hey guys, i have a 99 TL and i just moved from sacramento, ca to boulder, CO. car ran like a top all the way to elko, NV. started it the next morning, everything fine. Once i hit the salt flats in UT the TCS and the CEL came on. i had to drive the rest of the trip with the lights on (i know, i know....but i had no choice). the car ran fine to me but i am curious if you guys think that the major change in altitude could be my problem here? i know without pulling the code its really hard to say, but any input at this point would be greatly appreciated!!! thanks in advance

 

That's usually the sign for transmission failure from what they say. I haven't had any transmission problems so I'm not sure. I believe autozone or pepboys would pull the code for you for free. Good luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostedTL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's usually the sign for transmission failure from what they say. I haven't had any transmission problems so I'm not sure. I believe autozone or pepboys would pull the code for you for free. Good luck!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll second that, unfortunantly for you temp. Again, this is a guess as well. But given the year and model, and the lights that are on, I'll go with tranny failure. I've said it in other posts too, about the certain TLs (mainly 99-03, give or take) having crappy trannys. A lot of poeple are aware of this on here too, and I won't bother going into detail.

If/when you do end up pulling the codes, let us know.

-- Kevin

 

MY 99TL threw the TCS and CEL on at the same time due to an idle malfunction (IACV was acting up). My tranny is fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fourthgenhatchB17 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">MY 99TL threw the TCS and CEL on at the same time due to an idle malfunction (IACV was acting up). My tranny is fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I also agree with that. But he hadn't mentioned anything about the idle, and when we get TL's in at work with a bad IACV, it's usually very obvious, and annoying. On the other hand, when the trannys go bad, some are ordered as driveable and not too bad, other's are ordered as not driveable because they are that far gone.

Just from my experience working at Acura, we see 100x more TL's in for trannys then IACVs. Not saying I'm an expert by any means, just stating my opinion But let's hope for his sake it is the IACV!

-- Kevin

 

Yea i hear ya, but the statement towards the top of the thread almost made it sound like if the TCS and CEL come on at the same time, it is the tranny. I just wanted to clear that up by saying its not always like that.

And you're right, the idle fluctuation is fukin annoying and you'll know when there is an idle problem! It happened after i cleaned the TB and IACV. I guess it had to readjust or whatever. I didnt follow the idle leard proceudre (or whatever its called) in the service manual, so it took a long time to re-adjust.

 

ok, i did a lot more research since i posted this. when the CEL AND TCS light come on it is NOT the tranny. honda designed the system so that some codes trip BOTH lights. If the D4 light were blinking or the ABS and TCS light came on then it would be cause for concern. Also if you do research the 99 tranny's were not the problematic ones, the 2000-2003 tranny's were because they switched from a 4 speed auto to a 5 speed auto and that caused some sort of problem. Anyways from my research (again i havent been able to pull the code yet) it appears to be a load induced misfire from all the mountain climbing i had to do in the TL. Which is a common problem with the TL Coilpacks from 99. There is also an issue with an EGR that could cause the ECU to trip that code, hence the reason that honda extended the warranty on the EGR system to 80k. again, its NOT THE TRANNY.