#dadcar 2005 Acura TL 6 speed

First thing

after changing my plans a few times I think I may get the mechanical stuff done and drive this for the summer and have the body work done in november

I have a 2006 Accord 6-6 sedan and love it. The timing belt, while not super fun isn’t awful either. I put the GM Syncromesh trans fluid in mine and it made a night and day difference in the shift feel. It’s actually what Honda recommended to fix the 3rd gear pop out issue. I can get you the part number if you decide to use it. 

In reply to yamaha225 :

Thanks. Not scared of the timing belt, done some Pilots and Odysseys. I plan to use Amsoil Syncromesh.

In reply to yamaha225 :

What trim is your Accord? I almost bought a 6-6 Accord before I found this.

Any updates on this car? How bad was the visible rust to fix, and did you find any more rust?

I have an ‘06 6-6 accord sedan.  Very fun cars... the Acura TL is virtually the same car but with an LSD, a slightly bigger engine (89mm bore vs 86mm in the accord, both cars have the same block and same 86mm stroke).  The TL weighs a bit more.  

What mods are you planning?  I will say, with the high miles on your car I’d pay attention to the pre-cats - they have a tendency to desinegrate and throw bits of ceramic back in cylinders, ruining an engine.  Also they are a nice target for mods - they are quite a poor design for exhaust flow and letting heat escape the engine.  

MINIzguy said:

Any updates on this car? How bad was the visible rust to fix, and did you find any more rust?

Been driving it for about a month. Have not tackled the rust but I did find more on the rockers. I've put the rust repair of until November/December for now.

Number1Gaza said:

I have an ‘06 6-6 accord sedan.  Very fun cars... the Acura TL is virtually the same car but with an LSD, a slightly bigger engine (89mm bore vs 86mm in the accord, both cars have the same block and same 86mm stroke).  The TL weighs a bit more.  

What mods are you planning?  I will say, with the high miles on your car I’d pay attention to the pre-cats - they have a tendency to desinegrate and throw bits of ceramic back in cylinders, ruining an engine.  Also they are a nice target for mods - they are quite a poor design for exhaust flow and letting heat escape the engine.  

Not sure how far I will end up going with mods. The ride is really nice and the car is quiet, I need to fully asses the rust before I do much. May be a short timer.

https://i.imgur.com/vhsrk7pr.jpg

Dad's neighbor had one of these save his life.

An 18 wheeler drive had a heart attack and crossed the middle lane on the highway and hit him head on, the truck rode over the entire driver side of the car and they had to use the jaws of life to get him out. He only had wrist burns from the airbag and belt bruises to show for it... 

Mad_Ratel said:

Dad's neighbor had one of these save his life.

An 18 wheeler drive had a heart attack and crossed the middle lane on the highway and hit him head on, the truck rode over the entire driver side of the car and they had to use the jaws of life to get him out. He only had wrist burns from the airbag and belt bruises to show for it... 

wow! that's pretty impressive!

I like these things and should really test drive a manual one.

Did you get that MPG on regular fuel? And what type of range per tank do you get? My average speed per tank is usually 40-44 mph, so I may be able to squeak out 30+ MPG on one of these!

that MPG was after some highway. I always run 93. I think near 400 miles per tank is doable. My "not as nice to it" tank was 26 mpg. 

i have a 13 TL 6-speed.  I have been running the E30 gas in and although not great gas mileage it seems to have fantastic performance gains.  Might want to try it as it is cheaper here than regular, and is told to have equivalent of 96 octane.  YMMV

cdowd said:

i have a 13 TL 6-speed.  I have been running the E30 gas in and although not great gas mileage it seems to have fantastic performance gains.  Might want to try it as it is cheaper here than regular, and is told to have equivalent of 96 octane.  YMMV

I don't think we can get that here?

In reply to solfly :

and your car's fuel system is not going to be built to deal with that kind of ethanol content.. anything beyond E10 will cause trouble. 

need some of you logical people to help me out trying to decide if i should keep this or replace it

i like it

it needs the following work:

rust repair - it's got pretty bad rust on the rockers that needs to be fixed. its got rust on both rear wheel arches that needs to be fixed. its got a few small spots on the trunk lid that don't "need" to be fixed but i would want to if i went that far with the rest. i haven't pulled the rocker covers to see how bad but i'm guessing if i pay someone to do it right it would be $1000 or so, would probably want a paint correction as well if I went that far

windshield - it passes inspection but it has two good size chips in it that bug me, would need to replace, maybe it can be fixed? not sure. i'd guess $300 to fix

interior -  for the age and mileage the interior is pretty good. the pass front seat is terrible and i'd want to replace it. the dash is cracked badly and i'd want to replace it. maybe a cover but i think that would bug me too. i'm guessing i could get both for $500 and replace them myself though the dash seems like a pain.

oil pan - previous owner had quick lube places do oil changes and the pan isn't great, should be replaced. $150 or so

exhaust - it has a pretty badly rusted flange on the downstream cat, no O2 sensors after it so a test pipe would work. $100. upstream cats become a concern at the mileage i'm at. not sure what i would do there if anything.

suspension - would want to do coilovers but should have the front end gone through, ball joints sway bar links etc

noisy axle - clicks on turns with throttle

intermittent air bag light - haven't diagnosed

good stuff:

timing belt/water pump/tune up all done within 5,000 miles

like i said i like it

thoughts:

it's my daily but i put it away last winter and would continue to do so if i fix/keep it.

is it cool enough for that? would i rather have something old/cool in place of it?

options i'm currently thinking of

1. sell and get an older toy, i have a truck and two civics and my wife has a crv (do i have/want to devote that time right now? i have a 3 year old)

2. sell and get a better tl

3. keep, fix

kind of all over, just trying to bounce ideas off like-minded individuals

thanks

What would replace it, would it do the same function and make you happy?

that's a great question, here's my current fleet and the perceived/intended use of each:

88 Civic Hatch - Autocross/Track car. Currently way on the backburner but not going anywhere.

98 Civc Coupe - started off as winter beater but stumbled across the next car on this list and this is too nice. Currently lowered and either need to sell or do a few mods to make it fun and commute with it a few days a week.

01 Civic Sedan Automatic - $500 buy from a customer. nothing wrong with it. 160,000 miles, starting to rust. winter beater for me/backup car for my wife when needed.

96 Chevy K1500 - Truck

05 Acura TL - Fun DD/car I can put the kiddo in most easily

if i get rid of the acura i'd probably get rid of the coupe too and put that money together toward whatever is next. i've been thinking about something cool/old (64-67 chevelle 4 door has been on my mind lately) and i have the civic sedan for boring stuff then probably the crv when we replace that and the sedan is too far gone.

do i want a car like that? yes! do i want to commit the time and effort to it now with a 3 year old? ehhh

again, another option would be another, nicer TL.

solfly said:

that's a great question, here's my current fleet and the perceived/intended use of each:

88 Civic Hatch - Autocross/Track car. Currently way on the backburner but not going anywhere.

98 Civc Coupe - started off as winter beater but stumbled across the next car on this list and this is too nice. Currently lowered and either need to sell or do a few mods to make it fun and commute with it a few days a week.

01 Civic Sedan Automatic - $500 buy from a customer. nothing wrong with it. 160,000 miles, starting to rust. winter beater for me/backup car for my wife when needed.

96 Chevy K1500 - Truck

05 Acura TL - Fun DD/car I can put the kiddo in most easily

 

if i get rid of the acura i'd probably get rid of the coupe too and put that money together toward whatever is next. i've been thinking about something cool/old (64-67 chevelle 4 door has been on my mind lately) and i have the civic sedan for boring stuff then probably the crv when we replace that and the sedan is too far gone.

do i want a car like that? yes! do i want to commit the time and effort to it now with a 3 year old? ehhh

again, another option would be another, nicer TL.

Newer acura's have better crash safety (vs civic and  Chevelle), a factor for carting a kid around in a DD.

Maybe keep an eye open for a tsx as well? Built in Japan, available with stick and or v6.

Where are you located?

maine

daytonaer said:

solfly said:

that's a great question, here's my current fleet and the perceived/intended use of each:

88 Civic Hatch - Autocross/Track car. Currently way on the backburner but not going anywhere.

98 Civc Coupe - started off as winter beater but stumbled across the next car on this list and this is too nice. Currently lowered and either need to sell or do a few mods to make it fun and commute with it a few days a week.

01 Civic Sedan Automatic - $500 buy from a customer. nothing wrong with it. 160,000 miles, starting to rust. winter beater for me/backup car for my wife when needed.

96 Chevy K1500 - Truck

05 Acura TL - Fun DD/car I can put the kiddo in most easily

 

if i get rid of the acura i'd probably get rid of the coupe too and put that money together toward whatever is next. i've been thinking about something cool/old (64-67 chevelle 4 door has been on my mind lately) and i have the civic sedan for boring stuff then probably the crv when we replace that and the sedan is too far gone.

do i want a car like that? yes! do i want to commit the time and effort to it now with a 3 year old? ehhh

again, another option would be another, nicer TL.

Newer acura's have better crash safety (vs civic and  Chevelle), a factor for carting a kid around in a DD.

 

Maybe keep an eye open for a tsx as well? Built in Japan, available with stick and or v6.

absolutely right about the safety aspect. if i went with an old car it would be more of a toy and he'd probably only be in it occasionally. usually he's in the crv, acura on average a few times a month

I don't really like that generation TSX or the newer TL

Aaaand I sold it