fourthgenhatchB17

Background info: '99 3.2TL non S with about 120k miles. ALL maintenance done by me. No low idle issues, plenty of acceleration power, no CEL.

The car will randomly stall. It doesnt matter if you're at freeway speeds or just idling. Doesnt matter if its a super hot day in the middle of the afternoon or at 2am in the cold morning. The car can go for a week or 2 without any issues, then all of a sudden stall once or even 2 or 3 times within maybe like 10 minutes. Each time the car will restart and idle or drive fine, sometimes stalling again or like i said, go for another week or 2 without. There is no stumbling or hickups before the car dies, it just dies smoothly, lol. What im trying to get at here is its about as random/intermittent of a stall as you can get.

2 things stick out in my mind. I know there was an ignition switch recall or something which this car was taken in for some years ago. I believe it had something to do with stalling? And 2, the fuel filter. I know its in the tank but after 120k miles i would think it would be a bit dirty/clogged.

What ive done (in the 20 minutes i had to look at it so far, lol) is while the car is running ive jiggled the ignition key vigorously maybe thinking it might be ignition switch related and ive also disturbed and jiggled any electrical connection i could get my hands on in the engine compartment. Doing those things did nothing, the car idled smooth.

Like i said, all maintenance done by me including oem spark plugs at 100k, timing belt service etc.

Anyone have any useful insight?

Heres a picture of the car, maybe it will get more people to look at this thread, LOL.

fourthgenhatchB17

Any acura techs out there??

fourthgenhatchB17

This TL forum is slow. Boo!

Radioactive_Man

take it back to the stealership

fourthgenhatchB17

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Radioactive_Man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take it back to the stealership </TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, dude that recall was like 5+ years ago! They could blame the stalling on anything they want by now. I did take apart the ignition switch and it did look worn on a few of the contacts. I figure its normal though since ALL cars will show wear on those areas. I cleaned the contacts and re-greased them. I just gotta drive it to see if it will happen again.

DaiJekBok

I thought I remembered hearing about this before. Try looking here -- this guy fixed it with a roll of Thermo-Tec insulating tape: http://tl.acurazine.com/forums...69229

fourthgenhatchB17

I appreciate your help, however i feel this is not the case with my TL. Vapor lock deals with heat soak and when a vehicle is not running. My problem happened when the car was moving at freeway speeds (obviously the fuel system is under pressure so vapor lock can not occur) and it simply turned off. Vapor lock leads to hard starting, whereas i have no problem starting the car. Also my problem just started a few weeks ago, not like the other guy's where he says his started when he first got the car.

Moira

Hey! I'm having exactly the same problem with my 99 TL. It's in the shop right now and the mechanic is thinking maybe to replace the ignition switch, but I read on a post on another site that that didn't fix the problem. Were you able to figure out the problem and get it fixed?

Thanks!

fourthgenhatchB17

I pulled the ignition switch out and the contacts inside showed some wear, as well the grease inside was dirty. I cleaned everything out and re-greased it all with dielectric grease. I drove the car for over about a month with NO stalling. Before i did anything like that, it would stall like 3 times in 1 week!

BTW, i just sold the car yesterday, lol. If i would have kept the car, i would have put in a new switch. I did NOT get rid of the car b/c of this problem though, especially since it looked like i found the problem.

99tl_holla

i heard u say you did all the maint. yourself. when you changed your spark plugs (as i need to do myself and new with the 99tl) did you just have to use an allen key to take the 3 ports(coils) off the front and back. Was about to do this but just wanted to make sure the spark plugs were under there...

Moira

Thanks so much! I'm getting the new switch installed today, so glad to hear that's what you would've done, too.

u n v kenny

Electrical portion of the ignition switch. $50, call me.

35130-S84-A01

Moira

Ahh, Kenny......two hours and $220 ago, I might have been able to take you up on that. Thanks, anyway!

fourthgenhatchB17

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 99tl_holla &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i heard u say you did all the maint. yourself. when you changed your spark plugs (as i need to do myself and new with the 99tl) did you just have to use an allen key to take the 3 ports(coils) off the front and back. Was about to do this but just wanted to make sure the spark plugs were under there... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, remove the allen bolts and pull the coil packs out. Its really simple actually. Its the cost of the oem plugs that are , LOL.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Moira &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ahh, Kenny......two hours and $220 ago, I might have been able to take you up on that. Thanks, anyway!
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is that what you were quoted for parts and installation? As kenny wrote, the part isnt all that epxensive.

u n v kenny

That's 20%+ hook up.

Moira

Yeah, you guys who know how to do your own work are lucky. I'm a woman who knows NOTHING about cars.....wouldn't even know where to start. Thanks for the info, though....made me more confident that the right work was being done!

u n v kenny

Goodluck doll

99tl_holla

thanks much....that was a great help...

fourthgenhatchB17

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 99tl_holla &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks much....that was a great help...</TD></TR></TABLE>

nocable4me

thanks kenny! i just got the ignition switch... thanks for the visor too! hehe

u n v kenny

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nocable4me &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks kenny! i just got the ignition switch... thanks for the visor too! hehe</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not a problem. Keep on ordering, and spread the word.