Battery light while driving in the heavy rain
 

driving home today in a torrential downpour-very hurricane-ish. hitting the big puddles on the side of the highway, when I noticed my battery light . I applied the brakes and it kinda felt like I lost power brakes and power steering.OMG..freaking out. then just like that, the battery lights goes off and I have steering and brakes again. It did it twice on the ride home. Could water somehow be getting into my electrical system through the fenderwells? anyone else had this happen?

I have the same problem. I check with dealer and told that Acura knows the problem but no solution.

Belt slipping?

I have the same issue. Only happened when I make a right turn and run into big puddles the couple times i'd ran into them. I forgot what lights lit up but definitely the battery and couple other lights light up as well as loss of power steering and dropped idle to the point that it feels like car is shutting off. Anyone knows what the prob might be???????

yea slipping belt would be my guess too. avoid puddles and or driving during in hurricanes. ;)

Maybe a short caused by a bad ground? I had issues with my HVAC and wipers conking out in the rain. Turns out both ground out to a bolt behind the front bumper that was not tightened when the bumper was removed/replaced. When it got wet, the loose connection would short. Tightened it up and have not had an issue since (knock on wood).

doesn't battery light stand for bad alternator??

Forgot I posted this. I figured out after reading some more posts, that basically water is hitting the belts. Not electrical or HVAC related, just the belt slipping. I went and got the belts changed. The dealer quoted some price, which was alot just to change 1 belt. So I inquired about the 105K service, which basically included replacing all belts, tensionors, etc. I got, I believe, a great price including replacing the sparks too. Wasnt too much more than changing 1 belt, so I did the service. So if it was a belt or belts, I dont have that problem anymore. Hope that sheds a little light on this problem.

^did you have it done somewhere else, other than dealer? What did you pay for the 105K service?

It was at my local stealership. Full 105k service with spark plugs-$899+tax. There are alot of "local" deals for about $500, without the plugs but you have to drive ( in my case) to Jersey about 2hrs away. Not worth it for 4 hrs of driving R/T. Drove 10 minutes, got me a 2010 TL loaner and picked it up a few hours later. Also forgot to mention, these specials are through HONDA service, not Acura. Also, I am at 90K, but bought the car new so the belts are about 8 years old. Read that belts should be replaces about 7 years regardless of miles.

the definition of a short circuit is a connection that allows the current to travel in an unintended path. water causes "shorts" because it allows currents to travel where ever the water splashes on. If anything, the water completed your loose connection so its not considered a short circuit at all. Keep in mind most short circuits will cause some fuse to blow.

Wet belt slipping. Have it tightened, problem should go away. But it could also be the rubber ring on the outer pulley on the crank pulley going bad. I had that happen on my '90 Accord. Same deal, drive through a puddle, battery light would come on momentarily. Tightened the belt, kept doing it. Within a week, I could hear a faint knocking from that side of the engine and noticed the outer ring of the crank pulley had a slight wobble. Replaced it, problem solved.

$899 for a belt and spark plug replacement?! Damn...
 

Why the $870 mark up? Lol thos happened to me today while driving in Tampa, fl... Going to the auto parts store in the am when its dry, grabbing a $20 belt and slapping on in 15 min.. Sucks that you had to pay that much for a belt slipping..

Shop around and see how much the 105K service cost near you. To my knowledge, it is a service that has to be done. I did it before the mile marker, but there was a 7 year time frame to replace belts and I had 8 years already. I had piece of mind having this done and not worrying about it later ~ 15K miles later. Car runs great, minor things here and there and I am at 130K now and no more battery light coming on.

Danstone the 105k service involves replacing the timing belt and water pump and related parts.

You are confused and think hes talking about the serpentine belt only.

Musiclevelz5 is correct. I did a 105K service..I believe it's A4 on the maintainence reminder. I had belts, water pump, pulley tensioner and replaced all plugs.

I just had this happen to me under the same conditions. I am at 132k miles so the 105k service is out of the cards. What belt is everyone referring to? If we plan on avoiding large puddles at high speeds in the future is this fix not as critical or is this a symptom of having lose belts or a bad crank pulley ring and should fix asap regardless?

Appreciate the help here!!

This is 5 yrs ago, but I think it was the alternator belt that was slipping. They (dealer) recommended changing another belt at the same time, so I asked if those belts are replaced with the 105K service. Since they were, I just went ahead and did the service. It was only a couple hundred more than just replacing 2 belts. Did you not do the 105K service? Did the previous owner do it? Basically first major tune up for the car.