I read the other posts about replacing an APP. Seems like people did that when confirming that the error code their car produced corresponded to an APP issue. My questions are: 1) is it possible to proactively diagnose a failing APP when there is no malfunction light present, therefore no error code will be generated? 2) if at one time you had the malfunction light + VSA lite illuminate BUT THEN THEY GO AWAY, is it just a matter of time before it appears again or is anyone seeing a "1 and done" case where it hasn't come back?
I ask because I called both Acura dealers in my area. No surprise, they each gave me different answers. I explained my symptoms were akin to what others experienced with a failed APP BUT my malfunction lights cleared indicating no more issue. One dealer said they can still diagnose it without the malfunction light, the other said all they could do is drive the car around and wait for it to replicate (which I don't need them to do b/c I can drive my car around just fine and wait for it to replicate).
In the end, what I want to avoid is driving on some road trip and this pops up in the middle of nowhere. But I also don't want to spend a few hundred bucks on an unneeded repair. Thoughts?

 

Well, I was some what in your footsteps about a week ago.
When I was driving, I could feel the jerking when accelerating along with the hesitations. I had a day or two without the CEL turning on with the VSA, but these symptoms were still present at the time. There are also times when I drove that the APP symptoms went away, and then came back. Before I took it to my family's shop, the CEL P2138 code went away, but came back on after driving it a few more miles. It seems more of an off and on issue which lead to it being diagnosed as a faulty/bad APP sensor. My uncle also cleared the CEL to see if it would come back on and it did after I drove it about 20 miles that day.

Sorry for the long story, but that's how my APP sensor replacement went about.
If I were you, I'd pay attention to the small symptoms I had described for you. My car did go into limp mode a few times, so I would drive very cautiously, but attentively. It could happen at random times like it did for me.

 

Thanks for the info. As of now, still no CEL. I can still feel that slight hesitation...but in my case it's only when going constant speed (regardless of highway or streets in town). I describe the feeling of the "hesitation" like if you were driving and your car gets a huge gust of wind on the front for a second so you feel the resistance. However I did not detect it when using cruise control. I'm hoping to get a few other data points from people so I can decide whether to proactively get it replaced.

 

From your above post about "resistance" I'd suggest replacing it now to see if that is indeed the cause of the "resistance". If it doesn't change anything I'd start looking into other trouble areas.

As far as the VSA light + a Check Engine Light, it could have been a multitude of things that could have caused it, perfect example happened to a buddy of mine. Guy is driving with a flat tire - friend did this in another acura, VSA+CEL on after 20 minutes of driving with a flat tire on. Car thought the wheel speed sensor was bad

 

Thanks for the input. It'll be a week before I can get the car in and have the dealership check it out...so I'm hoping to get some other data points from people. The repair/replacement is somewhere between $200-$300 so I'm hoping to pinpoint it a bit more before just plunking down cash on something that isn't going to fix the problem. I should have mentioned, that what I experience isn't all the time. As a matter of fact, I haven't felt it since the CEL cleared. It's just the Murphy's Law of it happening on a road trip that worries me. But no road trip for a few weeks so hopefully I'll get some more concrete data points in the next week.

 

Just wondering, did your VSA & Check engine light come back on again? If so, how long did it take? Mine came on once along with the symptoms for the notorious "LIMP" mode a week ago, but has not come back on after I cleared code P2138. I was going to just wait until the symptoms came back along with the check engine light but since someone else uses this car, I decided to just order the APP sensor to replace it. The part itself is $159.31 plus shipping at OEMAcuraparts. The part# is 37971-RBB-003.

 

 

You should note you posted in the 3G TL section...so yes, all details you find will be for the 2004-2008 TLs. Looking at a parts diagram, the pedal for a 4G looks quite a bit different than a 3G. Is your sensor integrated into that assembly instead of being a remotely mounted device like it is on the 3G? You may wish to pose your question in a thread over in the 4G section.

 

Same problem here I'll get VSA and CEL while driving and drops into limp shut car off few secs goes way and repeats after a few days.

 

I had a problem where the gas light and cel light came on in my 2004 tl and it would shut the car off for a few seconds but mine was because of my oil. So I would make sure to check other problems first.

 

just a quick question , does the 2000 3.2 tl have this sensor?

 

Don't believe so since the 2004+ TL has Drive By Wire Throttle where the older ones have a physical cable to the throttle body.

 

thank you - realized earlier i had posted this in the wrong generation- but thank you much