about a month ago my gf, now ex, was driving my car and ran out of gas, since then i've been noticing the car shuddering while lightly accelerating, like the engine has power then none for a sec, haven't noticed a drop in rpm's though..so a few minutes ago i'm pulling into my neighborhood and the engine light, vsa light and triangle light come on, i step on the gas and it won't go above about 3k rpms or over 25mph...i just parked at the end of my driveway, turned it off, then back on...the engine light was still on, i stepped on the gas in neutral and it revved like normal..anyone have any idea whats going on here? i have about 71k miles on her at the time, no previous problems...

 

sounds like its gone into Limp mode with the rev limit- as if the engine thinks it was overrevved or other situation where full revs are ill advised and a trip to the dealer is in order.
Running out of gas is really bad on these cars- thats why the yellow warning light with 3 gallons remaining--- surely in 50 miles you can find a gas station!

Some crud may have gotten into the injectors or along that system
Normally I would say run seafoam thru it- but in this case with low rev stuck, its time for the shop IMO

 

put it in drive and see if the green light next to D on the gauge cluster is blinking. If it is, your trans is done. If not, they you are good with the trans. As 01tl4tl said, running out of fuel is bad for these cars, as the fuel helps keep the fuel pump cool, and it could be damaged now and not be sending enough fuel to the motor. Call acura immediately and get the car towed there to avoid further damage.

 

well that's just it, it's a 6 speed manual, so i'm pretty sure it's not the clutch but i don't know, i just went around the block in it again and now just the engine light is on so i'm puzzled

 

look in the passenger footwell- find the fuses and remove #12 marked Clock backup- that will reset the ECU, main computer
or as long as you know the radio- nav security codes, disconnect the battery for a few minutes- negative cable- that resets everything too

Did it go above 3000 rpm this time?
When it ran out of gas what did you do?

I dont know what the book procedure is for fuel runout- anybody know offhand?

 

strange its acting like an auto trans failure~ but ......

 

how is 3rd gear? - the manual trans have a big issue with that- if it was clutch worn out you would be able to make it slip- stand on it in 3rd gear- up a hill if possible- revs with little forward motion
maybe try that within walking distance of the house!! just in case

 

yeah, it went above 3k rpms this time but is still shuddering while steadily accelerating, check engine light still on..never had any problems with the clutch before though, even with the shuddering thing it doesn't slip..after it ran out of gas i went and got some fuel system cleaner at auto zone but didn't seem to do much...i'm just wondering, if it is the fuel system somehow, why would the vsa and <!> light come on earlier? it makes sense tho for the shuddering thing...

 

Take the car to autozone and have them read the code for the Check Engine Light for free. That will give a clue into the problem.