Hello guys!

I've had my 09 TL Tech for about a year and a half now. So far I love the car except I have one problem with it, and it seems that no one can figure it out even the Acura dealer. Long story short I don't feel the power and the roar of the engine like I used to when accelerating. I first noticed this problem when I was doing some delivery's making short and frequent stops on a pretty hot day. Towards the end of the day I felt as if the car didn't have any juice, it felt very weak.. The engine sounded different also. It sounded somewhat like an electric car, the engine sounded very quiet and whenever I accelerated it felt like the engine wasn't giving me even consistent power but in bursts of power. Also whenever the car is parked in a garage or in a cool place the first 5 minutes of driving it feels normal and accelerates normally but after driving a bit the problem begins to occur again. If you have experienced this problem or have any suggestions please comment. Thank you!

 

There have been other posts about this and I have experienced the same issues-- it's a honda thing at high temperatures.

 

no, its an ALL car thing.
heat soak is detrimental to ALL cars, not specifically to Honda/Acuras.

the best thing you can do is to fill up with the highest available octane.

next, you can try resetting the ECU by unhooking the negative terminal to the battery for a few mins.

lastly, to improve it permanently, you will need to figure out how to shed heat under the hood.
I tossed all my plastic engine covers. they trap heat.
I also took off the fire retardant liner under neath the hood itself.

you can try buying a better than stock battery.
I've heard that the Sears Platinum Diehard series takes care of "surging" with these cars.

 

I think you should have the vehicle road tested by an experienced transmission mechanic. You may have a transmission or torque converter issue. However, BE VERY CAREFUL and do not sign up for any repairs unless you have strong reasons to trust and believe the diagnosis. Very, very few people are competent with transmission work, including many auto technicians.

 

This is totally normal, and nothig is wrong with your engine. When the ouside engine is very hot the ecu will tune down the engine. Its very noticable on my Miata.

 

Thanks for your replies guys but if it were an all car issue then why did I only start to experience it only after about a year of owning the car. It was fine before then.

 

^the ECU learns your driving habits.

if you reset your ECU by unhooking the negative terminal on your battery, it should waken her back up.

give it a try.
I also gave you several different suggestions to try.

it definitely is a heat thing that affects ALL cars.

 

I bet you get slow too when you hot.

 

I'm not familiar with differences between the 09 and current, but if you have S mode and paddle shifters use them and see if the problem goes away - that should be proof its just the car's brain doing its job to protect your assets. I generally use the paddles on hot days for the exact reason you've described - I've also noticed not only heat is to blame, we've had 70 degree days with wicked humidity and that slows the car down too.

 

Just for the record (!) and in case you thought otherwise (!)
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DIAGNOSE AN AUTOMOTIVE PROBLEM OVER THE PHONE OR OVER THE INTERNET.
Of course one can make semi educated guesses based on experience with similar symptoms but any professional and trustworthy diagnosis would involve a test drive and an examination of the vehicle. Guesses are worth exactly what you paid for them. If you are seriously concerned about the performance of your car, take it to a professional, don't ask a group of fanboys on the internet.

 

If you have been in similar heat, humidity and altitude before without this power issue then you are correct to suspect a problem and it isn't normal. No codes or CEL lights?
Under warranty still? I'd be pushing service to solve it. Could literally be dozens of things from fuel, ecu, sensors, transmission, etc.

 

Exactly. You can guess all you want but a technician will use a flowchart to make a scientific, i.e. logical, evidence based diagnosis.

 

Who's guessing? That's why I said get Acura service to diagnose it if under warranty. If not, their labor rates might be too high for OP and an independent shop with Acura experience may be better.

 

Hey, torqued, I wasn't directing my comment to you.
I was just saying, "one can guess all one wants, but...."
But if this OP is talking about a 4G TL, wouldn't it still be under warranty? In any event, my point is simply that it is not really very helpful to offer a bunch of speculation or general comments.

Servicing of modern cars is always a very tricky proposition.
It is not like the old days (say the 50's or 60's) when vehicle systems were pretty basic, pretty standardized, and almost anyone could understand them and fix them with basic tools.