I have had several instances where I get blinded from sunlight being reflected off the chrome trim on the passenger side of console where the shifter/transmission buttons are located. The only way I can keep driving is to place my hand on that section until I make a turn, or the road turns, so that the reflection stops. See attached pic for the piece of trim I'm referring to. (Pic is a marked up stock pic, not my car.)
Has anyone else experienced this? What is your solution?
I wish there was an OEM option for a different color, but it looks like that trim is the same regardless of base, tech, A-spec or advance.
05 Acura RL Question: Are the foot well lights always on. Including when the car is off, locked, and all doors closed?
I,m wondering because I upgraded to brighter LEDs and I cant notice a difference between locked closed and running.
Also the OEM LED without the milky inhibitor seems to be always on as well and does not dim.
Okay this has to be a stupid question. I did a search and found only 1 thread on this.
Where are the TOW POINTS for the RDX, 2017 to be exact? Does no one ever get stuck in this thing? Snow? Mud? My X3 has a tow hook that screws into the front or rear bumpers. I don't see anything like that nor can I find any information on any such thing for the RDX. How do you get your RDX towed out when stuck?
I have a 2016 MDX and am looking to put a safe in the center console. However I cant seem to find anyone who makes one for acura (most are american vehicles), and I found one that makes one for a Honda Pilot. Does anyone know it the center console on the Pilot is similar to the MDX (ie...screw holes, size, and dimensions). If not, does anyone know a vendor that makes a console safe for the MDX?
I have about 95k and I got the dreaded service 4 due next. I have been doing my own service on the RDX since day 1 and for the fun of it, I called the dealer to get the price of the maintenance minder code 4 service which includes the timing belt, water pump and spark plugs. They wanted $2450. This price is does not include the oil change and tire rotation - just the timing belt, spark plugs and waterpump.
According to alldata, the book time is as follows:
3.2 hours for the Timing Pump.
.5 hours to replace the Water Pump (additional time while replacing the timing belt)
.8 Hours to replace the spark plugs
Parts cost from oemacuraparts.com:
134.26 Water Pump
72.60 Timing Belt
5.16 Idler pulley bolt
4.41 Motor mount bolts (3)
55.80 NGK ILZKR7B11 spark plugs (6) - From Amazon
Total Labor - $558.00 - 4.5 hours X 130 per hour Total Parts - $272.23
Total: 830.23
Am I missing something here? Where does the other $1600 go? Am I missing some major parts here or is the dealer just a complete rip off?
I acquired this transmission, as a stand-by, just in case the OEM RMK transmission in my 2003 TL Type S failed. I have since sold my 2003 Type S, and bought a 2008 TL Base, which has a different transmission. Therefore, I no longer need this one. In addition to the transmission itself, I bought all the gaskets and seals required for the swap, as well as 9 quarts of Honda transmission fluid. These items should be everything needed for One to perform the AV6 swap, into their 2001-2003 TL I'm using the years 2001-2003 because some owners have complained about (torque converter) mis-match in the 2000 model year, when using a transmission from an early 2006 Accord. The Donor vehicle was a very well maintained 2007 Honda Accord V6 Sedan, with 93,741 miles on it. I pulled the transmission myself, and found the fluid and filter both very clean. I am willing to ship it, but will not be responsible for the additional expense incurred for packaging and freight charges.
I'm on the Acura RDX part of the forum and we're trying to figure out how to get out the "ghost" stain of bird poop. Meaning, after you wash the car, you can still see where the poop used to be. I had been using 70% isopropyl alcohol to get off bird poop without leaving a stain, but today I found an area that got hit and the alcohol didn't work. Is there a product that helps? If the answer is that I have to correct the actual clear coat, then I'm wondering how people do that since birds poop on their cars all the time. Thanks in advance.
The battery in my TL is on it's last legs (no idea how old it is, it was in the car when I bought it 25 months ago); my plan all along has been to throw a new AGM 24F battery into it and call it a day. Prior to pulling the trigger on the new battery, I thought I'd do a little research, and said research has given me pause.
Per my research, relatively late model cars have circuitry to prevent overcharging AGM batteries, the 3G TLs have no such safeguards.
When an AGM battery is overcharged, and once the hydrogen catalyst has been consumed, overcharging will end the life of the battery in pretty short order.
As a general rule, AGM batteries are pretty good plug in replacements for flooded lead acid batteries, but only for cars which make a lot of short trips.
When an AGM battery is used in a car not designed for that type of battery, the battery will typically have a very short life if the car it is in does lots of long-distance highway driving.
Given I do a lot of highway driving, say 10-12 trips of 20+ miles per week, I am concerned if I opt for an AGM battery, I'll destroy it in a matter of a few months. With that in mind, I have a few questions for the collective here:
Should I simply stop overthinking it and put a wet battery in?
Is there a relatively easy way to enhance the TL's charging system to play nice with an AGM battery?
And most importantly, for those of y'all who've already taken the plunge into the AGM world, what has your experience been?
After a couple of years now of participating on this site, I figured I should at least document a process I've worked on.
There wasn't a direct guide (with pics) relating to the 5AT TL, so I had to use a combination of individual posts, the service manual, and youtube videos to complete this. I am certainly a visual learner, so I took as many detailed photos as I could. The following is just my experience, so if anybody sees any room for corrections, additions, or improvements, please let me know. Mods, forgive me if I did not follow certain submission guidelines.
This is a guide to replace both the drivers and passenger side front axles (not including the half-shaft).
A) Tools and parts required - New axles. I got both sides from Rockauto. Brand APWI Part # HO369 and H0370 found here: drivers and passengers to my door for $119 total.
- Pair of cotter pins. You can buy an assorted box at any auto parts store for a few dollars.
- 17mm socket and/or 17mm wrench - I had two wrenches and one socket for this job, though you could get away doing this with a single 17mm tool.
- 36mm socket (I conveniently had a 1 7/16" socket and I didn't want to buy a new metric one just for this job...the 1 7/16" fit and worked perfectly fine for removing the axle nut)
- Ball joint removal tool or 1" thick breaker bar, driver, extension...anything solid and wide enough to fit into the LCA/ball joint gap to separate it.
- Punch set
- Crow or pry bar
- Needle-nosed pliers
- Sledge hammer
- Rubber mallet
- PB blaster
- Brake parts cleaner
- Safety glasses
- 2 jackstands
- Floor jack
- Acura TL tire iron or 19mm socket for lugnuts
Optional tools and parts:
- Torque wrench
- Additional small floor jack
- Flathead screwdriver
- Replacement LCA bushings, replacement ball joints
- Bungee cord or ~1ft tall toolbox to support wheel hub
- Regular hammer
B) The process
1. Jack up the car and remove the wheel center cap
Begin by breaking loose (but not removing) the lugnuts on the drivers front wheel.
Jack up car in whatever preferred method to remove drivers side front wheel.
Remove the drivers side front wheel. Use force to poke out the center cap, then re-install wheel + lug nuts. Jack the car back down.
2. Break loose the axle nut
Now, the axle nut is visible.
I broke 2 flatheads and one punch attempting to punch out the depression onto the lock. As it turns out, you can simply break this bolt loose like any other bolt. The depression did not affect my ability to break loose and remove either axle nut with the socket, so I personally would not mess around with it.
Use your 36mm or 1 7/16" socket to break loose the axle nut. Having a breaker bar that you're able to stand on helps here.
3. Jack the car back up, and remove the suspension fork bolt and nut
Jack the car back up. I used the floor jack under the engine, and two jackstands under each front door. Remove the wheel again.
Look behind the brake rotor, and locate the suspension fork. Use your 17mm tool here. I personally had two 17mm wrenches (one to hold the stationary bolt, one to remove the nut) at this point.
Crack and remove the 17mm nut on the rear side.
The bolt is now exposed. Use a punch and a rubber mallet to punch it out. This may take some force.
With the nut and bolt removed, the suspension fork should be free.
4. Remove the castle nut and cotter pin from the ball joint.
Removing my corroded cotter pins held me up significantly. I doused them in pb blaster and used needle-nosed pliers to remove them, after much frustration. Straighten the pin as much as you can, and be sure to stay straight when pulling it out. The castle nut also uses a 17mm. Fortunately, since I replaced my drivers side axle just a few weeks ago with a temporary ebay one, the new cotter pin was easy to remove this time.
5. Remove the ball joint from the LCA.
This was the most difficult part of the operation for me. 210k miles and 16 Ohio winters did not make this separation easy. I'll explain my strategy for removing this as best as I can.
NOTE: The flat joint separator/fork tool did nothing besides ruin my boot sleeve and expose the grease on the joint. I do not recommend.
Additionally, the other generic ball joint separator tool i got from advanced auto parts
did not expand wide enough to fit into the Acura LCA area, and for this reason, I do not recommend using this tool either, unless you can find a larger version.
Sometimes, you are able to pop this out simply by banging the crap out of the LCA with a sledgehammer. I hope most of you find success in simply jarring the LCA in the area below, and you can skip to step 6.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for me.
Observe the picture below. In order to separate the ball joint from the LCA, we need to have a thick metal bar, a breaker, a crowbar, or pretty much anything that will fit into the circled red area below. I fortunately have a 22" sliding T-bar from a tractor socket set I was able to use and fit into the area circled.
So here below, we are applying the upward force with another small floor jack. This gives us clearance to insert the t-bar into the space between the LCA and the hub.
Then, from the side, you're going to whack the bar you've inserted with a sledgehammer- to provide that downward force on the LCA. This may take some serious effort.
After a beating, the ball joint pops free. (The boot damage is from the first time I did this job...)
6. Removing the axle.
At this point, it is necessary to move the wheel assembly out and back towards the drivers door. If the axle shaft does not simply fall out of the wheel hub, use a rubber mallet to hit it back into the hub.
I propped the entire assembly up on my toolbox, ensuring not to put all of the weight on the ball joint or the brake shield.
Now, you need to get underneath the car. It is necessary to remove the transmission splash guard. I did not document this process, as it's a couple bolts and a couple clips that need to be removed. It's the same guard you remove when you are changing the transmission fluid.
Once removed, you will be able to look up at the axle where the joint connects into the differential. Use a flat head screwdriver (or other prying tool of your choice) to apply force to the inboard joint of the axle. Be sure to only pry at the outer lip, if you get too deep towards the center of the shaft, you can damage the seal. When prying, use your other arm to pull the axle shaft straight outwards. It takes a second to get the hang of, but it's relatively easy to pop out.
And it's out. Here is the opening in the diff where you will plug the new axle into. Note the slightly damaged seal :facepalm:
Old axle. I wasn't very gentle knowing that I was trashing it, as you can see by the deformed boot where I yanked it out.
Spray the new axle threads with brake parts cleaner to remove any debris.
Plug the new axle in by pushing it straight as possible into the differential. It will require some adjustments and some force, but you will feel it once it slides in and sets. It is much easier to line the axle up straight by inserting the axle shaft back in between the suspension fork.
7. Reassembly
Replace the wheel hub back over the outer axle thread, and seat the ball joint back into the LCA.
Once seated, whack the LCA back over top of the ball joint.
Once the ball joint is snug, re-tighten the castle nut to between 58-65 ft/lbs, leaving the cotter pin hole visible. Insert the cotter pin and bend both ends around the castle nut.
Replace the suspension fork bolt. Use a rubber mallet to get the bolt back in. Hand tighten the nut a few turns, but do not torque down yet. If you tighten to spec, that bushing can become deformed once the wheel and weight of the car are sat back down on the ground.
Replace the wheel and lugnuts. Remove jacks and lower the car.
Tighten the axle nut to 181 ft/lbs. If you don't have a torque wrench, I stood on my bar until it wouldn't move (I weigh 160....that's how it works...right? lol)?
Use a punch to deform the nut into the groove like so.
And lastly, now that we've applied weight to the suspension fork without deforming the bushing, tighten this down now to 47 ft/lbs.
You're done! Take her for a test drive.
These axles are equally smooth under hard acceleration as they are cruising at 80mph. They're great so far.
Mods, I will add the couple passenger side pics tomorrow...I'm tired right now lol.
I was looking for a spare remote for my 08 RL and visited many hardware stores in Chicago suburbs to cut chip key for which I bought a blank on internet. No stores allows outside blank cutting.
I did not want to go to dealer to buy or program the remote or key
I found Ace hardware who have a tie up with Duracell . They sell a brand new remote and spare key with a chip and offer reprogramming all remotes for about $250.
I ordered it but it is on back order and may take a month to get it.
When received, I will inform how it goes.
Surprisingly Duracell website does not show 08 RL Remote available online but only through this hardware stores. Website shows up to 04 RL.
Ok, so I'm sure some of you guys are getting a little sick of my car-search threads but please bear with me. After what seems like an eternity (to me) my retirement loan will finally be paid off on July 31st and I will actually have money again to buy another car. The Genny has really come through big time for me during the last two and a half years, going on 220k miles and still hauling my butt to and from work every day with no complaints, but obviously she's earned a much deserved retirement since I got her back in 2012. As I mentioned earlier, I've been looking at cars off and on for the last year in preparation for this next car purchase and I've vacillated between several options in that time (2016 Camaro V6, 2018 Accord Touring 2.0, 2018 Kia Stinger GT, etc) but each of these cars has a problem for me. The Camaro is certainly quick enough for me but the interior and features are a bit lacking compared to what I'm used to, the Accord Touring is more luxurious but still not luxury car levels of refinement, and the Stinger GT is just waaaay too much $$$$! So what do I do????
Well, I've really been thinking about this pretty hard for the past few weeks and then I realized the answer has been staring me in the face all along! Why not just get the "new" version of the car I already have and love so much??? So I checked around on the interwebz and sure enough, the new Genesis models are actually quite affordable. Obviously not the G80 or G70 (or any of the Genesis branded cars) but the 2016 Hyundai versions. I've found quite a lot of those cars with the Ultimate packages (including everything I want such as HUD, LKAS, pano-sunroof, upgraded leather, 7" gauge cluster display, etc) around the $26k-$28k price range, and let me tell you this is a LOT of car for that kind of money. I was really set on the Accord Touring 2.0 (so much so that I test drove one and went so far as to get pre-approved for a loan) but the more I think about it the more I'm convinced the Genesis would be a better option for me. I already know how reliable they are since I've had one for 7 years now, the difference in price is significant since the cheapest I can get an Accord Touring 2.0 is around $32k which makes for a monthly payment about $150 more, and after driving the Accord I really realized just how much difference there is between a family sedan that is trying to seem luxurious and an actual luxury car. The Accord interior is extremely nice and it has a ton of features, but there are just so many little things that betray its real position in the market (such as the lack of a hood strut, the exposed trunk hinges, the cheap hard plastics on the lower portion of the doors and in back, the pretty weak "Premium" stereo, the lack of a power rear sunshade, etc). I know all of that stuff seems really trivial, and for the most part it is, but all of it put together really does start to change your overall feeling about the car. And when that car is also significantly more expensive than the one you can get WITH all that stuff included (and which was designed and built from the ground-up to be an actual $50k luxury car) it becomes really apparent. Granted, we are talking about a brand new car car compared to a 3-year old one, but I've found several CPO Genesis 3.8's with the Ultimate package with under 15k miles for around $27k and that is just a LOT of car for the money! In fact, I've been here and done that back in 2012 when I bought my current 2009 Genesis 3.8 sedan.
So anyway, that's the latest edition of my "What car I'm leaning towards" rant in 2019. I still have 6 weeks or so to go before I can actually buy a new car and I'll probably change my mind again between now and then, but this is where my head's at right now. What do you guys think of the current Genesis 3.8 (G80)? I can't think of anyone on here that has one and I never see it discussed on AZine but I figured I'd see what you guys think. Thanks!
Hi everyone, i am brand new to the forum from WA state and a first time Acura/Honda owner. A few days ago i picked up a 98 RL for around 300$ and it ran well enough i could drive it home and into my garage. It has a few issues here and there.... I'm pretty sure the radiator is leaking, check engine light on for a oxygen sensor and is had a squealing sound from under the hood. I pulled the radiator out today since i plan on replacing it anyways to get a better look at the belts since i believed that was the culprit to the squealing noise. What i noticed is the whole outer edge of the PS belt is shredding itself. Its rubbing against the other pulley on the crank also causing it to pitch at a angle. the belt is sitting on the pulleys correctly as far as i can see, its sort of like the PS pump is sticking out further causing the belt to rub on the crank side. Anyone have any input on this issue and what could be causing this? Thanks in advance!
Hi everyone i'm new to the forum and a first time Acura/Honda owner. I just picked up my first Acura.... a 98 3.5RL with around 200,000 miles on it. I bought this as a hobby project to tinker on. Took her for a ride and for the 300$ price tag i just had to take it home!
Hello everyone! I was wanting to splice the preamp wires into my aftermarket amplifier. Just wanted clarification for which wires I need to splice and feed into my amplifier for the signal (the preout wires are straight forward). I've attached the wiring diagram.
1) This wiring diagram is for a 2011 TL... I have a 2009 TL sh awd without Nav so the wiring should still be the same?
2) Terminal 2 and 11 is front left speaker. Terminal 6 and 15 is front right speaker. Terminal 7 and 16 is the center speaker. Terminal 3 and 12 is for the subwoofer. Is all this correct?
3) I know there's still the terminals with the "surround" description. Would this be the tweeters and rear speakers? If not, which ones are they?
4) I was reading that you need a line driver for the preamp signal before it gets plugged into the aftermarket amp (I will need to use a LOC so it plugs into my aftermarket amp), is this necessary?
5) The speakers in my car give out a constant hiss (even with the car turned off and no audio source turned on). This leads me to believe it's the OEM amp that is producing that hissing sound. Has anyone tried fixing this issue, was it the actual amp or the ground? Or some other reason?
There's quite a few questions but any help would be appreciated to point me in the right direction.
07 TL making squeaking noise when accelerating and braking. When car is braking, the noise is quite loud and high pitch. Whiling the car is rolling, the sound goes a bit quieter but is still there. This only happens on the left back wheel area, The other 3 wheels have no sound at all.
2008 rdx 200k miles, the A/C recently started to turn off only blowing warm and cold air intermittently. When the cold does come on, it blows cold like everything is fine, but it's pretty inconsistent, sometimes not working for longer periods, and recently it's actually been working most of the time, but still will blow hot sometimes for long car rides.
Somethings I've noticed:
- Most of the time it will blow cold when first stating a trip (usually when engine is cold like the first drive of the day, but only blows cold about 5-10 minutes if it isn't one of those days it lasts 30-45+ minutes)
- I personally didn't check the refrigerant myself but the owner checked it and says it's fine.
- when it blows warm the fan clutch isn't engaged
- sometimes when it's been blowing warm it will start to blow cold when driving but only for a minute or two then goes back to warm.
So if anyone has any suggestions or ideas or knows of something that is known to go bad that would be greatly appreciated!
So Ive been having problems with the whole Shifting/Shuttering problem that everyone seems to have. Recently Ive noticed that while cruising at highway speed the engine rpm will jump up and down a couple of hundred RPMs when I start going up hill or the engine is under load. Any ideas?
Hey guys, been lurking and checking the interwebs for RL's, found some killer 1-2 owner units from 90-150K miles with all the maintenance done for fair prices.
What are some of the best threads for prospective buyers to peruse when looking for these beloved daddy warbucks rides?
