Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

tedescm1

I also took them court (Lemon Law)and was granted a sum of money to settle.

Poor quality and even worse customer service....

exb0

I have 2004 TL with 19K. The “oil life” indicator is stuck at 80%. It has been 2000 miles since the last oil change. The indicator usually drops 10% every 500 miles. At one point, since the last oil change, the indicator showed 70% than it went back up to 80% and it is stuck there. I haven’t changed my driving habits, and I have been driving same route to work.

Is there any way to reset it without loosing the “memory”? What I mean is that I don’t want the indicator to be reset back to 0 so it thinks it’s a brand new car. This way all the major service will be done 20K too late.

kentzzs

2006 TL 5sp auto
Start from cold, a click sound came from low part of the engine compartment when the speed reaches near 20MPH. It does not show up after that. Only the first time reach 20MPH after cold start. It is not the automatic door lock since I disable that function.

aaargh

Sounds like the ABS Self test to me.

kentzzs

Sounds reasonable. I was guessing that the sound is from the brake because it sounds like a release of metal parts. But I don't know what the car is programed doing.
Thanks.

bodble2

How in the world did she manage to run over the key fob? Is it not attached to the key, which she needed to insert in the ignition in order to start the car? :confuse: :P

krenaue

She backed our Subaru out of the driverway with the Acura key on the hood. It had snowed the night before. By the time I found the key in the middle of the street it had been run over. (

camon

The owners' manual has instructions on how to reset the oil life indicator for those who change their own oil. I used it several times. I have not reached 20K quite yet.
I do not believe that it resets anything else, because if it did, it would defeat the whole purpose of the maintence minder system. You can always double check with the dealer if in doubt.

midnightbui

Hey i was wondering if anyone can help me,.
i just bought a 06 TL a couple days ago and was wondering if anyone knew how to open the windows with the remote,.
on acura.com under the interactive section of the TL it shows that you can do that,. can anybody help,. thanks

bhelsdon

Just press and unlock button and hold untill the windows/sunroof opens.

midnightbui

hmmm. thats what i tried,.
am i doing it wrong,. do i have to set it up to do that,.
i press and held on the unlock button it wouldnt work,.
i feel retarded,.

aaargh

I think you have to press, release, and press (and hold) again. Just pressing once and holding doesn't do it I'm pretty sure.

bodble2

The manual does say you have to press once to unlock driver door, then press a second time, and hold, to unlock all doors and roll the windows down.

Now, I wonder, if you set the remote to unlock all doors with by pressing button once, would you still need to press a second time to roll the windows down?

aaargh

Now, I wonder, if you set the remote to unlock all doors with by pressing button once, would you still need to press a second time to roll the windows down?

Yes, that is how I have mine. Press once to unlock all, press again to roll down windows.

midnightbui

thanks i didnt know i had to press it twice,.
it worked now,.
thanks to everyone who help,.
im sure i will have more questions later,.

golfnut5

About two months ago when filling my 05 TL with gas the auto shut off on the gas pump did not automatically shut off and gas over flowed down the side of my TL. I thought the gas pump nozzle must have been defective. However, this same problem has happened about eight times since at different gas stations. I always thought the auto shut off was built into the gas nozzle. Has anybody on this board experienced this problem. I have an appointment with my local Acura Dealer next week.

laurasdada

I think that's only happened to me once (at least in as long as I can remember). But in 15 months of TL ownership it has not happened.

And with what's happening with the price of gas the last few weeks, that's a real double whammy! Anybody hit $3/gallon? For premium 93, around Boston it's around $2.80 and rising. Rapidly.

Hope it can be fixed and never happens again...

mcampbell1044

i bought my car used and the dealer never gave me the owners manual...so i was wondering if u could let me know how to reset the oil light?? thanks

mcampbell1044

i have a 00' tl and the same thing happened to me as well...but only once...

prashd

I bought my 05 TL 6 spd MT a couple of weeks back. I want to konw if someone has tried burning DVD-A from their CD's or MP3s and plyaing those in TL. What software do you need for that? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

jrourke

I want to konw if someone has tried burning DVD-A from their CD's or MP3s and plyaing those in TL. What software do you need for that?

MP3s won't play in the unit so that's not an option (at least as an MP3 file. They would need to be converted). People have had success burning CD tracks to a DVD (and I think some have reported success with Dual Layer DVDs as well. DVD-Rs seem to be more successful than DVD+Rs). I think there was a max of 99 songs per folder. If you try multiple folders it gets complicated to switch between them - have to push a couple of buttons to accomplish it. You can buy some software to assist making the DVD or there's also free "open-source" software as well. Check out some of the threads in the TL forums at acurazine and acuraworld. There are some specific step by step instructions posted. Note this will not be DVD-A 5.1 sound but traditional CD quality.

tnmg1

Check out adobeman's post at acurazine.com. He has made a GUI (graphical user interface?) that converts mp3 to play on DVD-A or CD (.wav) to play on DVD-A. If you have a TL, you'll find TONS of info about your car and things that can be done to it there.

http://tl.acurazine.com/ for the forums
http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133281 for adobemans GUI.

camon

To reset Maintenance Minder Oil Life in a 05TL:
1. With the car off turn the ignition switch to ON position II;
2. Press the button repeatedly until the oil life is displayed;
3. Press and hold the SELECT/RESET button for 10 seconds. The display will ask for confirmation. Press the SELECT/RESET button to select OK.

camon

To reset Maintenance Minder Oil Life in a 05TL:
1. With the car off turn the ignition switch to ON position II;
2. Press the button repeatedly until the oil life is displayed;
3. Press and hold the SELECT/RESET button for 10 seconds. The display will ask for confirmation. Press the SELECT/RESET button to select OK.

camon

Please note that in instruction # 2 above to reset oil life, this message site will not allow the necessary characters I typed to be displayed in print !!

mcampbell1044

my recent message i forgot to put the year of my car, it is a 2000...so if anyone knows how to reset the oil light for that year it would really help...thanks...

thanks camon i tried it for an 05 but it just changes my outside temp.

courtney11

Are there still problems with the tires on 2006 models? Any other problems frequent with the TL I should be awrare of?

bhelsdon

It changed your outside temp because you had the temp on the display. You need to have the oil life in the display, then press and hold reset until it prompts you from there.

bhelsdon

before turning the key to on you must press and hold both the trip and reset buttons at the same time. While holding them turn the key to ON. continue to hold while watching the maint light. The light should flash once then come on a stay on for a few seconds then go off. Once it goes off it is reset

twmark

Is there any way to get the windows back up with the remote?

bhelsdon

no, you have to put the key in the door and turn it to lock twice. on the second turn you must hold until windows go up.

mcampbell1044

thanks...it worked...

jrourke

Is there any way to get the windows back up with the remote?

If you're interested in a DIY project then check this out:

close windows with remote

4wheelman1

Does anyone know where the odometer and mileage numbers are stored? Since everything is electronic, is the info stored in the gauge cluster or the car's computer. I am asking this because I am looking at purchasing a theft recovery car that had the interior stripped along with the gauge cluster. Vehicle info reports state there is a mileage discrepency due to the fact that mileage could not be verified at time of recovery and new title status. Any help would be appreciated. By the way, it is an '04 tl.

bodble2

Interesting project. I'll probably end up crippling my car if I tried it. I think I'll just stick to remembering to close the windows before I exit! :P

bhawkins17

I have a 2000 TL and I recently replaced the factory radio
with a Pioneer radio/cd player. I followed the directions exactly and put everything back together following the diagrams I was provided with. The new radio works but I have no parking lights or dash lights. I checked the fuses and everything seems to be in order. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

bhelsdon

You need to check the wiring on the radio again. If you had the lights off while installing the radio( i am sure you did) you may have mistaken the wire that lit the original radio as a ground. so undo your ground to the radio and check it. With lights off it will show ground with lights on it will be hot. If this is the case then you need to ground it properly and check your fuzes because you most likely blew one.

upstatedoc

Shows how much of the owners manual I read, I didn't even know the windows would go up w/ the key..... changed from my snows back to the michelins the other day, my 50 -60 mph vibration is back. What tires work on this car? Do other performance sedans w/ the low profile tires have the same problem? Very frustrating.

bodble2

"What tires work on this car?"

Your snow tires! :P

spartan80

I bought my '06 black/camel TL in January, and it's time for it's first wax. Does anyone have any advice on avoiding swirl marks? I'm aware that you should apply/buff in a forward and back motion. Still, I've ended up with swirl marks on previous dark colored cars, including my Noble Green '02 TL-S.

alana106

Just bought a new TL Auto with Nav Saturday. It seems that my car rides even rougher that the 2 demos that I drove. I'm taking a lot of heat from the BIG BOSS (Wife). Has anyone noticed a betterment after a few miles are on the car, or come up with a way to make this more liveable.
Will lowering the PSI in the tires help at all? Would appreciate knowing where others have their tire pressure inflated to.

armand

At 8000 miles I took off the original Bridgestone El42s and put on ContiExtremes - it helped a lot.

dr_g

I went from a sporty Ford Contour SE to the TL and thought the ride was exceptionally hard all last week (1st week of owernship). Today I drove my TL to work and back and was surprised at how smooth the freeway ride was. Either I'm smoking crack or the EL42s just need a little break-in.

Will probably switch to a more compliant tire when I plow through the EL42s

golfnut5

The TL rides rough on rough pavement and rides smooth on smooth pavement. It is just set-up firm and rough pavement really creates a hard ride.

ed31cincy

I had some warranty work done on my '04 TL yesterday. My loaner was an '06 with 1400 miles. It had the vibration even worse than my car. When I got to work, I checked to see which tires were on the loaner. Yep, Bridgestone EL42. Guess they still haven't figured it out yet. I plan on buying either Avon Tech M-550 or Kumho Ecsta ASX from Tire Rack.

dr_g

So I used to run my old car with 2 12" subs that kicked pretty hard (yes I was a basshead, but not annoying to disturb other cars in traffic). I figured the TL's audio system would be adequate enough to not to want to tamper with it and put in modifications. I like my music with a little more bass and treble (less mids).

When I turned the sub all the way up most songs with decent bass create a buzzing in the back of the car. I didn't notice this as I never turned the music up with the engine off (I don't notice the buzzing/vibrating when driving). I jumped into the backseat to make sure it wasn't something jiggling in the rear pillars and it doesn't appear to be.

It seems to be the entire rear decklid (the area behind the headrests that houses the 3 rear speakers). No matter what I tried to hold down with my hand I couldn't isolate the buzzing - so I assume nothing loose.

I've never tested other TLs so I don't know if this rattling is specific for all TLs or just mine. Wondering if I should go to the dealer (since my baby is only 1 week old). Has anybody else experienced this problem.

I know most cars will rattle somewhere if they kick enough - and it really annoys me to hear buzzing as it is a sign of something loose.

Any suggestions?

bhawkins17

Thanks for the help bhelsdon! The 15 amp "small light" fuse under the hood had indeed blown. This fixed my parking lights however I still don't have any dash lights. I will recheck the wiring, hopefully tonight, and see what happens. Could it be the illumination/dimmer wires in the new wiring harness? There were no corresponding wires on the factory end of it.

rockinrn

I have my tires inflated to factory specs which is 32PSI front and rear. My car has a decent balance between a firm and complaint ride without harshness.

rockinrn

Don't use any product that even contains a hint of abrasives or polishing compounds. Pure carnuba wax will hide any existing fine scratches without adding new ones. Use pure cotton cloths for application and removal.

brycen

I have a TL with Michelins and it takes about 5 miles to get enough heat into them to round them out. After the first 5 miles, they are great for the rest of the day