AcuraZine - Acura Enthusiast Community - 2G TL (1999-2003)

Plugs away!!

Saudade — Mon, 04 May 2026 22:35:27 GMT

Some may have seen my recent thread about misfires. While the new coil took care of it, I noted the 2 plugs I took out (#5-6) looked a bit toasted and said I would replace them soon.

Well today was the day. No real drama here. Did have to move the PS hose over a bit to get to one of them. Plugs do look past their prime. Checking over the records I got from the previous owner (a close relative), I could only find a reference to spark plugs changed way back in 2009 and approx 120K-ish miles ago. Considering they were in there this long, I was surprised they didn't look too terrible and still sparked OK. After checking the FSM, the replacement interval is 105K miles.

Got my replacements from Rockauto (more about this at the end). Checked the gaps, right on spec at .040" Installed with no anti-seize (NGK says no, while FSM says yes). Torqued the plugs, popped on the coils, remount the PS hose, and she purrs like a kitten.

Some pics for your enjoyment.

Cyl #6- the one with the misfire

All 6 plugs in order (1,2,3,4,5,6) from left to right

Closeup of 3

Main part of post ends here. Continue on for USPS rant.

Ordered the plugs from RA and were shipped the next day by USPS. RA has a distribution center here in SoCal so the packages from thjem get here in 2 days without any expediting. So it started it's journey in Pico Rivera, then off to Anaheim. Got an estimated delivery of Apr 23rd. The 23rd comes and goes and no plugs. Check the status and get "in transit". I'm about 20 min (in good traffic) from Anaheim so how long can it take? Next day, still no plugs. Check status Monday morning and package is now in Kansas City! WTH! Go online and fill out USPS Missing Mail form. To their credit (on this part only), I get a voicemail from my local PO saying they're investigating and have determine the package is still in KC and it would take a few days for it to make it's way back here. "Sorry for the inconvenience". Package finally arrives May 2nd. Fortunately, there was no damage to the package and the plugs were packed well by RA. However, I did not get a magnet from RA (so minus points for that). Maybe I should've gone to Autozone.

RSX 5speed interchangable

BIGGDOGG08 — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:43:33 GMT

I have a question. Would a 5 speed transmission from a rsx(02-06) fit in my 02 acura tl?

Rear driver side window failure

Jackistan — Mon, 04 May 2026 01:02:55 GMT

Saw the window down halfway when it was up two days ago. Turned the ignition on to roll it up and heard a SNAP!, followed by the sound of a piece rattling down into the door cavity. New motor/regulator needed?

Ride Height Question

CP13 — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:09:01 GMT

So for 10 years I've owned my TL-S, I just noticed recently that my front wheels appear to be higher than the rears... because I love to wrench and put grease on my elbow I just decided to replace the OEM spring and struts... it did help a bit to raise the rear, but the front is still obviously waaaay high... my fronts have been replaced by the prior owner with KYB... I am committing to keeping this car so I have some plans this summer on refreshing the paint and give it to my daughter who is about to drive... interior is ok but recently, the leather started to tear for no reason so I am scratching my head on how to address that... T-belt, water pump, oil seals, valve cover gaskets and pretty much most essential work has been completed less front suspension and possibly half-shaft...

y rears... without me asking the group, I just decided it may be time to do a rear strut job... so I went and replaced both rears hoping that the rear will even out... well, I am wrong...

B7WA whine of death. Advice?

Braindawg — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:40:25 GMT

Bought a very clean 2G TL back in 2023, before I knew about the B7WA. Unfortunately I thought it was a belt and didn't do my research. The original transmission already blew before I bought it, previous owner was a mechanic who replaced it himself with... another B7WA from a CL (we think its from a CL, theres what looks like a speed sensor hanging off the trans not connected to anything)

Still smooth no slips or hard shifts, 5th OD doesn't whine but I know the problem usually takes out 2-3 when it finally goes. The whine hasn't gotten noticeably worse since purchase, fluids still clear pink but noticeable black material on the rag. Haven't driven it much, only put about 20k miles on it since purchase (2nd car).

Any advice on delaying the inevitable? Cut my losses and dump it on marketplace before BAYA swap time? I would consider AV6/6MT if it was a Type S but not sure I wanna put that much time/money into a base model.

Main thing stopping me is the fact that its a well maintained grandma car, oil change records up to 60k miles in the owners manual, interior and exterior are perfect, body and engine could have 90k miles on them and you'd believe me if you didn't look at the odometer. Unfortunately the best previous owner I could ask for couldn't save those garbage B7's, and I'm having a hard time justifying the repair when I don't really *need* the car anymore.

Misfire! Misfire! Misfire!

Saudade — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:08:37 GMT

Rand a few errands yesterday and the old TL ran great. Get to my last stop in a nearby shopping center a few miles away from home. As I head out of the parking lot, something felt off. Made it onto the road and accelerated. Now I feel it. Rough, shaky, CEL comes on. A few seconds later, CEL starts flashing. I haven't gone 100ft or so. I pull back into the parking lot, find an open area, open the hood, and see the engine shaking and shaking. Engine is pretty hot from the driving so I can't probe around too much. I can reach the front set of coils (4.5.6), so I yank the connecter on #6, no change, put it back on, no change. Try the same with #5. RPMs drop then recover. Same with #4, drop then recover. Seems like I found the bad cyl. Yet I have no tools, no scanner or anything to help a parking lot diag, so what to do!

Door #1: Well, I can call a tow truck. Wait an hour or more to arrive, pay a small fortune to tow it less than 4 miles.
Door #2: I can call a friend, have them come get me, bring me home, grab some tools and bring me back. I can most likely figure out what wrong, but no guarantee I can fix it in the lot so I'd still need a tow home.
Door #3: I can take my changes and drive it home and hope nothing else happens (like burn out my cat, hydrolock my engine, wash out the cylinder and score the walls, etc.)

Well I took door #3. It's only a few miles at slow speeds. What could possibly go wrong? Nursed it home, even turned off engine at red lights. Pull into my driveway, shut it down. Didn't notice any strong gas smell, Engine didn't run any worse once getting home. Pull out my scanner to check codes. LOL, forgot I had yanked the connectors so they all had misfire codes. Cleared the codes and started it up. Still shaking and #6 still acts dead. Rather than wait and check for the code, I shut down and swapped #5 & #6 coils. Start it up and #5 is the dead cyl. Looks like i have my suspect. Check my TL FSM to see if there's a spec for coil resistance. I didn't find any. The FSM basically says to swap coils. Engine was still very hot so checking the rear bank was not possible. I'll get to that later today.

The coils in it are Hitachi. Are they the originals? I have a Denso on order. If this fixes it, I'll order the remaining 5 along with plugs and some other stuff. Meanwhile later today, I'll pull plug and check inside with my borescope.