Older Acura TLs

bostonsailor

Golfgod2, with regard to your post no. 1249, the rattle does come from the rear seat area (sounds like it is high up by the rear windshield). Sometimes it does sound like a creaking noise. I have checked all items that could potentially be loose and none are.

Qali, with regard to your post no. 1247, I have tried driving with the sun shade open and closed, but the rattle is there either way. There is nothing in the sun glass holder. I am trying everything I can think of to avoid an unscheduled visit to the dealer.

Amazon, as far as break-in is concerned, my sales guy told me the same thing that is in the manual and that Machiavelli mentioned. I do not think that it would be a particularly bad thing to get it on a road where you can open the engine up a bit more. Some people claim that engines learn your driving habits during the early days of the car's life, or at least have some memory. Personally, I have just stuck to what the manual says. The car does drive great at 80 MPG - feels like 40 MPG.

How is everyone's gas mileage?

golfgod2

bostonsailor, that sounds like the same noise. seems like it comes from the rear windshield. have you had the dealer look into it yet? i will at my next service if i can wait that long.

in regards to gas mileage, i've been kind of dissapointed. overall mileage tends to be about 22-23 with a mix of city/hwy driving. I'm in CA so it may have something to do w/ the gas.

amazon

I learned when I was working in a Swedish police garage that newer engines don't need to be broken in with an egg between the accelerator and the foot. I was told that if you drive hard during break in, the engine would be "looser" afterwards, hence, be quicker. The engine could end up burning a little bit of oil, though.

tasdisr

I have been looking at both the TL type S and Infiniti I35. Has anyone else compared the two.
Neither dealer will budge off of sticker price by
very much.

Thanks

bostonsailor

golfgod2, I am trying to wait as long as possible before I go to the dealer with this problem. Frankly, I am concerned about having the same experience that drpob has documented so well. I just do not have the stuff right now to deal with that kind of experience - I could not be held accountable for my actions.

As far as gas mileage is concerned, I too am a bit disappointed, but I am hoping it will get better. I recall reading earlier posts that referred to gas mileage improving after time, with a lower grade of gas (if you can believe it) or a combination of these factors. I'm in MA, so the problem is likely not isolated to vehicles in CA.

drpob, I hope that you get your problems resolved, for a number of reasons. I can appreciate your frustration from a similar experience I had with a different car in the past. It is hard to believe that if they can isolate the problem as a factory defect that they cannot find and execute a fix. Are they sure its related to the rear windshield or do they think it is?

machiavelli

post #1255 - TL vs. I35 Just IMO, the TL is much sportier and the I35 is more of a "luxury" oriented car. The new G35 is probably sportier than the TL. To me, the TL is the best compromise between "sports" and "luxury". Also, to me anyway, the I35 looks too much like the Maxima it's based on. It's pretty much the same car with different grille and tail-lights. Acura does a better job of distinguishing the TL from the Accord.

Obviously, I like the TL, that's what I bought!

argolfer

Just got to 1000 miles on my new 2002 TL. Haven't had the rattle problems some of you have had, but have noticed a hard "thunk" when releiving my foot off of the brakes. Just a little annoying..I can live with it. Otherwise very happy with the detailing and quality in the auto. Love to drive it when I can get it away from my wife.

golfgod2

bostonsailor,

i know what you mean. the reason i haven't brought it in yet is that deep down, i don't think they're going to solve the problem. they'd probably disassemble a bunch of stuff, put it back together and who knows, that might create a new problem. it's unfortunate 'cause otherwise the car is terrific. just going to keep having to turn the stereo on.

bostonsailor

For what its worth, the other day I had a passenger in my back seat (right side) and did not hear the rattle. Last night, my wife sat in the same seat, and magically, no rattle. This morning with no one in the back seat - rattle. I still have no idea what is causing the noise, but hopefully this experience will help someone solve our issue. Perhaps it has something to do with the rear seat. Maybe its not attached properly or completely???

golfgod2

Last night i tried closing the sunshade and it seems like it worked! I was sure the noise was coming from the rear windshield, however, maybe i'm wrong. I'll see how it is today.

jwacura

You can add my name to those who suffer from sunroof rattle. When I close the shade, the noise goes away. But I noticed another way to make the noise go away. With the sunroof closed and the shade open I'll just tap the sunroof button to have it just begin the process of opening. It seems to preload the sunroof and the noise goes away. With the sunroof back in the closed position, I'll push up on the glass panel and the noise goes away. It seems that there's to much play in the sunroof mechanism and it rattles.

Anybody else have the same situation?

John W.

hunter001

Personal check sufficed in both cases. They did ask for the contact details of my bank, probably to verify the availability of funds. Anyway, by the time I went to pick up the car the next day, the money had got deducted from my account.

Later...AH

qali

Everyone, thanks for the comments. So to confirm what I was confident is the sunroof issue issue, I spent about 30 minutes driving yesterday. I tried all variants sunroof (open/close), shade (open/Close). There is no doubt (in my situation) that the *only* time I hear the rattle is when the shade is completely (not partially) open, regardless of the position of the sunroof. It seems like the shade is activating a set of clips when it is in the full open state and those clips are rattling (perhaps)

I have a reproducible problem to show to the dealer next week.

Good luck.

daysailer

But then, I find the sunroof useful only at rather low speed due to high windnoise since the TL sunroof does not include a wind deflector (as my '89 legend had).

I guess that's a tradeoff of a sunroof made by American Sunroof Corporation, rather than Honda.

jwacura

Okay, okay. I know this is the question that's been keeping you all up at night. It concerns the pullout tray above the CD player. It can come completely out and has a hinged lid over the back half. I know one of the compartments under the lid is for business cards, since mine fit there perfectly. Any guess on the others??? I was wondering about the small trough at the very front. I thought it was for a pen/pencil, but it has a little locking piece to keep something in place. Any ideas???

Thanks,

John W.

karl

The little slot at the front of the pull-out tray is for pens/pencils. My '02 TL-S came with a spiffy "Acura"-badged pen in the owner's manual, which coincidentally, fits perfectly in that slot. (It's just a ballpoint though... if you shell out for a BMW or Mercedes, do they give you a Waterman or Montblanc ?) :-)

Incidentally, earlier models of the TL had a different tray, which holds 4 CDs (w/o jewel cases). My Acura dealer gave me one of those trays -- it fits in the slot just the same as the '02 pen/card holder tray.

Did the earlier TL models not have an in-dash CD changer ? That might explain the in-dash CD storage tray.

-Karl

neuronbob

My TL-P down payment was $5500...took it off my check card (e.g. "Visa" but money comes out of my checking acct)--max was $5000 by credit, and I had to pull out my checkbook for the other $500. It must vary dealer to dealer.

fredvh

I have heard that the 3.2 engine has a timing belt but I do not know if it is an interference or non-interference engine. Could someone advise on this question for me? When does the belt need replacing?
Could I have an update on the mpg of the TL owners with approximately 75/25 (highway/city)?

jwacura

Karl- Thanks for the info!! I tried my
Acura pen from the owner's manual folder. Mine was too fat for the slot, but I'm sure I can find a pen that will fit!
BTW, my TL-S was a forced marriage. I needed to get a car, since my old one was terminally ill. I was a devode German car fan. I was working as an Acura salesperson at the time and the TL-S was the only reasonable option; I leased it for 3 years. I'm more and more impressed with this car everyday!

John W.

machiavelli

#1267 - My salesman told me the tray used to be a CD holder in the earlier models, before they made the 6-disc in-dash changer standard.

fredvh

I heard a rumor that they are going to add a couple more colors to the 2003 TL. Has anyone heard this also? I do not have a 2003 brochure so I do not know if any are there or not. It might be later this year so the new colors might not be in the 2003 brochure.

aggie76

I picked up a 2003 TL brochure Saturday and there are new colors replacing some old ones. I am traveling today but my memory has a darker red replacing the current, the blue changes and there is a third that I can't recall.

fredvh

Thanks. Maybe when you get home you could tell me what colors are available in the TL(not Type S).

aggie76

Will do but will try and get spouse to look and send me the changes before I get back on Friday night. Ahh, business travel - so much fun!

imac1

Just heard about a recent Acura Technical Service Bulletin on the net, that talks about engine oil leaks in V-6 engines caused by porous engine blocks. Its supposed to apply to 2001-02 CL's, 1999-02 TL's and 2001-02 MDX's. Does anyone know more about this or experienced any similar problems.

gkoff

I am very interested in the TL. I understand that the current 2003 model is due for a significant change as a 2004. When would the 2004 TL be introduced? Any info on changes?

Thanks

tasdisr

There is a web site for technical bulletins. It

is http://www.alldata.com/recalls/index.html.

You can look by year and make of car. However when you click on Acura a box pops up with the following;

The American Honda Motor Company, Inc. has requested ALLDATA restrict access to Acura and Honda repair information by individual consumers. You will unfortunately not be able to register for access to Acura or Honda vehicle repair information, technical service bulletins or recalls.

jwacura

According to the 2003 TL catalog, there are 3 colors that are affected for 2003. Anthracite is now available for the Type S. Naples Gold will be replaced in August with Desert Mist (looks a shade darker). Firepepper Red will also be replaced with Redondo Red(also a shade darker). The only other change besides a boost up in price is the inclusion of On-Star with the Nav. system

Hope that helps!!

John W.

fredvh

Thanks for the info. What color interior comes with the new "desert mist"? Is the desert mist color available on the regular TL?

littlepaulie

I recently bought a 2001 used TL. I'm interested to find an aftermarket wooden shift knob for the car. Also I've been accustomed to have a compass and wonder if anyone has found a compass that fits nicely and looks good for the TL. Thanks

imoimo

I had to tried 3 times before it turned. The first couple of times, all the lights were on. I turned it all the way off and tried again and one the third it started. It wasn't really that cold last night, and I don't think it's the weather, because it happened once around last Sept. I thought then it was just the way I turn the key. Any knows why this is? I had the car since last August and had just over 10,000 km on it.

neuronbob

Acura makes a wooden shift knob for the TL. You can buy it at your dealer, or online at acura-tl.com.

hunter001

There are 2 choices too. Mahogany and another one with a darker color. I chose the darker one, which complements my interior better. This is real wood and not the fake stuff.

Later...AH

philipnow

Shortly after buying my new 2001 TL, I too noticed a creaking noise appearing to come from the sunroof. I don't hear it when the sunroof is open (and I don't think that that is only because of wind noise). The dealer seemed familiar with the problem and said that the noise was caused by rubbing between the rubber around the sunroof and the sunroof opening. They said they had a fix for it which involved placing an approximately 1/4 inch strip of silicon impregnated tape around the metal sunroof opening. This did NOT solve or change the creaking noise in my car. Has anyone found a solution?

tomsr

It turned over but would not fire.Tried 3 times.
I turned it off for about 5 minutes then tried again and it started.Acted like it was flooded
or a bad cold start valve.I would love to know if anybody else has experienced this.It has 17000 miles and should not be problematic.

tgif888

Did you have something on the keychain that interfere with the computer chip in the Acura key? For example like a Mobile speedpass or others?

tomsr

The only thing different is I also have a Honda
CRV and it's keys were in my pocket with the Acura key but not on the same keyring.Both cars have the immobilizer system.I would be interested to know how these systems work.I'm a techno geek
so I love gadgets.Oh yea I forgot I just got the CRV but I have had the TL for over a year.

fredvh

I would like to have some owner's mpg reports if you would be so kind. The kind of driving I would do would be approx. 75/25(highway/city). Also, could I have the RPM at 70 mph with the non-S? Thanks.

tomsr

I am getting 21 with a 50/50 mix highway/city.I think it is very good for a V6 with 225 hp.

neuronbob

I have the TL-P. When I do more freeway driving (70% freeway/30% city in my situation), my average mileage is 23-25 mpg. When I do more city driving (40 freeway/60 city), it's more toward 21-23. Of note is that I have a K & N drop-in filter, which has given a 2-3 mpg improvement.

RPMs at 70 mph for me are 1500-1800.

fredvh

Thanks for your posts but are these mpg with the 5-speed auto trans?

amazon

I have a '03 3.2TL-P, and my RPM is 1900 @ 70MPH.

fredvh

Thanks. What kind of mpg are you getting with approx. 75/25 (highway/city)?

amazon

I have only bought gas twice, and I haven't recorded the fuel milage yet. I'll do that the next time I fill up, though.

hunter001

In an all-highway kind of trip, I got 36mpg on a steady 70mph. On a different trip, with speeds ranging from 60-90mph, on the highway, the car returned 32mpg.

On my regular 40%city/60% hwy kind of driving, the car returns 23-25mpg depending on how aggressive I was with the throttle.

It shows 1900rpm at 70mph, with the 5-speed Automatic of my 2000 Acura 3.2TL

Later...AH

fredvh

WOW!! I hate to argue with you but did you really get 32-36 mpg on the highway? That is terrific. Has there been any change in the 2003 TL vs. the 2000? It seems that the 2002 and 2003s are not getting near your highway mpg. Do you have any explanations for it? Have you made any changes in your 2000? Have you had any trouble? If you were going to buy a luxury car today, would you buy the TL again?

amazon

I don't think Hunters numbers seem too out of line. If you set the cruise at 70 and let it stay there, the overdrive tranny will give you good gas milage. The problem is that the 3.2 invites you to step on the gas...

spartanman2

Have had my '02 for 2 months now...almost all city driving, 1500 miles total. Tonight I put 13 gallons in the tank, checked and reset the tripometer--230 miles. That's 18 mpg folks; about what Acura advertised for city driving.

I'm taking the TL-S on it's first long highway voyage this weekend and will be mighty disappointed if its not close to 30 mpg, as advertised.

littlepaulie

THANKS HUNTER001 AND NEURONBOB. DID OR ONE ONLINE FROM ACURA-TL WHICH WAS 20 BUCKS LESS THAN THE DEALER WANTED. tHE DARK BURLWOOD LOOKS GREAT WITH THE BURLWOOD TRIM. i ALSO ARRIVED IN FOUR DAYS (JUST IN TIME FOR MY WIFE'S BIRTHDAY) I'M STILL LOOKING FOR A NICE LOOKING COMPASS THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE IT BELONGS IN THE CAR. REPORTING BACK IF I CAN FIND SOMETHING NICE.

hunter001

I have not made any changes at all to my 2000, except for replacing the tires. The OEM Michelin Energy tires are pretty quiet but lack grip (makes embarassingly squealing noises during aggressive driving) and hence I replaced them with Dunlop SP Sport A2 All-season tires, which are fantastic. Absolutely no problems whatsoever with the car till date (26K miles).

If I were buying a near-Luxury car today, I would almost certainly go for the TL-s. The TL-s was not available when I bought my TL. The Infiniti G35 would also be an option I would seriously consider, even though I hear that the mileage in the G35 is not that great even though everything else is fantastic.

Also, I never tried to duplicate the 36mpg experience, since, as amazon said, the car invites us to step on the throttle. Keeping it at a steady 70mph was a torture, when I tried it. I continually had to restrain myself from stepping on the gas during that trip. Basically my objective was to find out how much mileage the car would give with steady 70mph smooth highway driving.

Later...AH