Blues current daily

[BLUE]

Well , In the spirit of things simmering slowly , I guess I’ll post my daily beater

I originally was driving my Toyota Tundra as my daily driver , but decided I wanted a daily run around. This would allow me to keep the miles off my truck , so I can make it last longer (I’m cheap ). The hunt began I suppose.

This car by looks doesn’t *exactly* fit my personality , but I wanted a solid reliable car that would apparently make every teenage girl in the world jealous .

Originally , I was going to purchase a sedan (easier for family or friends to access) , but this car popped up. It’s an ‘03 Acura C Ltype s coupe manual trans With 145,000 miles on it. Not very many made in the CL body style.

I originally found the car on Craigslist. An original owner (dentist of an older vintage) was selling it. He just bought a Lexus and had a THICK pile of service record receipts. I could hardly believe the actual maintenance was kept up on (lol) , and he paid hard money for a dealership to unclog his windshield wiper squirters. I Test drove it maybe10-15miles and couldn’t really feel anything wrong with it (other than the shiny heavy momo wheels he put on).

The pricing value of the excellent babied condition the whole car was in....was simply hard to pass up. I the. I’m agreed to purchase the car. Owner dropped it off at my house and I drove him back to his.

[BLUE]

..

[BLUE]

I only even considered purchasing the car because....it is A 6spd manual transmission car. I wouldn’t have even looked at it if it was an auto. Autos in these years are pure garbage at best to my knowledge.

—————-Car features————-
-J32a2 engine
-Factory LSD Differential
-6spd M/T Close ratio trans (Later TL’s have same)
-Factory Brembo brakes
-Leather
-Heated Seats
-Sunroof
-Cruise control
-Dimming rearview mirror (Or whatever it’s called)


^^^ which more or less most cars these days have similar features nowadays , but some of these I admittedly quite like. The brakes are awesome , Brembo factory racing brakes. I’m sure they’re cheap to replace . Heated seats the wife loves. Using the cruise control is killer , on a manual transmission car. The gearbox pairing with the 6spd is perfect...on this car. If I really wanted more low-mid end torque , then I could just put in a J35a3 engine from an early mdx or odyssey.

Frankly for a cheap daily beater , I honestly like the car. I’ve taken it through Parts of Oregon. It has made a road trip through Oregon , Washington , Idaho , Utah , Nevada , and then to its new home in California not many months after I first got the car. Driving 70-80mph through allowed areas along this trip was a breeze....no sweat whatsoever ! The car is geared for the highway perfectly.....

I’ve also taken it back and forth several times to my old stomping grounds in Oregon. To me....The car is smooth enough , and the power is matched so well that you really have to make sure you’re not going faster than you think on the highway.


I will post the different repairs or little things I’ve done at later dates

[Laecaon]

My family used to have a 97 3.0CL. Other than it being a 2dr for a family of 5... it was great. Smooth and nice. It was my mothers car, but my dad liked the way it drove.

I think you meant Auto Dimming Rear view.

[DRIVEN]

Looks like your leather is aging better than most.

[jtinluvr]

Had a 03’ TL type S. Was a solid car. Traded it in on a Dodge Magnum RT in 06’ the wife still has. Ours was an automatic and never had any issues with it, but we didn’t put a lot of miles on it before we traded it in.

[DRIVEN]

They were (are) great cars -- Extremely reliable. Outside of regular maintenance stuff, the only thing I remember is plugged EGR passages. Those were an easy fix by pulling the upper intake.

[BLUE]

My family used to have a 97 3.0CL. Other than it being a 2dr for a family of 5... it was great. Smooth and nice. It was my mothers car, but my dad liked the way it drove.

I think you meant Auto Dimming Rear view.

Very nice to hear...

2dr is a little hard for a family of 5 for sure especially if they eat anything like I do hahah

Yes , Auto dimming rear view thanks... , couldn’t think brain fart

Had a 03’ TL type S. Was a solid car. Traded it in on a Dodge Magnum RT in 06’ the wife still has. Ours was an automatic and never had any issues with it, but we didn’t put a lot of miles on it before we traded it in.

That’s what I like to hear...
I’m pretty happy with the car overall and it sounds like you guys were to.

I’ve always liked dodge magnums.
My brother and I just about pulled the trigger on one for our father.

They were (are) great cars -- Extremely reliable. Outside of regular maintenance stuff, the only thing I remember is plugged EGR passages. Those were an easy fix by pulling the upper intake.

Awesome ,Thanks for the experience on the EGR passages getting plugged.

I’ll snag an upper intake gasket kit + EGR gasket if it comes with.

The leather isn’t bad for the age , but it’s got a couple small splits on the drivers. I’ll continue to condition it hopefully it’ll help keep.

[BLUE]

Got my hands on an upper intake manifold set. Pulled the upper intake off , since I didn’t see any record of the EGR passage cleaning being performed. All (6) small ports were pretty well cake in carbon , and the main egr port leading into the manifold had plenty (not clogged yet). No CEL codes thrown.

I started at it with a screw driver/pick/cleaner/vacuum/compressed air to the passages in the cover first before thinking of taking pics.

No issues with EGR valve.

Got it cleaned out as much as possible , installed , and torqued to spec.

Plenty of carbon came out.
Idles great.

[DRIVEN]

Dang! I just mentioned it as a heads up, didn't think you were going to dive in. Usually it would manifest in one of 2 ways. Sometimes an EGR code, which usually meant the restriction was just past the EGR valve. Sometimes misfire code(s), which was brought on by a couple passages getting plugged and all the exhaust gas going to the remaining open passages. Some cylinders would be lean while others were rich and it would be detected as a misfire. Rarely could you feel it.

[BLUE]

Considering I have the time now , figured I better get my but in gear and get it done since you just confirmed how often the EGR ports can plug along with some of those Acura forum guys the help is appreciated.

EGR cleaning Motivation as follows = I originally had a slightly rough..*cold idle* the last couple months. I’ve been putting off working on it . Warmed up the idle is/was always smooth. At idle...when the a/c compressor kicked On..... manifested a vibration just bad enough that I checked my motor mounts etc... I decided to do this EGR service/clean the throttle body again carefully before checking anything else.

EGR port cleaning solved all related issues above. A/c kicking on and off is hardly noticeable at the stop light now. It wasn’t by any means bad before just annoying. Smooth. Solid.

Local dealers seem *reasonable* on pricing for doing this service

[BLUE]

Going back in time , about a year , decided to get a few things replaced even thought I technically could have gotten a little more time out of some items. Some parts bad , some parts weren’t bad I just hate working on non-classic or vintage collector cars...so replace while I was there for low or relatively... to me.. low risk cost.

-Aisin timing belt set
-Acura OE alternator brushholder (just because , brushes could have lasted a while longer).
-Can’t remember the brand alternator bearings (just because).
-Power steering pump o-ring set (apparently issue)
-Beck/Arnley fuel pressure regulator (OE went bad).
-Ignition switch (electrical) intermittently..went bad.
-Clutch master/clutch slave one or the other went bad. Pedal wouldn’t return on a drive home from work one day until I pumped and lifted the pedal with my foot. Bled with it and played with it. I just replaced as a pair since it’s a daily. Being a 6spd M/t close ratio...those components get plenty of use.

Took me longer than it would have any professional , but meh it got done. The slip rings on the alternator were in good shape for re-use , and not rough.

No pictures of Acura....because my old phone battery jumped off the cliff and took the phone with it (not backed up).





So instead, Here’s a picture of how much my tundra weighs without my fatsass in it. Amazing an entry level full size truck can weigh this much.

[DRIVEN]

That actually surprises me a little. For some reason they seem lighter in my mind but I guess it makes sense that they weigh similar to a Silverado or Ram. My pickup weighs literally half that. I ran it over the wheat truck scales east of Pendleton 25 years ago and it was 2800 and change.

[wayno]

It just depends on how much you pack into it(meaning extras like mine having a dump bed and having a dually axle), my 521 work truck weighs 3900lbs empty/dry.

[BLUE]

I was Kinda surprised myself. Funny true fact , No one believes me fully until I show them this picture or the vehicle weight certificate (required in California for registration since I brought the vehicle in from out of state)

[BLUE]

Decided to go out for a burger in the daily at 1am....

I turned left onto our 50mph “expressway” (can only get off of it onto the main streets) in the Acura , looked to my right and saw three cop cars with their bars lit solid waiting at the red light to go geeen heading the same direction (usually means down here that someone traveling in that specific direction is getting pulled over and they’ll turn on the flashers in the rear to warn traffic behind them to give them the obvious room needed.

^^^ as I popped into 2nd gear , I thought to myself “I wonder who they’re after” ...not what felt like 10-seconds later I was nicely....boxed in at 45-50mph with police SUV flashlights searching inside my car while we’re all still driving down the expressway (then at that moment , realized I’m a dumbass).....

My destination....a burger joint...was literally the next turn on the north side of the street at the light....so I turned at the light with my full entourage of groupies and immediately got lit up to pull over in and completely boxed in.....doh ! Ok , we all knew that was going to happen...haha

I turned off my car almost blind for 20-seconds by searchlights. Normally ,California police anyone approaches from the passengers side in my experience and observance , but I haven’t lived here that long. Officer nicely asks me to roll down the window on the drivers side....not a good sign...pretty sure 3 other officers had the car covered outside of their squad cars looking in. During all this I heard AT LEAST 2 other cycle patrol roll up as well...

I rolled down the drivers window and was asked nicely for my ID , I said sure , a split second later before producing my ID , I was asked to pop the trunk nicely , I said yeah that’s good...but my switch is where you can’t see it on the inside of the door for your safety , so do you need your partner to verify or would you like to pop it yourself ? It doesn’t matter to me either way....

He said thank you I was good go ahead to pop it myself while seated in the car. Officer quickly asked where I was coming from and going to ? I told him “going to stuff my face with a burger before my wife realizes what happened” so I popped the trunk , he immediately walked back and looked at the trunk then back to the front of my car in 4-seconds , officer dealing with me waved off the other officers quickly/nicely and they all took off very quickly in opposite directions....adjoining neighborhoods/areas....

The officer dealing with myself..thanked for me for cooperating quickly , let me know they pulled me over because a possible abduction of a woman literally happened 5-minutes before they saw me , one street over from where I actually live ,the color and style of my red Acura car happened to be a close match , except he said he knew my car was a coupe not a sedan , they just had to be sure.

I told them I understood completely , and he told me to get to the burger joint before they closed !

Officer never took my ID or insurance or anything. Of course they can read my plates , I’m registered to the car and see I have insurance already. Could they have been lieing ? Sure...but my gut told me they were definitely on edge looking for someone.

[wayno]

I am happy everything turned out good for you, things can go south very fast when people are on the edge.

[DRIVEN]

Glad you didn't get rehabilitated.

[jtinluvr]

Something similar happened to me like 20 years ago. Long story short I came home from work and there were 3 cop cars in my court. Not really thinking anything about it I pulled into my driveway and was quickly being yelled at by a couple cops with guns drawn! Turns out a car I sold a week ago was used in a armed robbery. I gave the cops the information I got from the buyer on the bill of sale. Not sure if the guy gave me legit info but it did prove I sold the car.

[wayno]

It likely was fake info, they needed a car that was not reported stolen yet could not be traced to them.