2003 Acura TL 3.2l - Install block heater

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Hello all -

I'm looking to help install a block heater on a 2003 Acura TL with the 3.2 l V6.

I'm having trouble finding information - can anyone help? I did search a few Acura forums without success. (We did find instructions for an '04, but it's a generation newer and so installation looks to be quite a bit different.)

Many thanks!

Edit: Rock Auto lists the same part for the TL from '96 through '08.

I wonder whether the 3.2 is the same through all years (in which case I could use the newer instructions).

Also I wonder whether the Acura 3.2 is a bored or stroked Honda 3.0. It might be easier to find instructions for the Honda engine.
 
Last edited:
Hello all -

I'm looking to help install a block heater on a 2003 Acura TL with the 3.2 l V6.

I'm having trouble finding information - can anyone help? I did search a few Acura forums without success. (We did find instructions for an '04, but it's a generation newer and so installation looks to be quite a bit different.)

Many thanks!

Edit: Rock Auto lists the same part for the TL from '96 through '08.

I wonder whether the 3.2 is the same through all years (in which case I could use the newer instructions).

Also I wonder whether the Acura 3.2 is a bored or stroked Honda 3.0. It might be easier to find instructions for the Honda engine.
What may be easier for you and more effective especially with your weather, is an inline hose heater. You can install it on the upper intake hose, they are better than block, but also more $$$
 
What may be easier for you and more effective especially with your weather, is an inline hose heater. You can install it on the upper intake hose, they are better than block, but also more $$$
That may be a good idea - Rock Auto is sold out of block heaters for the car, which might mean a dealer part is required.
 
Does anyone know where the plug is that has to be pulled to accommodate the block heater?

I haven't found anything specific to the Honda/Acura 3.2 of this generation.

Although the 3.2 found in the '99 - '03 TL is part of the same engine family as the Honda 3.0 and 3.5, it looks like the plug can be in any one of several locations.

If anyone with one of these engines equipped with a block heater could trace the extension wire back to the heater and post a photo of the location, that would be great!
 
Considering an oil pan heater as an alternative to the block heater - much easier installation.

Who has used one? Are they effective? The prices are all over the place - they're quite pricey locally, in the $200 range.
 
Another issue - the instructions I found online for a 2004 Acura TL mentioned that the radio can be bricked if the battery is disconnected and a code is not entered to reactivate it. Yikes!

But this is for the next generation. Would this apply to 2003 TL as well?
 
YMMV, but here's the Honda Accord V6 block heater accessory instruction sheet - https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/AI/AII24385.pdf

There is high parts interchangeability between the Honda J30 and J32 engines. (eg I had headers on my 2001 Acura 3.2CL Type S that had combo install instructions for the CL and Accord V6 coupe of that gen.)
Thanks! The linked sheet is firewalled for me, but confirming your thought that the engines are similar, I took a look at my neighbour's 2nd-gen Odyssey. Found the block heater on the front (L if the engine were N-S) side of the engine toward the driver's side.

I expect the 2nd-gen TL to be very similar.
 
Another issue - the instructions I found online for a 2004 Acura TL mentioned that the radio can be bricked if the battery is disconnected and a code is not entered to reactivate it. Yikes!

But this is for the next generation. Would this apply to 2003 TL as well?
You can get the radio/navigation anti theft code from a Honda or Acura dealer - I think you can do it online as well.
 
Also, a little Easter egg Honda/Acura dealer techs like to do during a PDI is to stick the radio/NAV anti-theft codes either on the sides of the glove box door, an interior fuse box lid or the glove box itself. Check there, the radio code is 5 digits, navigation one is 4 digits.
 
My friend brought the car over this morning to see if I could crack the plug loose. Before that I read a variety of disaster stories on a Honda forum about how badly these plugs had seized in place on related Honda engines, even when the vehicles were fairly new. I was almost resigned to installing an oil-pan heater instead of an immersed coolant heater.

To my surprise, the plug broke free fairly easily, so we tracked down a block heater locally at a good price, picked it up, and installed it. (Although 19 years old, this will be the car's first winter in the rust belt. It spent most of its previous life in South Carolina.)

Because the thermostat regulates flow in the lower heater hose, I pulled the top hose at the rad and refilled the block that way. Replaced the hose and topped up the rad. All seems well, with no leaks.

I didn't disconnect the battery - not at all required, so no issues with bricking the radio.
 
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