Hey All - I just purchased my first Acura, a 2004 TL, 6 spd manual trans. I'm completely smitten, even though it needs a bit of tlc. I'm also slightly concerned because like another post that I've read here, my VSA and ! indicators are both lit. My VSA indicator resets when I turn the car off, but will reappear after I start rolling and hit 10mph. The ! indicator is always on and doesn't reset.

My husband is a mechanic (although he typically works on large military vehicles), so we're taking it in to have the codes checked. I'm just worried that I'll be dumping money into this beautiful car only days after purchasing it. Any advice or words or wisdom?

 

Hi there, I have a few thoughts on your situation. I think if you really love the car then it's worth investing some more money to get it fixed and running the way it should. It's unfortunate that you bought the car with existing problems but if you got it at a good price and it's still looks good then I say why not get it fixed. If your like me you will take care of it well after it's all fixed up. It's your car now, and it's time to treat it better than the previous owner did. Good luck.

 

I completely agree - and I'm fortunate enough to be married to a mechanic who can help me do most of the work. I just wish we had more time to talk to/negotiate with the dealer. We live in the middle of nowhere (basically) with two kids and really needed a replacement for my car that got totalled out in a hail storm. I may have actually found part of the problem yesterday when I went to get a tired patched. Not only did one tire have sidewall damage, another tire was the WRONG SIZE! I have two different size tires on the front of my car. No good! I was heated for a while after the mechanic told me, but I'm getting two new tires today and will go from there. I also went to Auto Zone to have the codes read, but they said their hookup wasn't reading them. One step at a time.

 

Good job on getting the tires fixed and the correct size.

I'm still interested in finding out why your VSA lights are on.

 

Yeah, so am I. If they're still on after the tires get switched out I'll have to take it to Honda and have them read the codes.

 

Chances are it's a faulty brake switch. you should get 2 codes one for the brake switch and another for a low battery voltage but disregard the battery voltage. in some cases you may catch this issuse as part of the 3rd brake light will light up funny. Half would be dim the other half would be bright, the whole light might be dim then hitting the brake pedal the light will go back to full bright ect.. Not in all cases does this happen, but it may. Also if this is the issuse after replacing the brake switch which is located on the top of the brake pedal, the system will need to be recalibrated. this is done by either jumping 2 pins on the obd2 connector or having the factory scan tool to do this.. best of luck.