wolftag

Well, I can now tell you what probably happened in this post:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...threadid=96032

After reading that thread, I looked at my steering wheel and noted that I could not see the airbag line at all.

Today driving into work, someone was merging into my lane and didn't check their blind spot. I hit the horn in a panic, and with a decent amount of force.

I hit the acura symbol, and felt it "pop" inside out for just a second. When I got to work I checked it out, and there it is -- on the left side, I can see the seam just like A-TLvic882's pics in the aformentioned thread.

This really sucks. But for me, the blemish is not worth having a tech pull my steering wheel apart so I will just live with it until/if it gets worse.

polosport

I have that exact same line! It wasn't there before. And it's gradually getting more distinct, on both sides on the logo.

rets

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82712


The dealer ordered the new placement for him.

kyle-wdp

I did it to myself today also. .....Stupid lady on a cell phone came into my lane and never even looked at me. Irode the horn hard and then looked down saw the line.....Shit!

1FasTL

I have same marks only on right side. Guess you can't hit the horn hard. This has never been an issue in any of my other cars. Arghhhhh!!!!

92NSX

Wow, are you pressing down in the middle of the wheel or just to a side of it?

cparris

I had this exact same thing happen to me. I too felt the cover "pop" while hitting the horn very hard. My steering wheel looks identical to the one in the pics of that first thread. I figured this was the cause, but wasn't sure if I were the only one experiencing it.

I feel the same as the OP though. It's not a big enough deal to bother getting it replaced any time soon. Glad to know I'm not the only one (well, sort of glad anyway. It sucks for everyone else to which it's happened).

92NSX: I pressed down dead center on or above (can't really recall) the Acura symbol. And my line is most noticeable in center, and gradually fades to the sides.

Mods: I really think it would be beneficial for a thread dealing with this issue to be included in the garage, or to at least have some kind of warning for new owners to not hit the horn with a lot of force.

92NSX

I wonder if this is a design flaw and a dealer would be willing to fix??? Provided a fix is available short of replacing airbag.

cparris

According to the OP of that first thread (http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...threadid=96032), the dealer ordered new parts to fix it for him. But apparently the airbag and the trim piece are a single unit, so they would have to replace the entire airbag.

I'm not sure if this would be considered a design flaw or not. On one hand, it shows that there would be very little resistance to the airbag during deployment (a good thing), but it's obviously also very easy to reproduce the problem (a bad thing). Of course, I'm sure that if I do get mine replaced, I'll have the same thing happen at 50,001 miles.

92NSX

That says a lot about the dealer then. I know all FMC models it is an entire unit as well and they aren't cheap. Normally around $450-$650 depending on model. I would guess that Acuras are around the same price.

cparris

I agree. He probably told the dealer that it had always looked like that (based upon reading his thread, I don't think he knew if it had always been there or not). The dealer then ordered a new one based on a "visual imperfection". So I'm guessing if you go to your dealer and say "I hit my horn really hard and now I have this line" they'll probably reject your claim.

And of course, the dealer gets paid back if it's a warranty repair. But it doesn't sound like the dealer argued about it, so that was a good thing.

92NSX

Good thing my dealer is relatively the same way. I'm having a few items replaced on my car for that very reason.

Shinj1EVA

I think I should call my dealer up tomorrow, I have that issue w/ my stearing wheel too. I thought it was supposed to be there.. ?

Intox1221

Wow, "what eyes dont see, the heart dont grieve about".. haha, i just saw my steering wheel and yup it is there. I had totally missed it before reading this thread.

Lore

I just had mine approved for replacement as well, because it really is one piece. The district manager was scheduled to be around today and approved the replacement of the steering wheel cover and the driver seat cover (to fix an old-looking bolster).

Sezniko

iTrader: (3)

I bought my TL used and that line had me wondering for a week what happened to the steering wheel or is ment to be like that? Anyways after finding this tread I got the steering wheel replaced for free under warranty along with both mirror actuators and replaced a mirror with a strange burn mark on it.

Check out my Photo Album of misc acura pics.

1995hoo

Wow, talk about resurrecting an ancient thread! Still, probably good for new owners to see these things lest they pop the horn in the same way (I've been careful for over four years now due to these discussions).

pimpin-tl

Yea, just tried to get my dealer to replace mine, and they refused and said they are all like that. They looked at 3 others they had. Ugg.

karlito

Same thing happened to me...only difference was I punched my steering wheel when I was agnry one day. Not a big deal as you can only see it if your staring at it! :-)