A friend (not very car savvy) was driving my car .. probably had it in the SS mode (thinking that it was in regular drive mode) and ran the car for an hour stuck at no higher than 2nd gear... the check engine light came on .. stayed on (steady light, was not blinking) ..

Two days later .. the light is gone. Does this mean the issue was just a warning of impending doom -- or is the issue still there and i need to have Acura plug in OBDII?

Thank in advance

 

Oh yeah.. the car/tranny runs fine .. no perceptable damage.

 

might be that the engine overheated from the high RPMS or the sensors thought there might be something wrong with the tranny due to the SS not shifting from 2nd. Either way, id take it to acura and tell them that the check engine light came and dissapeared. Don't say anything about the SS thing.

 

just go to the dealer they'll read the code for u

 

or make sure ur gas cap is screwed on tight!

 

That is not uncommon. I have seen it on several different makes of cars when the trans is inadvertently left in a lower gear. (sheesh...I wonder why the manufacturers can't put in a warning light or buzzer! It happens a lot) Usually it's a lean condition that tosses the code from sustained light load high rpm use. When this code is set, it stays there for a determined time and usually disappears after a certain number of key cycles without the code reappearing. You could have it looked at, but I'm sure you're ok.

 

Most importantly, don't let this friend drive your car ever again.

By the way, how's your tranny Peter? How are your tires? I have the same tires and they seem to be pretty loud. I didn't expect them to be this loud, especially after switching from the Potenza RE750s which are known to be very loud.

 

Hey Lore,

The tranny (knock on wood) is holding up so far .. couldnt say the same for all three of my TL-S trannys. I actually perceive my Pirelli's to be quieter than my former Kumhos! However, if I own the car for another tire change -- I'll prolly go back with the Kumho's -- I thought they handled a little better in the dry than my Pirellis.

How's your car treatin ya, bud .. haven't heard from you in a while.

 

AGH my mom did that with my car too i have an 00 and she put it in at about 50-60 and it was only in second gear. Luckly it was only for a minute or less.

 

Hey Peter,

My tranny is whining, it clunks a bit, and the dealer seems to think that it's starting to exhibit tranny failure symptoms. I have roughly 37000 miles on it right now.

I like the Pirellis in terms of gripping power, but I am wondering if spending that much money is wise. The Kumhos seem to be a great price/value proposition, but I hear that the flat spots are pretty bad. Comments?

 

this has happened to me a couple times too...not leaving it in SS accidently though but driving real hard...spirited driving..and holding thrid gear for an extended period on time and it will come on, blink like 20 times then go away. Sometimes it stays for for like a day or two but then goes away. I took it to the dealer and they said there wasn't anything left to read..couldnn't find a code left.

 

Sorry to hear about your tranny -- can't they [Acura] get anything right??

I never really had those flatspotting issues w/ my Kumho's... and I owned the Kumho's during a time when I lived in an apartment and had outdoor parking -- so it sat in the dead of winter outside all the time .. now my car is garaged, so I don't worry about flat spotting. Point is.. my kumho's never really exhibited the flat-spotting, and it was always sitting outside in extreme Chicago winters. They always seemed to perform great.

I think many tires with flatspot .. even some of the higher end Yokohamas and other high-end tires will have reports (per tirerack.com owner reviews) of flat-spotting in colder temps.

I still have one of those Kumho's on a fifth A-spec rim that i have (for emergencies .. etc) and I'll throw it on once in a while when i'm getting a rim fixed or a tire repaired... still no flatspotting.

 

UPDATE:

Too the car to Acura .. the service manager said he wouldn't bother plugging in the OBDII for the $70 because he stated that since the "check engine" light had been out for over 1 week, the system probably "flushed" and got rid of the warning code. Therefore, he assumed he'd find nothing. He went on to assure me that if it was a more devastating problem, that light would not have gone out.

Knock on wood, the car is running ok so far. Thanks for all the informative posts.

 

I just started having a problem with the check engine light going on for a day or so and them turning off. I've read everyone's posts and there's no time when I left it in lower gear, I dont overrev the car or abuse the tranny. I went to the tech and they read the codes. They said there was nothing showing up and then gave me advice on tightening the gas cap, which I already knew and do every time. After resetting the light, it went on again the next day, but only for a few hours, then it went off again. Any other suggestions? Thanks everyone!