I have a 1999 RL with 110,000mi. Been having a problem lately maybe someone can help me out with. Once in a while the car will all but shut down. The TCL light will begin flashing on and off and the car just won't go! Can't get up over 2 mph. RPM's wont come up. It's like I'm not even giving it gas at all. If I pull over and put the car in park, it seems fine. Put it in reverse, it seems fine. Put in drive, won't go. All the while the TCS light is flashing. Then, just as suddenly as it started, It just takes off normally, as is nothing happened. This has been happening once a week or so. It's getting so I am leary about going too far from home with it. Anyone have a clue what the problem might be and what needs to be done to fix it, Please help.

Thanks

 

In the upper right hand corner when you're logged in there's a search option that allows you to look for similar problems.

Anyway, sounds like you may be having the Main Relay problem. I've copied one of the URL and posted the link below. Visit it and should give you an idea where to start. If I were having the problem you described, I'd begin there.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ght=main+relay

 

ppddaddy,
This doesn't seem like it's my problem. Maybe I wasn't clear, but my car doesn't shut off, It's running but it just wont go when its acting up. It wont go above idle and won't go over 2 or 3 mph. Then, just like that, it straightens out and runs fine.

 

Okay start with the simple stuff. Check the Fuel pressure which could determine if the engine is starved. I was once taught that you don't throw parts at a problem until you've diagnosed the situation first. Sometimes that's okay, and sometimes it's not. So if you want to start cheaply with the first item below

- Fuel Filter (Could be starving the system)
- Plugs or PCV valve
- Vaccum hose disconnected somewhere
- Is fuel pump running?
- Fuel pressure regulator

If you have a manual, begin walking through the troubleshooting checks.

 

dgambos,
My car does the same thing but jus not as bad as yours does I would love to know what the problem is. Mine started after I let some shady tree mechanic change my brakes. But I have still yet to figure out whats wrong with my car.

 

The problem with pddaddy's suggestion is that by the time I get the car home it's behaving correctly and everything is normal. It seems to like to act up when I'm in traffic and it is difficult or impossible to pull over. So I can only limp along with the drivers behind me honking and flipping me off! Then suddenly, off it goes...all normal!

 

I guess I'm not gonna get any help here! It's off to the Honda dealer...I'll let you know what I find out.

 

Sounds like one of your wheel sensors has gone bad, which makes the TCS think one of the wheels is spinning and thus limits your throttle until it finally figures out something is wrong and turns itself off.

Replace the bad wheel sensor and you should be good to go. In the meantime, you can just turn off the TCS and the car will run fine (without added traction control, of course)

 

Turns out thrillhouse is right. I brought the car to the local Honda dealer. He told me I need a new transmission and 2 new ABS wheel sensors for a whopping $4,000.00. He said they don't fix trannys and he can put in a reman for $3400 plus $600 for the two sensors. I told him to forget about it. Towed the car to a transmission shop I have dealt with before. He looked at the car and told me there is nothing wrong with the tranny and I need just the two abs sensors. $500. He fixed them and its been 2 weeks and no sign of any problem.
I'm not sure if the Honda guy was trying to rip me off or if he was just ignorant, eithir way, he will never see me again. Thanks for the help and remember, always get a second opinion.

 

Kind of curious. I just purchased my 96 rl from my boss. To say in the least this car is in very good condition all the way arroound with the exception of one thing, My TCS light is on and stays on. When I push the TCS button nothing happens and the light remains on regardless... any feed back on this would be great!

 

It could also be one of your sensors, cause thats common on our cars, but in my experience, with a bad sensor the TCS light doesn't come on until shortly after you start driving (after messing with your throttle unexpectedly). So this could just be a problem with your TCS system.

How about your ABS light? is it on too? If it doesn't come on, then my guess is that its just the TCS system itself, not the sensors, cause I think a bad sensor also causes the ABS light to eventually come on too.

Either way, you'll probably have to either replace a sensor, or the TCS system.

 

No ABS light, just the TCS. If it is indeed the sensor or TCS system...any idea how much thatll run me....(Cringe)?

 

turn off the damn traction control...it's useless.

wheelspin all the way

 

on a serious note, must be the sensors thinkin that your car is burning out, therefore it limits the power greatly to stop wheelspin...and that causes the light to flash to tell you the TSC is in action.

but seriously, just hit the button and turn it off..you seriously don't need it

 

If it is your sensors it'll probably just be one or two of them, I think they're about a couple hundred each. But it sounds more like a TCS problem, not sure how much that would cost but it's probably more than the sensors. If you really want to get this fixed have a mechanic do a quick diagnosis to find out what's wrong.

You could try checking the fuses first, maybe there's simply a burnt out fuse that the TCS uses.

But you're not missing much without it. TCS is really only useful in icy or snowy conditions, otherwise it rarely has to kick in

 

It looks like I have no choice but to take it in and have it looked at. I would simply turn it off if I could but like I said when I push the button nothing happens no change in feel or anything light simply stays on either way. But first I will check the fuse. I hope its that simple.