sorry to report that her car makes the same noise. .........................

It is a lot harder to hear, I can barely hear the engine start when I turn the key in that car.


Sooo I think we all need to accept the fact that this is not going to be fixed by acura. Pray hondata comes out with a reflash or k-pro that can fix this problem.

 

I have read through almost off this thread and it has turned me off from purchasing a 2008 TL-S. I have a 2004 TL and the dealer immediately came down to $34K on a new TL-S. I explained to the salesman that I was not interested unless he could produce documents from Acura that stated what is the problem or when it will be corrected. Even more specifically is this problem isolated to a certain VIN or engine batch. He said that he would check with service and of course I have not heard back from the salesman. I have been a loyal Honda/Acura buyer over the years, but lately I am starting to question their pursuit to quality and customer loyality. I hope everyone involved in this thread fines a fix to the ping.

 

I think the 06 MDX has the same j35 engine as the type-s.. so perhaps that explains it?

 

well, my 3.2 does it as well......they just over tune their engines so they can produce more hp.....would a piggy back fuel controller serve any purpose in reducing ping?

 

I don't consider 286HP from a 3.5L engine to be overtuned. That's 82HP/L. If you consider other cars in its class, the TL-S produces less HP/L than the others.


Infiniti G35 and Lexus IS 350 both make 306HP with same displacement ~88HP/L

An M5 makes 500HP with 5.0L.

 

This is the exact same problem I have been having except mine is even worse. I should have taken a picture but after say a 1000 miles of mainly highway driving without washing my car I had a layer of black carbon soot caked on the interior walls of my exhaust and above the exhaust on the rear valance. It was so thick I could write my name in it with my finger if I wanted. I think it has to be related in some way to the spark knock but exactly how I am not sure. Incomplete burn leading to an overly rich condition? I don't know but I don't think it is normal.

 

What's your gas mileage like on the highway?

 

28 - 29 mpg

I usually drive around 80 on the interstate and I don't baby the car. I believe that is pretty decent mileage but I may find out that it isn't as good as it should be. What about you folks?

 

The mileage is fine especially fo 80mph. I asked because usually when the car starts blowing out black smoke and covering the bumper in soot, mileage will drop by half or more. Are you sure it's black soot that's coming off the bumper?

 

Pretty sure. I know that when I floor the throttle carbon dust shoots out of the back and creates a visible cloud. Does anyone else experience this?

 

I've seen smoke in my friend's headlights before when I've floored it on the freeway with him behind me. It clears up quickly though.

 

You might get a small puff of smoke right when you floor it but it should last less than a second. When I dyno'd my car the A/F really didn't richen up or even show a small spike when I first floored it.

 

Ahh I miss those days with my turbo s14 240sx. Thick clouds of black smoke as I hit 20psi. The Type-S does it alot everytime I floor that sucka. Its normal. My old 2001 Prelude does it too.

FRST4DR: Thats normal. Every car emits some condensation through the exhaust. Its part of the Catylic convertor doing its job. Notice those Lincoln cars, thier exhaust is like a water hose. Its just water mixing with carbon in the exhaust, thats how you get the dark outline.

Someone should try installing an AFC and just richen the area of rpm band where it chatters. Too bad I dont have the Type-s anymore

 

well, the xylene did the trick....runs perfect with a 20% mixture......i'm going to experiment a little and see if i can get away with running a 10-15% mixture....this sucks....one of the reasons i sold my gto was because of high gas prices....little did i know i was going to be paying 12.99/gallon for xylene....this won't last.

 

Im thinking about trying this to see if it helps reduce or stop the ping, with shipping though it comes to 24.00 a bottle.
http://www.octaniumpower.com/
Has anyone tried this stuff?

 

I'm not spending any extra money on fuel for my 07 TL-S that's supposed to run on 91 or above (and I run 93 because that's all I can get other than 87 and 89). Because of this issue, the suspension issue, and the annoying 3rd gear, I'm not keeping this car for much longer. I don't care if the engine burns itself out due to poor design. SO long as it lasts while under warranty, I'm not going out of my way to add extra fuel mixtures or very expensive gas just to protect the car.

This is my 4th Acura and I've been a big fan and supporter or Acura and honda. This experience has been sub-par for one of the most expensive cars I've ever owned and one of the more expensive Acura produces. AS much as I love what this car offers, I miss giving up my 2004 TSX which had no problems. I know that no car is perfect, but given how many people here have the same issue, it's clear to me that this issue is far from isolated. I still feel that Honda makes good products, but I will likely be venturing out to some other company for my next car.

 

I honestly believe that all the imports have lost some credibility with the general public, maybe with the exception of Lexus. Unfortunately, I think this is the case primarily because they are made here in the US. The reason the TSX is still such a good car is because, if I'm not mistaken, it is still manufactured overseas. The American auto worker simply cannot make cars as well as they can overseas. Dunno why...just can't. My Acura, IMO, is no better than a Chevrolet. It looks better, but surely doesn't perform better. Haven't these 3rd Gens been manufactured in Ohio from day one? Haven't there been issues with rattling and transmissions...or something...since day one?

Don't flame, just my opinion.

 

Yes, my TL was built in Ohio and my TSX was built in Japan. However, my TSX also had rattles, but no major mechanical problems (other than brakes which warped too easily). Without hard evidence it's hard to suggest that the TL is no better than domestic cars because it was built in the US vs Japan. For some reason I thought the engine was from Japan, but maybe not...?

Also, the fact that so many people have rattles in their TL sounds like an engineering flaw, not an assembly problem (though it could be if it was engineered to be assembled a certain way which causes rattles). My TL has the rear deck rattle, center dash rattle, and headliner rattle which I try to ignore. My guess is that fewer and fewer physical humans are involved with assembling cars as time goes on. Most is done by robotics these days isn't it?

Despite my car's problems, I still feel the interior design and quality is better than that of most domestic cars. I also feel it gets far better gas mileage than cars of its type, class, and size.

 

Wherever the engine was manufactured is where the problem arose. The bigger problem, however, is Acura's continued denial of the manufacturing errors that led to this. This may be standard procedure for all auto makers, unfortunately.

 

I had to do the xylene test for myself. I waited til I was on empty then put 10 gallons of gas and 2 gallons of xylene. This equates to a 97 octane and..................

pinging is gone completely, engine sounds nice and pulls like it should.

I tried everything to reproduce a ping and not a one.

SOOOOOO one solution Acura really needs to consider is to do is provide us with 97 octane at a reasonable price at the dealerships because this shit is F**KING rediculus.

If something isnt done I'm never buying an acura again and will be trading my car in next year for a USED BMW or something. I cant live with an engine doing this all the time everytime I get in a drive my car.

 

Has anyone else noticed their cars pinging more and more as time goes on? I certainly have. The other night I stabbed it in 3rd gear while merging, and the pinging was so severe that I swear I felt it in the floorboard. I really hope my engine grenades catastrophically--like a piston shatters or a valve drops... something.

I'm thinking this might be a carbon deposit issue. The pinging didn't appear until I had a few hundred miles on the clock. Now I have almost 8000 and it's much worse. What if the engine architecture just promotes the accumulation of carbon, which increases the compression ratio a small amount and stores heat (thus promoting preignition)?

How does one get around this? De-carbon the combustion chambers every week? Lean the mixture way out? Trade the lump in and get a vehicle with a properly designed engine?

 

This is my vote. I want to unload my car before the mass majority know about the issue and the value plummets. I don't have the time to spend troubleshooting this issue with Acura.

 

I do not have the luxury of trading in my car since I only have 3000 miles on it and unless I want to lose A LOT of money I cant do it.

It is probably not carbon build up and the reason I believe this is because we are using premium fuel and the ammount of build up is going to be minimal. What I believe the problem is being cause by is the engines machining, materials and/or build. I think there are HOT SPOTS in the engine causing the pinging.

The pinging gets worse the more you heat up the engine and the more you drive aggresive the more pinging. I believe most of us didnt hear the pinging at first because we werent pushing the car thus werent causing the hot spots to burn up.

I also noticed that when I drove like a grandma for several days in a row then started pushing the car again the pinging was less severe at first but gradually got worse.

Something needs to be done I am feeling ROBBED and STUCK with a brand new car that has a serious problem. I am pissed that I didnt go with that lease and decided to purchase.

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE WE ALL NEED TO SIGN A PETITION AND SEND IT TO SOMEONE THAT WILL GET SOMETHING DONE.

We should have enough people to get a lawyer on our side. 50 people with TL-S's willing to sign up equals almost 2 million in ROTTEN sales for Acura. I will put some money into a pool for a laywer to do some work for us.

This thread has allready lost them many customer, we now need to take it to the next level. ANYONE with any knowledge of the legality of this situation PLEASE SPEAK UP.