Am taking a road trip over Christmas and wanted to get radar and GPS hard-wired.

Spent an hour or so outside in the freezing cold (20F) and got it all in. Only one broken panel clip. As it is so cold, I can live with that.

Like an idiot, I left the interior light and radio on, so the battery was toast by the time I'd got finished.

Got a jump and now have engine malfunction light and VSA light and triangle on.

Quick drive around the block thinking the battery needed some juice was quite worrying. Limp mode?

Just been and pulled it all back out and left it running for about ten mins plus another drive. Still the same.

What the hell have I done?

Is it just the battery being low and the cold not helping?

Did I possibly break the VSA switch?

Do I take it to the dealer?

 

I had a similar problem when I replaced my battery. The two VSA and parking brake lights were on for me. I disconnected my battery and drove without worrying about it for a day. The next morning I start my car and the problems gone.

 

I had those lights come and go for a while when I put new wheels on. Very smart tech told me it generally has to do with the resistance and current flow needed to keep that system happy. Try resetting ECU with both battery cables off for good 15 mins and then clean terminal posts and leads really good. Buy some di-electric grease and lube both posts (those little fuzzy things are worthless). Eventually mine went away.

 

I had those lights come and go for a while when I put new wheels on. Very smart tech told me it generally has to do with the resistance and current flow needed to keep that system happy. Try resetting ECU with both battery cables off for good 15 mins and then clean terminal posts and leads really good. Buy some di-electric grease and lube both posts (those little fuzzy things are worthless). Eventually mine went away.

 

I'll try the battery thing.

One other thing to add. She won't go more than 20mph and won't rev more than 2K.

 

its IN limp mode right now!

try pulling the CLOCK fuse- its #13 on the passenger side foot area or edge of dash
Thats the secret backup power to the ECU and will force a reset- without making you input the radio code like the battery neg cable disconnect method does
A few mnutes of that out and then reinsert

Now a quick lesson in batteries/alternator
The battery needs a charge with a normal machine if you can, that will get it 1/2 to 3/4 of full. THEN drive 45-60 minutes with no use of radio, headlights, fan, anything

That will allow the alternator to supply enough juice to recharge the battery on top of running all the electrics on the car-without straing itself
Fuel injection is a huge power user plus the computer to run the engine-
if the voltage is low all the sensors react and thats probably why you got limp mode

When you ask the alternator to make max amount of power for a long constant time- it can shorten the life of it severly.
Jump start is a last resort- and then needs good drive, not 15 minutes, then pull a large amount of juice starting the car again....
Always best to use a battery charger for dead battery IF you can

Reset the ecu- drive it on the freeway- not start and stop traffic, just cruise and it will charge up full just like in normal use,
then go to parts store where they will perform a test of the battery -alternator and starter draw to make sure its ok
Thats free
If your battery is 3-4 years old, its on its last days
The warning lights all come on to alert a problem- they dont mean what they say like in many cases-

 

at idle the alternator is not making enough power to do anything but run the engine
Note you can only run 1 seat heat on high while at idle for long periods- it takes a lot to run the seat heat

Above ~1500-1700rpm is where the big output numbers kick in and easily produce more than is being drawn from the battery- so its always at full charge

 

I disconnected the battery before I went in to work today.

Hopefully that'll fix it.

Next stop - Autozone!

 

Disconnected battery for about 5 hours.

Same.

Fuse # 13 on mine is drivers front seat slide. I think. Definitely not the clock. I don't even see one for the clock.

Still in limp mode.

Is it likely this is due to the state of the battery?

If I buy a new one will this fix it?

Or as I have 'reset' by disconnecting, is it something else?

Big issue is getting out of limp mode so I can get the car somewhere to get it looked at.

Cheers.

 

Though it might sound crude, disconnect the battery for 30 mintues and then touch the terminals on the car together for a few seconds to drain the car. Then reattach and see if it fixes itself. BTW on the 3G TL, fuse #13 isn't the backup, its on the 2nd gen.

 

doh! should have made my gen2 driver disclaimer

What is the secret backup ECU power for you guys?- still the clock fuse?- is there one on the passenger side of the dash of footwell kickpanel?

I need to spread the right info~

 

Limp mode is designed to get you to the dealer actually, slowly but it will get there

 

Did you ever fully charge the battery with a battery charging machine?
Parts stores will often do it free and in less than 1 hour- then be able to load test it and see it the batt really is toast
If its 3-4 years old and you killed it bad- then gave it a shock start and didnt drive enough to really get it full, that may have really done it in, and the car is still operating off the bad numbers and low output
Cant run the car without loads of battery juice

 

Took the car over to a local place (not dealer).

They said battery wasn't holding charge, so bought a new one, but $100 later, I am no closer to resolution.

Dealer said to bring car in, but 20 miles @ 20mph does not sound like fun, so a tow truck is required.

Why the hell did I buy this POS?

"Limp-mode"

WTF is that?

 

Did they restest the alternator system after the new battery install?
You will have to drive 30-45 minutes on the freeway to get the new battery to max full charge too

If the engine computer believes something bad has happend internally, like an overrev condition which would bend valves, it will go into limp mode and allow partial power to get you off the freeway and to the dealer if its a block away, its really just to get you to a place of ~safe parking~ while you wait for the tow

Low battery could have taken out the alternator too, or other strangeness
They are great cars that have a few issues to watch for, but they normally run great, look good, handle well...

 

same thing happened to me when my battery died. when i was jumped, the VSA and check engine light were on.

drove it to the dealer (car felt slow) they put in a new battery and i drove off with those two lights gone. you should be fine.

 

resetting computer didn't help my CEL and VSA problem, either. Mine were related to new wheels and tires. Traction control system was a little low on it's draw and that's when he cleaned up the terminals. Tech said next step would be steering angle sensors.

You may have some residual faults that only the Honda/Acura diagnostic tool can reset. Don't be upset at the car because it will only let you limp around a 20 mph...it's an ingenious way of telling you something serious has happened.