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That's not too bad, but still a hit to the pocket book! Especially around the Holidays... My initial thought was between $3,000-$4,000 based on my AT rebuild quote. This time of the year wouldn't be too bad having the car down living in Wisconsin, but being in Florida has to be tough!
Like a phoenix from the ashes!! I finally have the car back in my possession! I gave it to Acutech November 7th and got it back as an early Christmas present to myself on December 24th!
Some pics because I'm excited!
Now...do I have a story for you folks...grab your popcorn I'm willing to share mine.
So...let me start off by saying it is not Acutech's fault for having my car that long, because I'm sure some of you said "wtf" when I said the dates above.
This ordeal has been a HUGE headache and heartbreaking experience but I'm glad to say it's finally over...knock on wood.
Now when I gave friends and family the news, their first thought was, "OMG TRACK DOWN THE GUY THAT SOLD YOU THAT PIECE OF SHIT!" I do not blame Jeremy for this at all. I believe in my heart that J is a great guy and wouldn't do this to anyone...let alone a close friend. I also believe there is no way to put a band aid on a transmission getting ready to destroy 2nd gear for two whole months.
Konrad at Acutech and friends agreed this most likely happened from fatigue, as you might imagine, with it's many Acurazine owners, the car was beat on a little harder than a regular ole commuter-type driver would do. The car had a stage 3 clutch installed from JJH, along with very stiff motor mounts and performance mods in his quest for 300whp. With all these said mods, the trans saw more abuse than normal...not to mention that clutch grabbed hard...like, really hard. It was either no power or ALL THE POWER.
So onto the story...
I finally decided what clutch & flywheel I wanted to go with...the daily setup from XLR8. (Which I'd like to point out is an AASCO lightweight flywheel and Exedy clutch). At the time, Black Friday was a few days away and I inquired about some sales from XLR8 and Heeltoe. Being that I've ordered with Heeltoe before (Tein & ATLP on my NBP) and him besting XLR8's offer, I went with them. The order was placed and it was up to XLR8 to process the order as this is their kit sourced from other manufactures. I will say it took more time that I would have liked to ship, but no worries, Marcus at Heeltoe kept me informed and his website provided me with updates along the way.
After a few days, I got the clutch and pressure plate, SWEET! About a week later the flywheel shows up while I am at work. I left work and bolted home to pick it up so I could rush it to Konrad at Acutech...at this point all of the other parts were in his hands and we were ready to install everything in one swoop and I could be on my way...but no sir...the following day I get a text that the bolts to mount the flywheel are too long. "Wtf..., this can't be for real." Okay so I ask Marcus at Heeltoe if this is an issue of us having the wrong bolts...is AASCO supposed to supply them, what's up? Marcus told me this has only happened once before on an Accord and they ended up using different bolts than their model year recommends. That didn't sit very well with me so I asked Konrad to sent me a picture of the box he received. Low and behold...the flywheel is for a base model TL with the 3.2L.
This is where it gets worse...because this is XLR8's kit, we must process the exchange through them, which Marcus was nice enough to handle for me.
He informed me that XLR8 is not willing to send me the correct flywheel until they receive the wrong one because they doubted the condition of the one they sent me...as if I had installed it and ran the car only to realize it was the wrong one, not the case. After calling XLR8 myself to see what kind of customer support I was going to have to deal with I was called back by Nicole at XLR8...she informed me that a return label had been sent to me for the wrong flywheel and the new one would go out USPS 2-Day the following morning. Needless to say I was relieved to hear this as I was getting close to being very pissed off with the situation at hand.
After not receiving a tracking number for my new flywheel the next day I called back and was told that Marcus would help me...uhhh okay, but you guys are processing this...whatever. I contacted Marcus again only to find out that they are not sending the flywheel till they get the wrong one in return and inspect that it is still in "new" condition, completely going against what Nicole had told me not even 24 hours before. Needless to say this pissed me off, and Marcus. Marcus was very generous to offer me a flywheel from his own inventory and he would take care of XLR8. (Disclaimer, I had already taken pics of the wrong flywheel in the box ready to return in it's "new" condition...mostly to cover myself and to reassure Marcus.)
So long story short...XLR8 was holding my replacement flywheel hostage till they got their incorrect one in return...even though this was their fuck up...what great customer service!
So Marcus sends me the correct flywheel, which arrived Monday the 19th instead of Wed the 21st like we expected. So I rush that flywheel to Konrad and we're back on track to have the car together in 2 days. Thank God!
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!
That night I brought the flywheel, we tested the bolts and made sure this one would fit and they did...but we forgot to check if it even had a pilot bearing...DOH! The following night I drove back to the shop with the wrong flywheel to see if we could rob the pilot bearing from it (with Marcus' permission of course) but alas, the only way to press on the bearing to get it out would damage it.
After making some calls around town, the only place that had one was Acura in Delray Beach...Konrad was nice enough to order if for me and have it delivered on the 22nd.
Friday the 23rd, I texted Konrad to see if we were still on track to pick it up tonight or are we looking at Saturday and I received this:
"Honestly it's done and it drives amazing but I have to leave by 6."
Shit...it was 4:45 and I was about an hour away from being able to get there since I work down south...I called my parents to see if they would take me but it wasn't going to work out as we were preparing the house for Christmas. I got to the shop Saturday morning and there she was...sitting out front for me.
I can honestly say this is an entirely different car...freshly rebuilt transmission, new clutch, new flywheel, new throw out bearing, new OEM motor mounts, new steering rack, SS clutch line and fresh GM Syncromesh fluid. WOW.
When I first got into it to start it I pushed the clutch in only to be shocked, the clutch felt like it went straight to the floor without any resistance...compared to the stage 3, this was way different. Whereas the stage 3 felt like another person pushing against your foot, this was like pushing against a toddler lol.
I started it up and took it down their small road and came back, even only getting to shift into 1st and 2nd, the clutch was smooth, easy transition from gear to gear and no more vibrating my brains out with those rock hard motor mounts.
On the way home everything felt great, I missed the feel this car gives me, the smell it gives off, the sound...it's a completely different experience from the 5AT.
However, on the way...somebody lost something, like a ceramic pot or something, the car in front of me ran over it, destroying most of the pieces on the edges of the lane, his XTERRA cleared the huge piece shaped like a C laying right in the middle...with traffic on both sides I didn't have anywhere to go, I had to run it over. The worse noise EVER went on beneath me and I cleared the intersection and pulled to the side to inspect the damages, front bumper...looks good, it cleared the debris. underbody looked okay too, nothing was hanging down and no fluids were leaking.
I finally made it home and have been in bliss with it again. I cannot explain how happy I am to have it back...even got a tad teary eyed on the way home from the shop.
The car drives incredibly smooth, rev matching is worlds easier, gears fall into place with minimal effort, it's like brand new again. I'm also happy to say that the clutch is getting a bit firmer and more consistent in feel than when I first picked it up. I'll post more impressions of the clutch as I go along.
So, after all this, the only things left to do are to install the side motor mount as the one he had in the shop was from an automatic TL, figure out why my LED DRL won't let LED bulbs run at full power and finally wash it!
I'd like to thank Konrad at Acutech Automotive, the parts department at Ed Morse Honda, Marcus at Heeltoe Automotive and my friends and family for helping me with this endeavor.
Konrad took care of me very well, answering ALL my questions and putting up with my erratic calls. Marcus at Heeltoe for treating me like family and not just a customer. Tony at Honda for helping me place the orders of my transmission rebuild and other misc parts.
XLR8, I will not be returning to your store or your products in the future and if anyone else does, I sure hope the order is right and you don't have a problem.
Thanks for reading everyone! I will post pictures of the transmission parts as I asked to keep them and pics of the car once I have it cleaned up again. The SPEC Stage 3+ clutch and flywheel will be up for sale soon as well.
I appreciate your sentiment and enjoyed reading the story, Austin.
You are correct in your assessment. I would never, in good moral standing, sell something I know is gonna shit.
The issues I ran into with the grounds and it leaving me stranded that day was just enough to put a bad omen on it and make me realize I shouldn't have 2 project cars as daily drivers when I have a child to pick up (hence why I only have intake and mufflers on the V). Even the annoyances you mentioned like the stiff clutch and hard mounts were things I know some would enjoy, but as I've gotten older I am more into being comfortable.
I don't blame or take offense to your family and friends thinking I'm a POS and I appreciate you defending me. I hope your Mom specifically forgives me. If I could go back in time...I would have insisted on selling it to a stranger because I would never even have heard about the problems down the road (although I've made it a point to become friends with people I sell my cars to )
I do miss having the fastest 3G I'd ever driven in the most desirable color at times...but I am always happy knowing that you are enjoying it.
I look forward to all the other updates and some legit pics!
Love you, man.
J.
I'm about 830 miles into it, which is more than double the recommended break in period and it has started slipping. If I'm at about 3k rpm in 3rd gear and floor it, the revs shoot to 4200 rpm and it slowly starts to drop until it catches up with the wheel's speed. I can't believe this shit is happening.
I'm taking it back to Konrad tomorrow or Thursday, when I texted him he said the slave or master cylinder could be faulty instead of the clutch...we'll see. Needless to say this sucks.
I contacted XLR8 once time asking if they willing to honor the coupon code from Azine (even thou the part is for a lexus) the response I got back was "sorry but our listing price is at discount price". I end up going somewhere else get it for cheaper.
Dropped it off today after work. Getting the oil changed, last motor mount swapped back to OEM and pulling the clutch to see what is wrong. Wish me luck!
Quite the update...and quite the bashing for XLR8 after I get my "warranty" upgrade.
They got the pressure plate and disc sent back to the manuf. yesterday and got back to me today saying "there's no problem with the disc or PP but we will send you the upgraded parts (I'm assuming street/strip setup) as a warranty."
Something is not right and Josh has avoided my question 3 times as to why it is not functioning as it should. They're not blaming the clutch as being faulty and they're not blaming my installer. They won't refund it either, (after telling me they would if it was faulty parts just last week).
I'm seriously pissed off with XLR8 and I have quite the post planned out for them...I strongly advise not ordering from them should you have any problems they are extremely hard to work with and Josh is a liar.
I think I have made up my mind to go with a LuK clutch kit (08-047) and I will be keeping the AASCO lightweight flywheel installed from the XLR8 kit. I called AASCO tonight to confirm that the flywheel would work with an OEM disc and pressure plate. And since I have had the flywheel installed for around 1500~ I don't think the ring gear is an issue, however I will have my installer inspect it on Monday morning to be 100% sure.
You're gonna be a damn clutch expert when this is all said and done, Austin...
You already know my vote was for OEM, but I definitely understand wanting to go aftermarket after driving this car and Ivo in your ear.
I know when it's all said and done it'll be well worth it...I'm truly sorry for all the trouble you've been going through.
thanks for the update and interested to see your post...i was leaning towards the xlr8 daily setup when my clutch finally goes (hopefully not soon, 113k miles), but this has me second guessing that option since i can't allow what happened to you happen to me since this car is my daily and i live all the way out in california.
i don't really know of any other alternative clutch setups other than OEM if this xlr8 option is not worth it (and i'm dying to get rid of the self adjusting crap that is oem)
You're welcome man. The Blue car was supposed to be my daily as well. Thankfully I haven't sold the black one yet.
Honestly, there's only a handful of people using their clutch kits and so far they were positive reviews. I decided to take a shot with it and got burned. I would be more reluctant to try their setup again if the customer support had been better but I can't take a chance of the new one failing and having to deal with Josh again.
I've never driven a TL on an OEM clutch so I'm in for a surprise. I know a lot of people rag on the self adjusting clutch but really the options with aftermarket are slim and I can't afford to keep testing things out. I was debating going with SPEC Stage 2 like Ivo has (Family Guy) but if their's fails too I'll be out on another labor bill.
Ive already sunk over $4000 into repairing this thing.
I was originally met with bad news. My installer drove the car after putting it in and it was making a terrible squeaking noise and the clutch pedal was sticking on the way back up. After driving it some more it started to improve and he texted me later that same night and said it was nearly perfect.
I went to to pick it up yesterday afternoon.
Im very surprised the OEM clutch feels so hard to push it...it almost feels like a stage 2 clutch. Engagement feels very smooth though and rev matching is very smooth. The gearbox itself feels slightly clunkier than before but we are still breaking it in. I'm pretty happy with it right now. I just hope the shifter smooths out a bit more.
I was originally met with bad news. My installer drove the car after putting it in and it was making a terrible squeaking noise and the clutch pedal was sticking on the way back up. After driving it some more it started to improve and he texted me later that same night and said it was nearly perfect.
I went to to pick it up yesterday afternoon.
Im very surprised the OEM clutch feels so hard to push it...it almost feels like a stage 2 clutch. Engagement feels very smooth though and rev matching is very smooth. The gearbox itself feels slightly clunkier than before but we are still breaking it in. I'm pretty happy with it right now. I just hope the shifter smooths out a bit more.
Just read through this. Hopefully you can enjoy your ride now. BTW, your car looks like ABP Here. Wish I found a KBP
It's back!!!
I'm willing to share mine.
I do not blame Jeremy for this at all. I believe in my heart that J is a great guy and wouldn't do this to anyone...let alone a close friend. I also believe there is no way to put a band aid on a transmission getting ready to destroy 2nd gear for two whole months.
So I rush that flywheel to Konrad and we're back on track to have the car together in 2 days. Thank God!
)
BTW, your car looks like ABP Here. Wish I found a KBP 