it started when my maintenance required light came on a week ago (79k+ miles)
then today, when i started my car, the ABS light came on, the "!" light came on, and the VSA light came on (and wouldn't turn off).

what does this all mean? is it all related to the maintenance required light?

edit: is the car still safe to drive?

 

If you look in the maintenance handbook it should have all the codes in there and what they mean.... If your wondering why they all came on get them inspected... or call the acura dealership and just ask them on the phone and tell them what happened... sometimes the computer in the dash can slip and turn all the lights on.. thats what happened in my moms car....

 

when was your last oil change??? for maintence light
also with ABS and VSA on you will NOT have ethier but the brakes will revert back to normal brakes so if you slide on snow or something you have to pump them like the old days and no stability control ethier

 

checked the online manual...maintenance light seems to have come on since it's been 7,500 miles since the last required maintenance.

but the other lights? why would they all come on at the same time? are they related somehow?

 

stability control is just an abs system with a couple of extra sensors so they are in essence the same system

 

i actually had the same thing happen, but this was at the exact moment my trans failed, not to get you scared or anything, but try and reset the ecu, sometimes if you slide or abs and vsa kick in, it sometimes doesnt shut off.

 

DO NOT RESET ANYTHING!!!!
you need any codes stored to figure out whats wrong- the lights dont come on for no reason~

On the maitenance light= the ONLY thing it does is record miles since last reset of the mait light- its for oil change reminder and will start blinking at about 6000-6500 miles.

The other lights together can mean several things- its a general warning to look at the car
Assuming you live outside Ca, go to any parts store and borrow/rent for free with deposit a code scanner and pull the codes
Many stores will do it for you free too

report back here with any codes,, they often dont mean what they say- they are CLUES not diagnosis

Agree it could be trans- any slipping or trouble at all with it hooking up or delay hooking up in 1st from N?
check trans fluid smell- burnt or like good oil?
See Tranny failure thread for symptoms

an 03 -some had a recall --if so, was the recall done for timing belt pulley? if not, pay small extra for water pump with the job and save big on the 105

register with acura to see about that and ask about trans warranty coverage- dont sweat if they say out of vin range,, that was just a court case that can be worked around

 

I dont know a dealership that can diagnose over the phone based on dash lights!
They all say the same thing- bring it in for diagnosis

 

The same thing happened to me about a year and a half ago, it was around the same time my tranny failed.

 

+1 on happening when the tranny failed

 

the maintenance light is nothing. just get a cel code read. the ! and VSA come on with a cel sometimes.