2000 TL Full Exhaust Experience
03-02-2018, 12:44 PM
#1
2000 TL Full Exhaust Experience
Finally after 2 years in the making for doing a complete header back exhaust upgrade on my 2000 Acura TL everything is finally done and now I want to share my experiences with everyone else that is looking into upgrading their exhaust on their 2nd gen TL.
The majority of the time was spent researching all the different parts and brands available and to see what the performance gains would be like.
03-02-2018, 12:52 PM
#2
My nearly 2 year old DC headers that Im finally putting on XD
Ordered from the part store where I worked at, the price may look high but they're in canadian dollars and I get a 17% employee discount on my credit card statement, with free shipping.
I went with DC sports headers (pretty much like everyone else in the forum) because they were reasonably priced and good quality unlike the megan or obx headers which I found out can crack after a few years and aren't CARB compliant.
I found the T409 stainless steel used in the DC's can handle the high heat better than T304 stainless steel especially the cheap kind found in ebay headers, and since Comptech no longer makes headers for our cars I can only recommend the dc headers.
03-02-2018, 01:02 PM
#3
Got this magnaflow Direct fit cat for super cheap on Amazon because it sat for months on their website and they kept slashing the price down. $240 Canadian taxes in.
Even though internally the cat still worked perfectly, it was just falling apart on the outside and It would look hideous on an all new exhaust.
If you're doing any exhaust upgrades on your TL I cannot recommend the Magnaflow direct fit cats enough, they're amazing for what you pay for!
Excellent welds and a solid stainless steel finish and aluminum shield for maximum corrosion resistance.
Part number is 51297 and will work on 99-03 TL-P and Type S models.
03-02-2018, 01:06 PM
#4
For those who debate on wether to put premium or regular in our TL's, this is what the outlet of my cat looks like after 19 years and 261k of nothing but premium fuel. Even the original O2 Sensors were in perfect condition we couldn't believe it so I wound up re-using the old O2 Sensors.
This is why our TL's recommend premium, as the car has been burning clean for the passed 19 years.
03-02-2018, 01:11 PM
#5
I went with the Tanabe T70078 Exhaust because so many people recomended it and the quality is just absolutely amazing! I used stainless steel nuts and bolts from bolts plus because the included hardware that came with it was junk. $60 worth of stainless steel hardware and $1300 for the Catback and shipping, being Canadian is stupid expensive >.<
03-02-2018, 01:12 PM
#6
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For those who debate on wether to put premium or regular in our TL's, this is what the outlet of my cat looks like after 19 years and 261k of nothing but premium fuel. Even the original O2 Sensors were in perfect condition we couldn't believe it so I wound up re-using the old O2 Sensors.
This is why our TL's recommend premium, as the car has been burning clean for the passed 19 years.
This is why our TL's recommend premium, as the car has been burning clean for the passed 19 years.
03-02-2018, 01:19 PM
#7
I can't wait to see what the pistons look like, the next time I do spark plugs.
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03-02-2018, 01:27 PM
#8
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Like I said, I agree with using Premium, but the fact is, running Regular will have exactly zero impact on the cleanliness of the intake valves and lower intake runners, the cylinders, and the exhaust system.
03-02-2018, 01:51 PM
#9
Cool post. You should take a pic of the full exhaust if the car is going to be in the air for installation. Maybe even a before/after sound clip.
Nah, the octane rating really wouldn't make a difference in cat buildup. My cat was flawless as well with 15 years of 87 octane.
Nah, the octane rating really wouldn't make a difference in cat buildup. My cat was flawless as well with 15 years of 87 octane.
03-02-2018, 04:06 PM
#11
Cool post. You should take a pic of the full exhaust if the car is going to be in the air for installation. Maybe even a before/after sound clip.
Nah, the octane rating really wouldn't make a difference in cat buildup. My cat was flawless as well with 15 years of 87 octane.
Nah, the octane rating really wouldn't make a difference in cat buildup. My cat was flawless as well with 15 years of 87 octane.
I'll also cut the front pipe before the cat to see what the condition is as well. I was shocked at how clean the outlet looked and I figured the premium fuel may have contributed to that.
03-02-2018, 06:23 PM
#12
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Not that the difference is much more than round-off error, the thing is, Premium fuel actually burns slightly dirtier than Regular. Why? Because of all of the extra additives in Premium (this is also why Premium has slightly less power per unit than Regular).
03-02-2018, 08:34 PM
#13
But what about the 10% ethanol that's in most regular fuel? Ethanol has less energy than gasoline and is prone to absorbing moisture.
03-02-2018, 09:00 PM
#14
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I'm talking like for like, E10 Regular vs. E10 Premium. Depending upon whom you believe, E10 will burn slightly cleaner than 100% gasoline of any given AKI grade.
03-03-2018, 02:03 AM
#15
Dark, funny how we built the exact same thing at roughly the same time. I just got my tanabe on as well. I'm loving the deep sound at cold start, not as much when under load or vtech.
Where in Canada are you? If Vancouver I'll come up and visit.
Where in Canada are you? If Vancouver I'll come up and visit.
03-03-2018, 10:05 AM
#16
This may be a dumb question, but all these posts about the exhaust lately have got my curiosity peaked.
Aside from the obvious sound difference, what is the benefit of changing out the exhaust? And how does it affect the performance of the car? And if you don't mind the extra typing, why?
Aside from the obvious sound difference, what is the benefit of changing out the exhaust? And how does it affect the performance of the car? And if you don't mind the extra typing, why?
03-03-2018, 10:21 AM
#17
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This may be a dumb question, but all these posts about the exhaust lately have got my curiosity peaked.
Aside from the obvious sound difference, what is the benefit of changing out the exhaust? And how does it affect the performance of the car? And if you don't mind the extra typing, why?
Aside from the obvious sound difference, what is the benefit of changing out the exhaust? And how does it affect the performance of the car? And if you don't mind the extra typing, why?
As for the "why", it all has to do with the flow dynamics of the exhaust system. Virtually all engines these days are designed with a valve timing feature called "valve-overlap" which causes the exhaust valves to fully close shortly after the intake valves open. Valve-overlap takes advantage of the inertial characteristics if the intake flow and the exhaust flow to provide a slight increase in the cylinder scavenging (i.e. more exhaust is removed and more of the new intake charge is introduced into the cylinder). By adding larger piping and/or lower restriction mufflers and resonators, the engine is able to move a larger volume of intake charge through the engine for every revolution when at full throttle up near redline. The thing is, larger diameter pipes actually slow the velocity of the exhaust, and that reduction results in reduced cylinder scavenging in partial throttle situations, say mild acceleration and/or steady state freeway cruising.
Long story short, the very well educated and experienced Honda engineers built into our cars a very good compromise exhaust; namely, one which provides the best balance of performance (low speed and high speed), fuel economy, and noise reduction. If one wants more top-end power, and/or more noise, go for it.
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Arkady (03-03-2018)
03-03-2018, 10:40 AM
#18
horseshoez, that was a fantastic explanation, thank you.
Since I hardly ever go near redline, I'll just keep my exhaust as it is for now haha.
Since I hardly ever go near redline, I'll just keep my exhaust as it is for now haha.
03-03-2018, 04:00 PM
#19
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^ You can just do straight pipes and keep the original OD of the pipe... You gain sound and wont affect the original performance of the exhaust by that much..
03-03-2018, 05:02 PM
#20
Sorry bro I'm all the way on the other side in Toronto 😂
03-03-2018, 05:09 PM
#21
Typically a freer flowing exhaust will increase power up near redline at wide-open throttle, but also just as typically will cause a slight reduction in mid-range power and fuel economy.
As for the "why", it all has to do with the flow dynamics of the exhaust system. Virtually all engines these days are designed with a valve timing feature called "valve-overlap" which causes the exhaust valves to fully close shortly after the intake valves open. Valve-overlap takes advantage of the inertial characteristics if the intake flow and the exhaust flow to provide a slight increase in the cylinder scavenging (i.e. more exhaust is removed and more of the new intake charge is introduced into the cylinder). By adding larger piping and/or lower restriction mufflers and resonators, the engine is able to move a larger volume of intake charge through the engine for every revolution when at full throttle up near redline. The thing is, larger diameter pipes actually slow the velocity of the exhaust, and that reduction results in reduced cylinder scavenging in partial throttle situations, say mild acceleration and/or steady state freeway cruising.
Long story short, the very well educated and experienced Honda engineers built into our cars a very good compromise exhaust; namely, one which provides the best balance of performance (low speed and high speed), fuel economy, and noise reduction. If one wants more top-end power, and/or more noise, go for it.
As for the "why", it all has to do with the flow dynamics of the exhaust system. Virtually all engines these days are designed with a valve timing feature called "valve-overlap" which causes the exhaust valves to fully close shortly after the intake valves open. Valve-overlap takes advantage of the inertial characteristics if the intake flow and the exhaust flow to provide a slight increase in the cylinder scavenging (i.e. more exhaust is removed and more of the new intake charge is introduced into the cylinder). By adding larger piping and/or lower restriction mufflers and resonators, the engine is able to move a larger volume of intake charge through the engine for every revolution when at full throttle up near redline. The thing is, larger diameter pipes actually slow the velocity of the exhaust, and that reduction results in reduced cylinder scavenging in partial throttle situations, say mild acceleration and/or steady state freeway cruising.
Long story short, the very well educated and experienced Honda engineers built into our cars a very good compromise exhaust; namely, one which provides the best balance of performance (low speed and high speed), fuel economy, and noise reduction. If one wants more top-end power, and/or more noise, go for it.
I also instantly noticed the car responds much quicker now with the DC headers because the manifolds were such a restricted design.
I do wish the car sounded a little louder but that's because the J-Series is such a quiet engine there's only so much noise you can make without straight pipes lol
03-05-2018, 10:23 AM
#22
Regular oil changes = clean bottom end 😁
Absolutely spotless after 262K just means my baby is still breaking in 😂
A couple of shots when I resealed my oil pan and everything was so clean inside!
My parents only serviced the car at the dealer when they owned it and I change my oil every 10k with full synthetic and a good filter.
Take care of these engines and they'll last forever.
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zeta (03-05-2018)
03-05-2018, 08:01 PM
#24
i second that, when i looked at mine it looked all gross, but not sure it is leaking. just whoever did it previously didn't wipe away the oil?
03-05-2018, 08:44 PM
#26
Acura uses what's called Hondabond gasket maker from the factory on our oil pans so I used ultra black by Permatex which has better oil resistance in my opinion so it'll last longer and not leak.
As for doing an all oil pan it's best to do it when you're upgrading your exhaust since you have to remove the down pipe out of the way. Just drain the oil remove the oil pan and clean the gasket off (I used a new oil pan cus I found one cheap and painted it)
when you're putting the new gasket maker on just make sure everything is clean and re-install the oil pan and only finger tighten the bolts and leave it to cure for 24 hours.
After that torque the bolts down now that the gasket maker has dried and sealed and is now plyable. If you torqued everything down when the gasket maker is still wet you'll push everything out and you'll have barely any gasket material on the surface.
Once everything is tight just re-add the oil.
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Arkady (03-06-2018)
03-05-2018, 08:45 PM
#27
03-06-2018, 08:05 AM
#28
Darksyne, thanks for the tip on the oil pan! I torqued the bolts to the recommended amount right off the bat - your method makes so much more sense. I'll be re-doing my oil gasket soon enough when I'm installing a Fumoto Valve and a new pan - I'll take care of it then.
03-06-2018, 11:20 AM
#29
did you replace the endlinks as well? I had issues removing just one side of them so left them on. Thinking of swaybars and endlinks want your opinion of both
03-06-2018, 11:28 AM
#30
arkady, just pay attn to any leaks from the fumoto. I had slow leak issue when I had it on. I removed and put the oe drain plug back and now no issues. It might be something specific with my drain hole though, perhaps previous mechanics torqued too much and it changed the surface.
03-06-2018, 02:17 PM
#31
Yeah I replaced all 4 end links because I had to break them off because they were so rusted on. They aren't that expensive though.
03-07-2018, 08:25 AM
#32
arkady, just pay attn to any leaks from the fumoto. I had slow leak issue when I had it on. I removed and put the oe drain plug back and now no issues. It might be something specific with my drain hole though, perhaps previous mechanics torqued too much and it changed the surface.
Do you think a carefully-selected pan would do better with a fumoto valve?
03-07-2018, 08:29 AM
#33
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Another way is to skip draining the oil from the pan entirely. I've been using an oil extractor since the late 1990s and haven't pulled a drain plug since.
03-07-2018, 09:48 AM
#34
Holy crap horseshoez that's amazing. I had no idea those existed! I'll see if I can pick one up cuz that sounds amazing!
03-07-2018, 09:50 AM
#35
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03-07-2018, 10:09 AM
#36
It's always nice when you don't have to lay down on the floor in the garage haha.
How do those top-mounted filters work? Wouldn't the oil want to spill out? Or is it still oriented appropriately to avoid that issue? I've never even touched the inside of a European car so I have no idea.
How do those top-mounted filters work? Wouldn't the oil want to spill out? Or is it still oriented appropriately to avoid that issue? I've never even touched the inside of a European car so I have no idea.
03-07-2018, 10:16 AM
#37
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It's always nice when you don't have to lay down on the floor in the garage haha.
How do those top-mounted filters work? Wouldn't the oil want to spill out? Or is it still oriented appropriately to avoid that issue? I've never even touched the inside of a European car so I have no idea.
How do those top-mounted filters work? Wouldn't the oil want to spill out? Or is it still oriented appropriately to avoid that issue? I've never even touched the inside of a European car so I have no idea.
03-07-2018, 10:25 AM
#38
That is fascinating. Sounds like an absolute breeze if you've got an extractor!
03-07-2018, 01:34 PM
#39
Yeah the oil extractor option is where its at. I grabbed one from Harbor Freight with one of their coupons for like $65, I'll never get under the car for an oil or trans drain ever again.
So is the exhaust on yet? I wanna hear it!
So is the exhaust on yet? I wanna hear it!
03-08-2018, 10:41 AM
#40
Yeah the exhaust is on and it sounds awesome! I'm just working on a video to post on youtube then I'll link it here!