Acura TL 1999-2003

mking15

My low beam headlight has gone out. Will I be able to change this bulb myself, or do I have to take my car to the dealer? I do not want to because I know that I'll be over charged. Please help.

hpmctorque

I'm sorry I can't give you good advice on your first and third questions. Regarding your second question, however, the transmission in the 2000 Accord is different from the one in the 2000 Acura TL. The Accord had the old time tested 4-speed automatic, while the TL featured a new 5-speed. The latter was problematic through about '03, with many owners experiencing the symptoms you described.

You didn't mention the mileage on your TL. If it's not too much above 100,000 (can't recall the exact cut-off, but you can probably find it on Google) it's possible that Acura may assist you with part of the expense. It's worth asking them.

Please let us know what happens.

dwdraw2

Sounds like your pretty familiar with early Acuras. I'm currently driving a 99 Acura TL 3.2. I had the transmission replaced about two months ago by AMMACO. It cost about 2600. Acura wanted 4200 to replace it. Last year I had two motor mounts replaced. This year I had one fuel injector replaced and possibly another going bad. I had the 105,000 mile tune-up early January, hoping that nothing else will go wrong. My milage at this time is 99,780 miles.

I bought the car new at the dealer and had regular maintance at the dealer, but it seems my car is falling apart before 100,000 miles. My car looks almost show room new inside and out. It's been taken care of well. I'm not sure what to expect of it next, other than a possible fuel injector going bad, or the third motor mount going bad.

What do you know about the 99 Acura TL 3.2? Do you know by any chance of any common failures with the 99? I feel bad that the car can't last beyond 100,000 before falling apart. I bought the Acura because of the supposedly high quality so I wouldn't be nickled and dimed to death in it's later years. If it breaks down anymore, I'll have to file for food stamps.

hpmctorque

My wife is the original owner of a '99 TL too. Current mileage is 132,500. It also had the motor mounts replaced at about the same mileage that you did. In addition, the catalytic converter went bad at about 98,000. Overall, however, it's been an excellent car. Reliability has been good, and maintenance costs have been reasonable.

If I were you, and you want to keep your cost-per-mile of operation reasonable, I'd keep the '99 TL. Of course, any 13 year old car with >100,000 will have occasional needs. However, depreciation is a major expense with new cars, and your car is close to fully depreciated.

Let us know what you do.

dwdraw2

Thanks for the reply hpmctorque.

I'm about stuck with keeping the car. I now currently have more money put into the car than what I can get out of it. The transmission was the biggest expense. I have already replaced one fuel-injector and another is apparently going bad. The dealer said to wait for the check light to come on so they could better pin-point it. With that possibility looming, it makes it hard to travel very far out of town.

If I may ask, what was the cost of the catalytic converters cost. Did you get them from the dealership or an independent garage? When they replace the catalytic converter, do they replace the whole exhaust system? The cost of the fuel-injector was about 370. The motor mounts were around 400 each, all done at the dealership. The transmission was done by AMMACO Transmissions, as recommended by the garage to cut cost. That cost 2600.

The outside of the car has no rust-nearly new looking, and the inside is the same. I haven't changed my headlights yet, but that will be soon I suppose.

Thanks again for your reply.

hpmctorque

I should have the receipt for the catalytic converter, so I'll look for it and get back to you. I had it changed by an independent garage that we've used for many years. The rest of the exhaust system is original.

The '99 TL is a well designed and well built car, so if driven with care and serviced, it should give you many more years of service.

liftcharge

Yesterday my check engine light and TCS light came on same time. Also at the same time the engine started running rough. I took the car to autozone and used thier code scanner. It showed that all 6 cylinders were missfiring. The top recomended fix was to replace the Ingition coil. But their are 6 of them. I don't see how all six can go bad at the same time.

Any advice would be welcome
Thanks
Dave

speeder31

Hey Dave,

Not sure if you've remedied this yet, but I experienced the same thing a few months ago with my 2000 TL. It says that all six are misfiring, but it's basically an SOS for just one.

You need to pinpoint the bum coil with a guess-and-check technique. With the engine running and the transmission in Park, unplug the ignition cable from one of the coils--don't worry, you won't get shocked. Listen for a change in the engine's behavior. If you hear a drop in performance (rougher idle, lower speed), you unplugged a good coil. If there's no change in behavior, congrats--you've found the bad coil. Head back to your nearest AutoZone and pick up a replacement for about $45.00 and relish the fact that you saved about $200 over going to the dealer

davesharpe

I just purchased a 01 tl and the trans dumped on me. The car only has 77,000 miles on it. I bought a used trans off craigslist yesterday for pretty cheap. So my question is, The trans thats in the car is a B7WA and the trans that i bout is a BGFA which turns out is a Acura CL trans. Will that trans work in my car???