2005 RL - Front Door Outer Handle Replacement
 

I'm posting this because my door handles have failed AGAIN and are shorting out, causing the #7 10 amp fuse to blow. I'll be disconnecting the sensors in both doors this weekend.

I understand this frustration, having gone through three door handles during almost three years with my RL.

Do you know how much they cost to repair, given you are out of warranty?

I'm not sure this feature has made it into any other Acuras. It's too bad, because the tech on the RL's handle is pretty neat--using a sensor in the handle itself is a great idea. On my Caddy, the system works differently....if your keyfob is within three feet of the car, and you pull on the door handle once (on the front doors) or twice (on the rear doors), the system unlocks the car. So far, it's been 100% effective. I haven't seen the same issues on the CTS forums discussed here in the RL forum.

Edit: added to 2G RL Garage thread. :)

Acura should offer lifelong replacement for those door handles, I had them replaced 5 times in 3 years, the only blemish on an impeccable and enjoyable 3 years of ownership. The Infiniti uses a mechanical button on the door handle which has not failed me in 14 months of ownership. The sensor is novel and innovative but obviously seriously flawed, should be removed from the RL for 2011 and replaced with a more reliable system. Period.

I, too, am curious what the cost of replacing the door handle would cost when the car is out of warranty. If anyone knows, please post the total cost of parts and labor.

Thanks

Agreed, Acura should offer lifelong replacement or at least up to 100,000 miles or 10 years. Like what BMW is doing with their waterpump on the 3 series.

My Lexus has a similar system. The door opens everytime on the first try.

I think they wanted over 1K to replace both. I just disconnected the passenger one that was causing the short and blowing the #7 fuse. Driver's door handle is still original and everything is working fine now.

Your system in the Caddy is the way to go...very nice! Do they make an all-wheel drive in the sedan line?

$1k for both (presumably including labor)? Fawk that.

The V-series has no AWD variant, but the regular CTS does.

Took my '05 RL with 67,000 miles to dealer for door handle issues that I've had since January when I bought the car due to all the rain here in So. Cal. this past winter.

I purchased the Acura Care extended warranty at 62,000 miles when I bought it and they said that the door handle (and loose mirrors) were only covered under Factory warranty and not extended warranty. I protested (politely) and told them these were known TSB issues and they asked me for the numbers which I looked up on this site and today was told that the handles and mirrors would be replaced next week under warranty.

Thanks to this group, the TSB postings, and the time everyone has contributed to share thier experience with these issues as it has helped me immensely. Once again this group has provided great value and a strong resource for RL owners.

Glad to be of service. :thumbsup:

A question for the group: Has anyone with a '07 or later RL had the handle issue?

The door handles are most definitely covered under the Acura Care warranty. I just posted in the electronics sub-forum on this issue. My car has 65K miles and they are replacing the passenger side handle with no push back from the dealer.

THe only issue you run into is that they tell you they will charge you a $100 "diagnostic fee", but if the part is truly defective, it get's picked up by the warranty. I guess they do that to discourage people from bringing it in with hard to reproduce issues.

I've been through this so many times I didn't even blink when they told me about the diagnostic fee, and as I expected they came back and said the part was defective and it will be replaced under warranty.

Yes, my '07 had the handle replaced the first time under warranty. Its failed again but now that I'm out of warranty (over the mileage on warranty) I may not bother replacing it due to the cost and my thinking that with the 2 that failed already even a replacement that I'd put in now might also crap out on me.

I'm having issues with my handles and I believe it's causing electrical gremlins. Did disconnecting the sensors do the trick? If so, do you remember the details.

I could care less about the fancy working handles and would be happy with just hitting "unlock" on the key FOB.

Yes, disconnecting did the trick. Just open up the door, dig in, and disconnect it. You might want to tape up the loose end so it won't bang around or mess with the window operation. See my first post on this thread as there's a Google PDF how to remove parts, etc.

Good Luck!

Cool, I'm guessing the key fob won't work after pulling the plug out?

It looks like I might have to consider tackling this job soon. The bluetooth unlock feature on my driver's side gave out today. I am thankful for the how-to file that was posted.

So far I had luck that my passenger door handle did not fall out (yet).
I had my paint bubble-up due to lovely Acura defect of seal around it, and kept it that way for the last 3 years.
I tried to go to Acura, reached out to Acura regional via dealership, and I was quoted price of repairing it just under $1,300.00... then as a goodwill act, they offered to chime in $500 - so fixing it was $800...

it was nice to offer, but ignorance from regional Acura forced me to do this:
When they were walking by I asked at the dealer if they were regional and aware of my asking - they were... so I said, thank you but NO thank you. I will keep the car as is, as it will be a great great great reminder for people when they are buying Acura what they can expect - defective rotten pieces and it will show Acura simply did not want to handle it.

Still going strong with rotten / rusty 4-5 inches diameter around the handle area on my passenger side :)

FoB Sync?
 

Thanks for this information. Question about the replacement though.

How do you go about syncing the FOB to the door handle? even if i do take out and "re plug " in the handle, how do you sync the door handle to the key FOB so it knows its this FOB to open the door?

How does this work?

The keyless acces module controls the locks and the immobilizer. It syncs to the fob and everything goes through that. Sync instructions are on the back of the fob.

Hi, Please sir, I am having the same door issues including my navigation system and more and as said in ur posting that it was fuse #7 that controls it all, pls to avoid dealer costs how can will I remove the fuse or relays that controls the door sensor alone prior till I buy the new door handle?

Yes I'm aggravated 76,000 miles and went to the car wash and now the handle and number 7 fuse don't work.where do I disconnect the handle have the door panel off now trying to figure out where and how

It seems there is some sort of a sealant issue around, the faulty sensor . Most of the issues in the thread are contributed to moisture. I wonder if they have made any improvements on the handles since 05?

If the car has water on it and the fob is nearby, the water will repeatedly set off the lock sensors, and the handle will overheat. Always wash with the fob in the car or far away.

Yes, I replaced my original driver's side handle about a year ago and have had no problem whatsoever with the replacement.

+1

Front door replacement
 

Hoping someone can provide me with helpful information. When disconnecting the handle is there a separate plug for just the outside light sensor? I have an 05, and unplugged the entire handle about a year ago as I didn't see anything else. But now I can no longer lock this door it's always openable from the outside and inside its always locked and the passenger can't get out unless they put the window down and reach outside or I open the door from outside. Did I do something wrong and if so can some help to explain a little better what it is I want to unplug to avoid smoking and it blowing the fuse? Thanks in advance!

Does the front door have a child's lock? Check that first. If not, are you saying that pushing the lock open doesn't do anything?

The child lock is not on and you can't manually move it from the lock position to the unlock position nor does it unlock electronically. Additional when I'm driving if I go below 10mph and then back above 10mph the car relocks all doors. I'm thinking I must have unplugged the wrong thing or unplugged the entire door handle and there is something more I need to do than unplugging the entire handle.

So the inside lock tab is stuck on lock, but the outside handle opens the door?

I would try adjusting the lock settings in the MID menu. It may reset a stuck computer state.

I don't know how many harnesses are in the doors, but I can try to dig through the service manual tomorrow to see.

Thanks, I checked the mid settings already no success. Let me know what you find in the manual, im thinking I'll have to take the door apart and look into it closer to see what more I can find specifically with the sensor and wiring.

You have to adjust the settings. Turn the key to II hold down the i button and u can go through the settings to find door lock/unlock it is probably set to speed instead of park

Did you disconnect the "outer handle light connecter"? I need to do this asap as i cant open my gas tank to fill up.

I believe it's just one harness?

Which handle was working intermittently? You could save time and just disconnect that one since chances are its the culprit.

This has a video in it https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...t-horn-957926/ showing you how to remove the door panel. You can then disconnect that handle (you just pull the plug),

Both my handles were bad, my key battery died, then everything shorted out with the #7 fuse. I took off both door panels and unplugged the "latch actuater connecter" on both put a fresh fuse in tested with the key unlocked and locked the doors once and it shorted again... Car is mint otherwise but i cant drive it because i can't fill gas smh

Mine was shorting repeatedly as linked.

You have to disconnect the plug going into the door handle. That should do it.


in meantime, how are you driving? isn't your alarm going off?

If you need to fill gas, just pull the liner in the trunk on the left corner, and slide your hand towards behind the gas flip door. There's a ring on a stick. pull the ring the gas door will open.

The alarm has gone off once so far since it happened a week ago, not sure why. And did you have to pull back the plastic cover inside the door panel? If so do i need a replacement cover? Thanks for the help guys

I'm not sure the plastic cover reaches as far up to the door hand corner. But if you have to yes. i think it simply sticks back on.

Just look and see where the plug going into the handle is. It should be easy to unplug it.

Little update: finally got around to bringing it to a shop to get it done, most things work again like the remote fob to lock/unlock, start the car without inserting key. But now it says check the afs neither headlight will turn and my nav and radio/climate are completely black? The auto climate works but i cant even see the temperature. Any help on this is appreciated, the car still drives mint but there is electrical gremlins poking their heads up and driving me nuts

Is it possible to disconnect the handles without affecting the power locks or getting a Keyless Access error message? My handles are once again intermittently working (seems to be affected by a major car washing or heavy rains), so I am wondering if I can disconnect the handle sensors and just use the fob.