Hi AcuraGod,

I was wondering if you can tell me the labor hours billed for some of
the diagnostic routines I wish to have performed on my car?  I
actually have a Pilot, not an MDX, but I thought perhaps there
wouldn’t be too much of difference in the time involved to check out a
few things?

Any idea what a typical Acura or Honda dealer would charge for:
1. EGR valve/port check to make sure they’re proper and clean.
2. Knock sensor check
3. Base ignition timing check
4. O2 sensor check
5. Valve clearance check
6. water pump check
7. hydraulic timing belt tension spring check (possbile oil/fluid
leak)
8. (related to #4, if it turned out to be faulty) compression test to
see if the valves are functioning properly and there’s no damage to
them

The reason I’m asking this is because I’m still trying to get rid of
this faint pinging noise that comes on my Pilot is under moderately
hard to hard acceleration/load in between 2K-4K RPM.  I think by the
time the RPM reaches about 4K, the pinging sound is drowned out by the
roar of the engine.

What worries me the most though is that this noise occasionally will
develop into a very noticeable crackle time to time and I let go of
the accelerator once I hear that for fears of damaging the engine.
So, I’m not sure if the crackle would be continuous or just momentary
if I kept pushing the gas pedal down.  

My Pilot now has close to 30,000KM/18,500miles on it, but my Pilot
developed this noise shortly after I got it last Aug.  I’ve tried many
different brands of gas and all their premium gas to see if I can make
the noise go away, but the noise level and the occurrence was pretty
much the same.

I’ve already performed this throttle cable bracket adjustment trick as
per the June 2003 Honda Service News, but didn’t help me at all,
unfortunately.  Also as per the same newsletter, I took off the
plastic intake manifold cover to see if the gasket was installed
upside down by checking the position of the gasket locating tab and it
looks to be installed correctly.

I also checked the catalytic converter shield and it looks to be in
place very tightly, with no play that would cause the pinging noise I
get.

I even went for a testdrive in one of the dealer’s demo Pilot and
thought I heard a similar noise, but then I realized only after going
back to work from the dealer that I never performed the throttle cable
bracket adjustment before I took off in the demo.  Arrrrrgh!!!!

I’m at my wit’s end here.  I’ve even had a service technician go for a
ride with me on a couple of different occasions (same person though),
even having him drive the car for a while, but just as the noise was
being replicated right there and then and pointing it out to him, he
was telling me that he didn’t hear anything unusual.  Perhaps when I
said "pininging noise", he was expecting one of those loud
knocking/pinging noise normally associated with older cars with carbon
build up, but since mine’s on the faint side, he didn’t quite hear it.

But I drive this car pretty much everyday and I know it’s there.  I
wasn’t able to duplicate the occasional crackle noise I get though.  

So, I was planning to have my dealer perform those diagnostics and pay
for the services out of my own pocket if nothing was found to be the
culprit of my pinging problem, but if one of them indeed was causing
the noise, then my dealer can perform the fix as a warranty work.
That’s why I’m curious about the labor hours.

As well, if you were having the same problem I was having with my
Pilot, what other things would you check out?  Is this faint metallic
pinging or flutter noise normal with Ody/Pilot/MDX?  I sincerely thank
you for your time and courtesy.

Legend coupe driver seat stopped sliding back and forward,
Couple months ago it would work sometimes, but not at all
now. All other seat functions work fine. Where should I start
looking.       Thanks

Can anyone tell how the Porter Cable Polisher works, if you like it, etc?

–

From the "P" (Parking) position, with my foot holding down the brake
pedal, I shift to the "D4" (Drive) position.  After a short delay (0.3
– 0.8 seconds), my vehicle twitches very slowly forward, then .3-.8
seconds later, it twitches a little stronger forward.

I wouldn’t say it is a big jerk.  But I thought it would twitch
forward at the same speed the entire time.

Is my car behaving normally?  Or is there a problem?  If it is a
problem, how do I fix it?  Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Hello,

I have a ’96 TL 3.2 that I bought last month with 113K.  I am having three
(minor?) problems:

1.    When I start the car, I get a weird noise, almost like a horn, that
goes away after 3-4 seconds.  I have no idea where it is coming from, except
behind the dash??  It does not seem to be causing any other problems, any
ideas?

2.    When I turn the car off, almost every time, the fan runs for sometimes
10 mins after – is this normal?  It seems like the fan is just doing it’s
job, but I have not had another vehicle do that.

3.    Shifting is not as "soft" as I would like.  I just had the trans oil
flushed and refilled with Acura/Honda ATF.  It is especially noticable
down-shifting, when I am slowing down for a stop sign or light.  If I give
the throttle hell, it shifts nice and smooth and at the right time.  Should
I be concerned?

Thanks,
Mike

I am trying to find out what could have been wrong with my car?  The
temp would sometimes rise(only when car stopped at idle) to almost the
hot line before the fans kicked in.  Then it would take the car for ever
to cool down if it could because the engine was hot.  Im trying to
determine if the thermostat would stick and not allow enough water to
the motor causing the engine to get hot would the fans know to kick on?
What I mean is where is the point where the radiator fans get the ok to
turn on.?  Is there a sensor or relays for the fans?  Thanks!!

I have an ’89 Legend (6 cyl).  Does the fuel injection on these have
injectors for idle and low speeds and other injectors for normal
driving speeds?

I ask because the car is difficult to start lately. It also seems to
hesitate for a split second when I give it gas to take off from a
standstill. I changed the plugs, rotor, distributer cap and wires, but
it didn’t help.

Once I get going, the car really moves.

I was wondering if it could be low speed injectors clogging.  Anybody
know about this?

Sorry everybody!!! this was suppose to be an email that accidently got
posted to the message board.

Hi,

I luv my integra. (=

PS.  Should I get a TSX or ACCORD for my 2nd car? 2003.

I like the new TSX but I’m worried that it’s gonna be a POS like the TL with
the transmission problems.  Do they share a tranny?  Is the TSX FWD?