I don't like it, and that's a good thing

Well, I pulled the trigger on a new daily.  As mentioned in this thread, I needed a cheap daily for work.  Went against the non-automatic, but stayed in the Honda family because it had a stack of receipts, A/C worked well (critical in Texas) and just seemed in good shape.  Plus, it passed inspection in May of this year, so I have a year to drive it before worrying about anything like that.

I don't like the car, but I don't hate it.  That's good because I'm not looking at it with automotive "stars in my eyes" thinking of all the cool things I want to do to it.  Being a car guy, I normally can't leave well enough alone (new rims or Koni's or radio or whatever), but because I don't like this car, I see it as a pure "keep the maintenance up" appliance. 

To the car:

2000 Acura TL with about 198k on it.  Transmission rebuilit at 180k miles back in 2015.  Owner had it for ten years and drove it through college in Wisconsin before moving to Austin. Couple of very small rust spots, but that'll stop in this Texas heat.  He's not a car guy, so lots of receipts of work done.  Only complaint were the brakes have air in the lines and rotors are a little warped.  New rotors and pads were ordered this morning from Amazon.  So, that's one of the first items on the list for this weekend.  Almost new Pirelli P7's.  This car drives like a vault.  I was shocked at how quiet it was at 65 mph with the radio off. 

Temperature seems to be just fine with the driving I did yesterday.  Gauge seems to work fine and stayed just a tick under middle with A/C on and off.  But, there seems to be a ton of heat off the motor when I pop the hood.  Probably normal, but it's a new car to me, so something to keep an eye on.  I'll check and possibly do a transmission fluid flush in the near future, just to be safe and get a starting point.  New air filter, wipers, etc.  Just the normal.  Very slight rough at idle, so probably a throttle body clean and plugs on the list, soon, too. Maybe tint (because Texas summer).

Everything seems to work so far.  Lights, windows, sunroof, radio, etc.

Pics:  I don't even like the color, but it'll rarely look dirty.

Running total:

• $2100 for the car
• $170 to the state of Texas for the title transfer
• $165 to Amazon for pads and rotors, shipped free same day.

I was kinda surprised about Amazon's prices.  Advanced Auto was $208 with a 25% discount, Rock Auto was $150 for standard rotors and pads, but a week for shipping while Amazon was only $165 and same day shipping. 

-Rob

I like this. I am doing the opposite though.. The ''daily'' is a new 2017 Elantra and the 2nd car will be a used car, cheap and slightly modded.

But, I can't see myself modding the Elantra. It starts every morning, no headaches. warranty. cheap on fuel.. but I get it. it's an appliance, that's it.

Good buy BTW. Keep an eye on the transmission. May the torque converter sensor never fail. lol

A set of Eibach springs and some basic KYB shocks will lower it and make it look better. A trip to the tint shop will make the AC feel even more robust. 

No significant money spent on those two projects, but it won't be a bone stock boring car anymore. I'm a car guy, so I have to do a little something to set even the most mundane daily driver apart from the masses. 

Does this car have a J32 engine in it?  I don't know how closely they are related, but our Pilot has a J35, and it seems really hot when you shut the car down.  The gauge never shows that it is getting hot, but walking by the hood you can definitely feel it.  It's been like that the whole time we've owned it, and I haven't seen any issues from it.

I think that's what it is in it.  It's a 3.2 liter, so probably the J32.  Even odder is that there is a metal plate on top of the motor that the engine cover surrounds and gets really hot.

Brakes are being done this morning by my son.  Apparently, he got up around 5:30 and just got started on them.  Car came from Wisconsin, so he's struggling with a bit of rust (quite foreign to us in Texas!), but still progressing.

Looks like the pads and rotors were OK, but there was a definite shimmy and air in the lines, so better to be safe than sorry and just knock it out.

-Rob

Looks pretty good! Get that tint on there!

Son bailed on me this morning to hang out with the girlfriend, so the bleed will happen tomorrow.

But, I did some youtube searching and found out the big plate on the top is the tubing for the intake.  A handful of bolts and it was off.  Carb cleaned all the valleys and orifices and cleaned out the intake as best as I could.  Car seems to idle a LOT better now.  I was surprised at how easy it was.  Also tossed on some cheapie wiper blades in prep for the upcoming rain this week and a new air filter. 

Also started looking through the receipts.  Besides a transmission rebuild in October of 2015 (with a 36k mile/3 year warranty, woot!), PO had new brake lines installed, A/C rebuilt and various little things fixed on the car.   Nice!

-Rob

Spent father's day with my son working on the Acura and his car.  We went 3/4 of the way through a brake bleed on it.  He learned how to do one and the brakes are better.  I could not get the driver's front bleed screw to crack loose and since it's my daily, I didn't want to risk snapping it off and making a more expensive repair.  We PB Blasted it a few times, but couldn't get it to budge.  Since the car spent time up north, I'm noticing little things bits are fairly crusty.  I'll keep blasting and trying over the next few weeks.

My son decided to use one of those headlight restoration kits he had on the headlights. 

Unrestored:

Restored:

Not perfect, but a heck of a lot better.  The scratched one looked worse in person.  Although, I've noticed today that they've yellowed a bit.  Still much clearer, but kinda odd.

Drove it to work the first time today.  Sitting in the car at lunch, the temp gauge started to creep up a bit.  Popped the hood and the radiator fan wasn't spinning.   Car seems to cool fine at speed, so this was my first time to really notice it.  Whacked the fan a few times to see if i could get it to catch, but it never did.  Swapped the relays with the A/C fan and the A/C condenser fan kept spinning, so it looks like the fan motor is bad.

Just ordered one from Advanced Auto with one of the 25% off coupons and I'll pick it up on my way home.  I can't understand how I can apply a coupon online and just go pick it up 30 minutes later, but can't apply the same coupon in the store.  Oh well.  Just an extra few minutes step for a decent discount.  Hope to get that popped in tonight after the boy gets home from his economics class.

-Rob

The advance near me does that too.  It's frankly maddening, when I'm sitting in the store with a barcode on my phone, and they say "oh sorry, you have to buy that online and pick it up in 30 minutes."  A for effort, F for execution.

Fan was incredibly easy to replace once I got it maneuvered past the hoses and cables.  It now comes on when the A/C is on, but not when the A/C is turned off.  Next step is probably a new temp sensor.  Looks like it's fairly easy to replace.  Car still isn't overheating, but living in Texas, it makes me nervous. 

Next on the agenda is probably plugs and figure out why gas mileage seems to be really bad.  I've burned a 1/3 of a tank and only gone about 80 miles.  I'm guessing it'll be about 200-250 miles on a tank. Even with my limited stop and go, it shouldn't be that bad.  Plugs may help.  Another intake clean may help, too.  Brakes should be OK and not dragging.  Might be a bad O2 sensor (according to the forums), but I'm not getting any codes. 

I'll also work on the bleed screw again.  The brakes are better, but still not confidence inspiring.  Thanks goodness my '67 Triumph GT6 I had when I was in high school always had air in the lines and I learned to double pump the brakes.  That muscle memory is quickly coming back on this car where it's second nature now. 

-Rob

This is starting to become the "missed it by 'that' much" car.....   Got three of the rotors and pads replaced, but have a stripped bolt head on the driver rear.  Pads and rotors look ok, but that'll be a good long weekend adventure.  Nervous about it because it's my daily, so I don't want to screw up too much.  Was able to bleed three of the four pistons, with the drivers front not wanting to come off.  Tried it again this weekend to no avail, so more PB Blaster on it to break it free.  I guess if I screw that one up, I can just stick a rebuilt piston on it and call it done. 

This weekend, decided to do the plugs and temp sensor.  Temp sensor was incredibly easy and now the radiator fan comes on when the A/C is turned off!  Plugs weren't so easy as I was able to do 5 of the 6.  One of the boots decided to release it's tip which is now stuck down the spark plug hole and on the plug.   Tried using a pick and specifically bought long needle nose pliers, but was unsuccessful.  I'll keep looking for a very skinny and very long set of pliers to see if I can pull it off.  I'm also tempted to smear glue on the boot and stick it in there to see if I can get it out that way, but am nervous about what type of glue to use inside a motor.

Passenger rear window regulator snapped a cable, so I have it wedged with wood until I have a little more cash to buy another.  Pick and pull has them for $45, but I can buy new for about $60...

Some good things are I put some cling tint on the windows and rear to cut some of the heat.  Also got a chance to really clean the inside of the car.  Turns out the dark spots were not where the vinyl or leather were worn away, but dirt.  Plus, I shampooed the carpets, cleaned the leather and tossed in some floor mats.  The car has much less of a "funk" smell now. 

Next (besides the above) is to figure out where the A/C drain tube is and see if I can clean it out.  It's not dripping outside the car, but I can't find it dripping inside, either.  Down here in humid Austin, it should be a gusher. 

Then, on my next fillup, see what my actual MPG's are and see how they'll be as I've replaced the current parts and cleaned the intake.  I'm thinking I'll need to toss in a new upstream O2 sensor to help that, but that's another $$ that I don't want to spend if it's not critical.

I'm trying to keep the spend at a minimum while also trying to fix things that could be fixed but aren't keeping the car from being a daily.

-Rob

Another weekend and some very minor updates.  Ended up doing the upstream O2 sensor with a genuine Denso.  Haven't had the ability to run through a full tank, yet, but the car seems to run better.  It actually kicked into VTec mode, which kinda surprised me since I've never owned a Honda before. 

Still haven't figured out how to pull the plug boot end, but am leaning towards slathering glue around it, cramming it in and letting it sit for a bit and see if I can pull it out that way.  

Still a little hesitant after the first morning startup that I need to chase down. 

Wife finagled me a free radio from SiriusXM instead of canceling it on our truck.  So, I'll need to figure out how to mount it without looking too ugly. 

-Rob