NICEUP

About a week ago I gave someone a jump start and noticed that after my car's engine was idling a little rougher and louder, just a little not to much doh. Then lucky me (don't ask me why) I ended up jump starting another car. Now this car was a bitch to start. I had to rev my car up a lot for about 3mins before it would start.

The next day my maint. light came on and my engine which is normally quiet is idling louder than usual. Should I go to the dealer or would I be wasting my time. I know how to get the light off, but I just got a tune up from the dealer and they normally reset the light so it sholud not have came on. Is there something else wrong? What should I do?

Is there a rule against giving some a jump start, because I know how it feels to be stranded with a dead car.

Help me out here.

fsttyms1

if it was done correctly there is nothing wrong with jumping another car. the maint light the dealer probably just forgot to reset. if it isnt running smooth and you just had a tune up i would bring it back to them and let them figure out why its running rough

NICEUP

I hooked everything up correctly I know that. But would that do any damage to my car if the car that I am jumping draws a lot of power from mine and also if i over rev the my car to build up the charge?

hellas

your not supposed to let the 'good' car run while boosting

fsttyms1

no it shouldnt have hurt any thing. if done correctly and didnt accidentaly reverse the conections or hit the positive to the frame. you can jump with the car running, sometimes its needed!

Tom Blasing

I wonder if the weak starts did something to reprogram the ECU.

medic

I thought the owners manual said not to use the TL to jump other cars. if the plates in the dead battery are shorted, you're bascily shorting your battery too which could also damage teh other electronics, right?

you probably just need to reset the ECU, but next tiem I'd just call AAA for the person.

NICEUP

How do you reset the ecu? I noticed today when i started my car the idle dropped so low that the engine cut off. It did that twice.

fsttyms1

disconnect the neg battery cable for 15 min. jumpstarting it shouldnt have done any thing to the ecu, but maybe for some reason its in need of o reprogram. ive jumped atleast 30 cars in the last 3 years of my tl with not a problem.

Tom Blasing

Disconnect the battery and let it sit like that for about 15-20 minutes and reconnect it. Just drive the car as normal from there in. Before you do this be sure you have your radio code handy, you'll need it to use the radio again. Also, the memory for the seats and mirrors will be lost so you'l have to program that again too. The "Auto Up" and "Auto Down" feature on the driver's window will have to be reprogrammed too. I don't think the keyless entry has to be reporogrammed though.

NICEUP

I have a 99tl/navi. I do not have memory seats and all that stuff, but how do you reprogram the auto windows.

fsttyms1

wont be a issue since yours is only down. (99-00)

NICEUP

ok thanks i am going outside to reset th ecu now, I will let you guys know how it went. Just one last thing my maint. light blinks when turn the ignition. When I reset the ecu will that light stay off or do I have to reset that as well.

Tom Blasing

I believe the light blinking is saying that your ECU is recalibrating itself. When it stops blinking it should be o.k.

fsttyms1

no the maint light is the one you reset with the trip/ reset buttons. if it blinks when the key is first turned its that. it will eventually just stay on. that supposed to be used for oilchanges tire rotations ect... im not sure if that wil be reset or not but it only takes 10 sec to reset that. its in the owners manual

Love my 99

Maybe I misunderstood you but how in the hell is the 'good' car supposed to charge the 'bad' car if the car is off???

fsttyms1

its not supposed to charge it, its supposed to just give it sufficiant voltage to start it, once its started its up to its own alt to charge it. they would like you do have the car off for saftey reasons but its not necessary, and yes some times you do need the car running to jump it if the bettery is really dead

monky

I'm pretty sure the good car should be running to prevent the battery from being drained by the dead car.

By turning on the engine, the alternator draws engine power and charges the battery at about 14 volts which will give it more juice to jump the dead car.

Otherwise, if the dead car kills your battery then you got two dead cars.

Just my two cents.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine19.htm

In regards to the original problem, sounds like something messed up the alternator, possibly. Maybe the battery is low on juice, try keeping the engine on for about 45 mins and see if charging it up fixes it.

NICEUP

Well just to let you guys know. I could not find my codes for the radio/navi, so I had to call the dealer. I told the dealer about my problem with the shutting off and with the low idle and the main. light. and they said if I could get there in 15 mins they will sqeeze me in.

When I got there they took 1hr and said that they could not find anything wrong. They said that they have to see the problem actually happening to fix it - bullcrap. They said they never heard about the low idle problem before. I spoke to both the rep & the manager. So all they did was reset my maint. light. At least I got a free hand wash.

Guess what today my car stalled again. The rpm went all the way down to 0 and the car cut off. I guess I will have to live with it.

cma2180

You shouldn't have to live with it, if it stalled again today there is something wrong with it. Is it still under warrenty?? Maybe try a different dealer.

NICEUP

I will take your advice man. I will check somewhere else

fsttyms1

did you ever reset the ecu?

monky

Dude, you didn't mention stalling. Did you tell the dealer this? Not to scare you or anything but stalling is a definite indication of something thats wrong, so you definitely get it checked out ASAP. If the dealer doesn't find the problem then you should let them know that you aren't satisfied. I do not think they would like bad feedback or dissatisfaction anyways.

NICEUP

I am going to go by a different dealer with my problem. I do not think that they are experienced enough at Valley Stream Acura. They took so long to check the car out and they had no anwsers.
I asked them about reseting the ecu and they said that I do not need too.
monky is that you reside in new york, which dealer do you go by?

@cUr@-TL

sounds like a bad alternator/battery...



@cUr@-TL

Edward'TLS

Correct. You should not let the good car running. Back emf and power spikes generated from the bad car starting may do something to the delicate electronics on the good car.