Bought a 97 3.2 TL recently. Love the way the car feels rock solid on the road.

Couple of problems - wondering if somebody knows whats up:

1. ABS light comes on sometimes. It's random.
2. Made a 30 mile trip for the first time today. Both ABS and TCS lights came on and stayed on. Came back and stopped at a place for some time. Started the car again and the lights were gone.

Any idea?

Another thing - I cam home and shut off the car but the radiator fan kept on going. I checked the car temperature and the needle was at a 'less than half' position. Is this normal? Why would the radiator fan keep on running even with the car shut off?

 

ABS and TCS lights may be connected. On 2.5TL, you can get ABS codes by shorting the Service Check Connector under the glove box (blue 2 wire connector) w/ a short wire jumper. Turn key to ON, and ABS/TCS should flash the codes. A long flash is a tens digit and short flashes for units, so 1 long and 5 shorts is code 15.

Fan (condensor fan on driver's side) coming on w/ engine shut down is normal. It's to prevent head overheating due to heat soak from a hot engine w/ no coolant circulating. The fan cooling the radiator sets up a convective heat flow in the coolant system to cool the system for 5-10 mins.

good luck

 

TexasHonda
Thanks a ton for your reply.

I put new tires on today and the lights haven't come on after that. Let's see for a couple of days ....maybe bad tires were confusing the ABS and TCS systems (thats a layman hoping for the best!).

Sidenote - With the old tires the car was sharply pulling to the right. It's all straight now - getting an alignment tomorrow from Brakes Plus just to be sure.

Planing to take it to an Acura dealer to get an oil change and have it checked out once. Let's see what they have to say....though I am shit scared of dealer costs as I've been told some horror stories about dealers and how one should stay away from them.

Thanks again for the explanation about the fan running even after switching off the engine. It makes sense as u explain - there needs to be something cooling the engine with no coolant circulating. The only thing bothering me is the engine heating to that extent in a short trip. Is that normal or is it indicative of dirty coolant and maybe a coolant flush being required?

 

Old tires that are uneven could possibly set off the TCS light. It uses speed sensors on the wheels and it may have misread the situation as a loss of traction.

As for the fan going on, its normal for ours cars. I've had my coolant flushed and it will still come on now and then after a short trip.

 

Ken1997TL - Thanks for putting my doubts about a coolant flush to rest. This forum is a great place !

 

The ABS still comes and goes. It's completely random. Any ideas around what I should do?

 

Could be the wheel sensors.. it would make sense. Both the TCS and ABS lights are going off and both rely upon wheel sensors to get the information to do their jobs...

Its worth a try.

 

Hey Ken
Thanks for replying - quick question.

Is this a job that a shop like brakes plus can handle or am I better off taking it to a dealer?

 

I'm sure a brake shop can do it, its fairly straightforward.

 

You need to get the ABS codes per my earlier post and then you'll have an idea about the problem.

good luck

 

Hey Texas Honda - thanks for the tips. I ain't tech/daring enuff to short wires under my dash

I took it to a Acura specialist today so he could scan for codes - and guess what - the car got a case of mechanic terror - the ABS lights refuse to glow up today and I am told - no lights means nothings gonna show up in the scan. So a wasted trip...

quick question - do the ABS codes also show up on the same OBD scan - the wires go into the slot under the coin holder ? If so I can go down to Autozone for a free scan next time the lights come on. Or is the scanner port for the ABS located somewhere else ?

 

hey arshdeep, my 2.5 tl also been showing the abs light randomly for a long time now, but i never bothered fixing it. true my abs doesnt work while abs light stays on, but i drive extra careful during the light

a mechanic told me if uwant to fix u have to get the abs sensor checked out.. that means money and thus ive been ignoring it. Without the light, the abs works great(as tested)

If you got the car recently, I'd ignore it for a bit to save the costs while you re-up on cash.

 

Autozone won't be able to pull ABS codes w/ an OBD2 scanner. There are two ways to get ABS codes, one is a custom ABS scanner designed to work w/ your ABS control system, and 2nd is the built-in system using the Service Check Connector and ABS light flashes, as explained above.

ABS resets itself when ignition is turned ON, but if code is present the code is retained. At least it was on the Honda ABS systems I've worked on in past (Accord). If you think about, it has to be that way. If system resets completely w/o retaining the code, it would be impossible to access the code via the ABS flashing light system.

The Service Check Connector (SCC) is a blue 2-wire connector under the glove box. It should be plugged into a dummy connector (no wires). You simply remove the SCC, install a wire across the pin sockets, turn Ignition ON, and read flashing ABS light. If you get the codes, I may be able to provide some guidance on your problem. Perhaps you have a friend w/ less "techno-fright"?

good luck

 

Ok...I am gathering courage to so it. Will do it over the weekdna and let you guys know if the car *flashes* some codes at me.

Thanks again for your help.

 

When ABS light is on, turn ignition OFF, install shorting jumper, turn ignition to ON (no start), and watch for code flashes. This worked fine for my daughter's 1997 TL, which has a similar but different ABS system from the TL's.

good luck

 

Alrighteey then - I built up enough courage to do this. Thanks for pushing me into this direction TexasHonda. To be honest I did some more research before jumping the Service Check Connector (SCS) and here's what i found. The absolutely correct way to do this is to buy a SCS jumper from Honda.

This is a good link to read about it - http://www.troublecodes.net/acura/

The part # is SCS service connector special tool No. 07PAZ-0010100. I rang up the nearest dealer and this one goes for 16.XX bucks.

I did some more googling and everybody seemed to be jumping with a paper clip bent into a U shape so that's exactly what I did. I groped around the passenger dash for the Blue SCS and found it. I had to depress a plunger to pull it out of it's protective casing. I put the the two ends of the paper clip into the female connectors and turned the ingnition key to [Did not start the engine - just turned it to ON to the position where all the lights come up on the instrument panel].

The ABS and TCS lights went crazy blinking. For a minute I thought they were connected and I was trying to read them in conjunction but then I assumed I have to look at each in isolation. So I sat and studied each light (ABS and TCS) for some time. Here's what they flashed back at me:

ABS
Long Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash
Pause
Long Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash
Pause
REPEAT OF THE ABOVE

I assume this converts to DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) - 13 and 14


TCS
Long Flash + Long Flash + Long Flash + Long Flash + Short Flash + Short Flash
Pause
Long Flash + Long Flash
Pause
REPEAT OF THE ABOVE

I assume this converts to DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) - 42 and 2

I did this first thing in the morning so this also confirms what TexasHonda said about the system retaining the codes. It also makes me question the so called Acura Specialists I took the car to. It so happened that the light did not come on that day and they said no light means they cannot scan for codes ...hmmph !!

Anyway, here are the codes. The question is where do i go from here. Would you be able to help me figure out what these codes mean? I am not too bothered about the TCS codes since that light has just come on once when the car had old tires. After I've changed the tires I haven't noticed the TCS light coming on but the ABS light does come on every so often.

Thanks for your help.

 

Anyone ?

 

ABS 13 = Left Front wheel sensor open/short to ground or shorted to power.

ABS 14 = FL wheel sensor electrical noise / intermittent interuption

Fault in FL wheel sensor. I would remove sensor and check resistance. It should be 700-1100 ohms. If that's OK, clean the sensor and clean the lugs the sensor detects w/ a rag inserted into the opening and rotating the wheel. This will fix many sensor faults. Dirt on lugs/sensor causes weak signal and fault. It could also be a wiring fault due to damage during brake repairs, so check wiring harness carefully.

Manual has a detailed diagnostic.

I've got to go to work now. I'll look at TCS codes this evening.

good luck

 

Will see what the TCS codes reveal.

 

TCS, DTC 42 is also for the LF wheel sensor. Repair the wheel sensor problem and you should be good to go.

Reset procedure for TCS is more complex than ABS. ABS will reset itself when problem is repaired. TCS may not. PM me for instructions from Mitchell on Demand Cd.

regards

 

Thanks a ton TexasHonda. I am thinking about getting the free work done under the extended Emmissions Warranty the next time oil change is due. Will club this ABS problem also.
I am scared to take it something like a Brakes Plus - don't know how competent those guys are. But now atleast I'll know the Dealership or the Stealership as it's called on this site is trying to feed me BS.

Thanks again.

 

Most any decent shop should be able to repair the wheel sensor, however they will want to simply replace sensor rather than clean sensor and rotor and see if that is a fix. If you ask them, they might agree to clean and check.

good luck

 

Thx - Will go the BrakesPlus I generally go to for my oil changes and will ask them about it. Will keep you posted.

 

I know this is a very old post, but here it goes....

96 3.2 TL, 115k miles.

I bought this car 2 yrs ago with 112k miles on it and only put 3k on it since. Issue started just recently:

When a car is started, all is normal but when I put it in drive and go a few yards, the ABS light comes on, and a few seconds later the TCS light comes on as well. They stay on until the car is shut off. I can feel that neither ABS not TCS systems function when this happens.

The car had new brakes/rotors put on almost as soon as I bought it 2 years ago, so shouldn't be the issue.

I have not done tire rotaion or wheel balancing or wheel allignment in a while. Just oil/filter changes.

The last thing I did to the car was adding air to tires but I drove at least 300 straight miles since before the lights came on, so that shouldn't be it.

I am thinking it could be the issue with wheel sensors and not tires/balancing/allignment, since the lights come on at very slow speeds (7-10pmh).

I attempted to look for Service Check Connector but do not see any blue wires under the glove box.

I found a blue plastic connector but nothing happened when I plugged in a U-shaped paperclip and turned the ignition to On (without starting the car).

Is the correct connection and I am just not doing something right or is it different for 3.2TL?
Is the connector itself blue or is it a blue wire?
Is it two-pin connector?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

You're on the right track with the blue 2 pin connector under the glove box. You have to count the flashes of the ABS light to get the code. It's all explained in another post here, so I won't try to look it up. I had a similar problem at about 80k miles and needed to replace the ABS Modulator. I got a used one for less than $100. Light has been out since replacing it.

 

It should be a 2-wire connector w/ Grn/Blu and Orn wires. It may be plugged into a holder.

good luck

 

Thanks guys. I happened to drive through a few water puddles over the weekend and the next day the lights did not come on and I could feel ABS and TCS working again. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it was one of the wheel sensors getting flushed out somehow.