APP? Isn't that Accelerator Pedal Position?


If so, check this parts list, item #2 (37971-RBB-003):

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...s=&view=normal


Otherwise, uuhmmm, :nevermind:

 

acuraoemparts.com has all the different pieces to this assembly. I'm trying to identify what actually needs replaced. It is only the following:

002 37971-RBB-003 SENSOR ASSY., ACCELERATOR PEDAL

Can be found here:

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

This appears to be a a much cheaper version of the following:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...2183&ppt=C0033

Want to make sure I order the right thing but Oreilly price is around $230 while acuraoemparts.com is more like $130 if they are the same part.

 

thanks. this is exactly my problem too. needed a cheap outlet for the part too. you guys are awesome.

 

I bought my APP from my local Honda Dealer, Acura is quite a ways away. They charged me $185 for the APP Sensor with a total install price of $419 which includes the price of the sensor. I am tempted to DIY. May have to muster the confidence up and jump in. Because the limp mode is killing me.

 

MadeMan716, I bought mine from my Acura dealer for about the same price. Technically cheaper online but I was fed up with limp mode so I paid the extra to get it local.

This part is so easy to install that I wouldn't even consider paying someone to install. If you are just completely afraid of loosening some nuts and bolts then fine, pay someone else to do it, but this part is very easy to replace. I actually took more pictures as I did mine just to clarify what is already a very easy DIY but just figured the extra pictures might help. Thing is, I'm out of town and won't be uploading them until probably the 24th of the month.

If I remember correctly, all you will need is a 10mm socket/wrench and a 12mm wrench for the one bolt that holds the cable.

Once you dive in, you will see how easy this job is. The easiest thing for me to do, and you'll understand once you get into it, was to remove the black mounting plate from the bottom of the sensor BEFORE trying to pull the sensor out past the bar. It will make sense once you start because you'll find that the sensor with the mounting plate won't fit past the strut bar no matter how you rotate it. Easiest thing was to hold the sensor upside down with one hand and remove the three bolts with a socket wrench in the other hand.

Sounds harder than it is, if it even sounds hard.

Whole job took my just over 20 minutes and that was with taking pictures along the way. Only thing I've changed before are my brakes so I have no mechanical background. This job is just that easy.

Of course you're at your own risk, but good luck!

Limp mode is the WORST!!!

 

MadeMan716 you are wasting money if you pay someone to istall for you.
It took me 5 minutes puttting it together. Just get the recomended tool and you will be ok

 

Just came across this issue and this thread thanks to all for the great info. My 04 TL is been acting up for the last three weeks with all the symptoms, so I ordered the sensor and picked it up today. I whent to go and install it but after taking off the plastic cover noticed that the cable seemed to have too much slack. Although in over a year of having my car I never had a problem, so I adjusted the tension on the cable and I noticed a big improvement and I can't get the car to go on limp mode although I've been trying to see if I can get it to act up also the gas peddle seems more responsive. Did anybody else try this before changing the part or did anybody else noticed your cable to have too much slack. Now I'm not sure if I will take the part back or change it anyway, but I am gonna drive a few more days to see I the symptoms come back. Just thought I put it out there for anybody else to try if they want. Once again thanks for all the good info AZ has help me with lots of problems.

 

I am wondering if a stretched cable could be part of the problem and if it might be cheaper to try changing the cable first and seeing if this solves the issue, before buying a $200+ part that we might not really need.

 

How do you tighten the APP sensor cable?

 

I am gonna guess that you took the plastic cover from the sensor. You can see the two nuts that hold the cable secured to the assembly, loosen the outer one and move the inner one towards the end of the threads as you need to make the cable tighter. I whent all the way to the end of the threads on my and noticed a big difference and now limp mode won't came on, no matter how hard I try to get it to come on. The peddle also feels way more responsive, the car feels back to normal. I called Honda and asked about the cable and told him what's going on. The guy told me it is $61 for the cable but that he has never heard of that cable needing to be changed but the app sensor problem is a common thing.

 

The part number I was told for the APP sensor is 37971 RBB 003

 

Adjusting the APP Sensor Cable is the first thing everyone should do before replacing the APP Sensor. Gatoloco604 was correct in noticing that the cable can become stretched and need adjustment.

I had this exact problem happen to my TL-S with 63,000 miles on it today leaving work. It almost caused an accident when turning into oncoming traffic and the car went into gimp mode, it was not a pleasant experience. I hit the hazard lights and made my way to the next business parking lot at 7 mph. I turned off the car and then turned it back on and was able to make it home. I knew about the APP Sensor and that was the first thing I was going to check. I noticed the cable and it had become stretched and not as tight as it should be so I adjusted the cable until the slack was taken up which actually was all the way to the end which is about a 1/4 inch adjustment.

Let me tell you that the gas pedal feel now is Excellent and they way it should be. I hated the feel of the gas pedal on this car ever since I bought it a few thousand miles ago and now it is perfect. Every last owner of the TL could benefit from adjusting that cable. Here are a few pictures to help out with the location and what the adjustment nuts look like. Two bolts to remove the cover and then you adjust the cable. It is one of the more simple things you will ever do on the car. The APP Sensor is on the passenger side of the car as seen in the pictures below.


APP Sensor by Jaster2, on Flickr


APP Sensor Cover by Jaster2, on Flickr

The Red Line is where the cable nut had been before the adjustment.

APP Sensor Cable adjustment by Jaster2, on Flickr

 

it fits past, just a matter of reversing it and angling, and i have both factory and aftermarket strut bars.

 

Great post, hopefully this fixes my problems. Noticed the lack of power missing on my trip to visit family, then when I was about to return home car went limp... Consulted local auto shop, the computer gave me the error code mentioned in the thread. I think heat and wear and tear on car (93K miles) played a part. Only tools needed were a 10mm and 12mm. Fixed in 30mins. I'll see how the 4.5 hour drive feels tomorrow!

 

Hello,
When you replace the APP, how do you deal with the cable? Do you just losen it and it snaps off? Or does it feed into the spool? I have no idea where the other end of the cable goes. Could you please help?

 

DimitriB123, look at the last picture in Jaster's post. It shows how the cable should look when its installed and he has an arrow pointing to the nut. The end of this cable works like a bicycle brake cable. There is a metal cylinder, if I remember correctly, that seats in a slot that is meant just for the cylinder.

If you look at that picture you can see the cable wraps around to where this slot is located.

Good luck and let us know if you can't find it.

 

Took it apart yesterday. Saw where the end of the cable is fastened. Ordered to the part last night too. I think I am ready to replace the app once it comes in. Hopefully this solves the limp mode issue (7 times it's happened in the past 2 weeks - incredibly annoying). Code is P2138 though I do not see it on my Navi-Tech pacakage (2007), when going to Setup/Info. There is no Messages menu. In any case, thank you you all!!!

 

Thanks to everybody on this thread! I am an Acura Noob and I was able to replace the APP sensor from reading this thread!

I just bought an '05 TL 2 months ago and always thought I just had to get used to stop and go driving. Then the engine light came on and told me that the sensor had gone out. I took my car to the shop and my mechanic laughed and told me I could field this one. Thanks to this thread, it was fairly painless!

 

Like everyone here, I had the "limp" mode where your car refuses to accelerate past 2000 rpm or something like that and when you restart, it works but the check engine stays on for a few key cycles or miles (unclear).

Also, I was experiencing difficulty to start the car smoothly in 1st gear (I have a TSX 2005 6MT with 140k miles), often having to give extra gas to avoid a near stall. And even with care, the gear shits were often rough.

So I got the part from DelRay in Florida for about $145 shipped and installed it about an hour ago. I took pictures because I'm always paranoid I will not know how to assemble things back together, but I have to say this was easy even to a fairly inexperienced mechanic like me.

So I wanted to help anyone with extra pictures in case the previous ones are not sufficient. There was especially not picture of the area where the cable meets the APP sensor.

One piece of advice, don't do like me. Put a little rag on your engine cover or you might scratch it with the bracket

So here are the pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/10189...Nj2xcuXy8yk7gE


Enjoy.

 

I have experienced slight hesitation under partial throttle, all <3k RPM I believe. Never happened when I put the pedal down >60% (just a guess on the numbers). It was only city driving, your "standard" level of acceleration.

So, thanks to the great posts in this thread, I tightened my APP cable. I would not say there was a large amount of slack, but I could move the cable with ease. I started by tightening quite a bit. The cable was noticably stiffer. I could move it, but it had a higher level of "pretension". BUT, when I drove around, the RPMS would hang high on shifts or whenever you drop the clutch. It took a while for the RPMS to get to idle speed.

So, I loosened it about half the amount I moved it. Still more tension than before, but not as much as I made it. I found out the best way to tighten... loosen the inside screw and slowly tighten the outside screw until the mechanical stop starts to pull away. You can see the tab at the mechanical stop here:


Once the tab starts to pull away from the mechanical stop, you are at a good tension. I found that tightening beyond this could cause slow RPM drops when you pull back the throttle. Now, YMMV, but this was my personal experience.

I also reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery for a while and hitting the brakes to drain any power. I am not sure if this does anything, but I did it anyway. I need to get more mileage on the car, but it seems the hesitation is better but not 100% gone. Could be the IAT sensor in the TB, or perhaps a knock sensor. Its only a slight hesitation. No limp mode issues or anything like that. Just slight power hesitation, as if the ECU is pulling timing or something... or its miscalculating airflow and I am going slightly lean or rich. But its only for a very short period of time. Give it more throttle, and its not even there. So, who knows. Anyway, hopefully my experience can help someone make this adjustment.

 

So my 150 mile update is that it did not fix the hesitation. Hopefully my post will help show someone what NOT to do though (tighten too much).

 

Thanks for the photos and instructions.

Even though being a fairly novice when it comes to cars, I was able to replace the APP sensor myself in less than half an hour.

Only thing bad was I lost one of the bracket bolts somewhere in the engine area/bays while putting everything back. Went to a dealer and bought a new one for a dollar.

It's been over 300 miles since I replaced it and no problems so far. P2138 gone for good.

Thanks to acurazine and all the members for their priceless posts.

 

I would love some advice as it sounds like what is going on with my '08 MDX is similar. I have the same sluggish acceleration when in traffic. Car starts up fine but after driving for a short while when I try to move forward from a stop, my RPMs will only go to about 2000 and the car moves very slowly then my RPMs will shoot up to over 3000 and the car will lurch into the next gear. While all this is going on, my GPS/radio will reboot. Took the car into the dealer and they initially could not find an issue so they did a transmission service and updated my GPS. Did not fix the problem. Then I got an error light for my emmisions system and my AWD. Took it back in and they said it was the O2 sensor so they changed that. Seemed fixed but after about 1000 miles the whole thing started again. I was out of state in SD and they tried to fix it but of course the issue would not happen when they had the car (although I loved the dealership in Sioux Falls and would use them all the time if they were not so far from Tampa!). Does my sluggish start and concordant GPS/radio issue sound like it could be related to any of these sensors? My MDX has 100K on it and ran perfectly fine up until these recnet issues. Thanks!

 

so glad for this post. ordered the part from Delray Acura, paid 143.81 with shipping. Installed in an hour....took me 30 minutes of delays finding my 10 MM socket, and then dropped one of the bolts as I disassembled the bracket. Still so very easy to do. This immediately fixed my problem. Car had progressively gotten to be HORRIBLE to drive previously. It would die all the time after stumbling and missing.

 

I just replaced mine and adjust (snag fit) for 15 minutes. Local dealer charging me $171 plus tax(with 10% discount). I found this site " honda partsunlimited.com and paid $121 plus 8bucks shiipingbfor 2 days and ofcourse bought some more parts.
I started geting thisnlimp node a while back, then i adjusted the cable because t was so loose to a snag fit. It works for alongtime then it happen again and more often. So i secided to replace it and it work fine now.... Good luck to all

 

I have a 2004 MDX and have been experiencing the "gimp mode" in where the check engine, VTM-4, triangle w/ "!", & vsa light all go one. It has happened about 4-5 times over the past 3-4 months and recently happened a couple of times over a few days.

Local trusty honda/acura mechanic said he charges $39 for diagnostic on the check engine light. The code pulled was P2138 APP Sensor A-B Correlation issue. Mechanic explained the drive by wire system. Quoted me $300+ to fix it. ($133 for part and $167 labor)

After coming home I looked up the issue and found this and other threads. Decided to call mechanic and see if he would sell me the part to do it myself so I could save up for things I can't do like the timing belt service that I mentioned I would like him to do in a while.

I'm at 113k and he said that I could wait another 5-7k to do the timing belt.

I will update after I replace the APP Sensor. Thanks for the info.

 

Robyn-I have had this EXACT problem with my '07 MDX. Problem is intermittent thus no diagnosis yet from dealer.
"I have the same sluggish acceleration when in traffic. Car starts up fine but after driving for a short while when I try to move forward from a stop, my RPMs will only go to about 2000 and the car moves very slowly then my RPMs will shoot up to over 3000 and the car will lurch into the next gear. While all this is going on, my GPS/radio will reboot." My MDX has almost 100K on it. When I take it to the dealer they cannot pull any codes, cannot recreate issue and send me on my way. Dealer techs say they have "never heard of this". No suggestions on what to do either.
On my last trip to the dealer they said "the battery is showing low" however upon taking it to a local auto parts store their battery tester said it was "good".
I was wondering if the torque converter recall may be part of the fix? Any luck on diagnostics on your end?

 

hey i am in need of this sensor because i too am having all the same problems, went to there site and found this but its not very descriptive:

37971-RBB-003 SENSOR ASSY., ACCELERATOR PEDAL 2005 TL 177.25 132.94

i copied and pasted what exactly i found is this what you used and found?

 

Yep.. That's the right one.. wording is different depending on the site you use, but that's the right one buddy..

 

Just replaced this, 30 mins tops....AcuraZine is the bomb!!!

 

Intermitently I got a check engine light with loss of power. I alwyas thought the culprit is a faulty gas tank cap. Everytime I'd stop, unscrew and screw back the cap, and after about 30 minutes of driving the engine would turn off.

Once I checked the error code, P2138, and after reading the posts here I decided to change the APP sensor. We'll see if that fixes it.

Regards.

 

Just wanted to say thank you for a helpful thread. I changed out my APP Sensor tonight with great success!

 

what is the part number for a 07 tl app sensor

 

would it be a different part number if i drove a tl-s?

 

Bought the part from Auto Zone for $158. Since I'm at a physical disadvantage (wheelchair), My friend did the labor while I instructed directly from this thread. 30 minutes! Thanks AZ!

 

I am also having this issue on my 07 Type S.... Gonna order the part # 37971-RBB-003..... I hope that fits for my car also and see what happens, thanks for all the advice fellas!!

 

I just replaced mine, it cost me $182 from the dealer and I did it myself with following this thread. super easy, thank you all.

I had the error pulled and it was in fact the APP sensor, so I replaced it. the issue is gone for the most part and it accelerates smoothly ( the first 2 days) but I still get a little hesitation here and there which is mildly annoying.

I notice that it does it mostly when is hot as fuck, the AC is on, and you are cruising at 30-40 mph ( due to fucking traffic ) but once on the highway it runs decent. the car has fresh motor oil, new filters and all good stuff. except for the tranny fluid which is nasty but I am scared to do the 3x3.

 

fantastic thread. the APP current cost ~$150 from delray after shipping. gotta love the wealth of info. anybody run there APP past 200k?

 

Did my swap tonight.

Initial on throttle lag is gone. On/off throttle jerk while in gear is still there though. My issue was mainly pulling out and shifting. Fixed

Notes: make sure to check throttle cable slack first. Adjust and test drive. That may solve some people's issues.

When installing make sure cable is reinstalled without slack as well

 

I did my swap a few weeks back. I didn't have any codes or major symptoms, but it was nearly impossible to drive nicely. Taking off from a stop smoothly was very difficult. Driving in 1st or 2nd was very twitchy. Even my Mother-in-Law had commented in the past year at how bad it was to ride as a passenger in my car.

Swapped the sensor out in about 20 minutes (including how long it took to find the tools) and took it out for a drive. Very smooth again and very easy to drive.

I did have slack in the wire that had to be adjusted out. I am doubtful that was the cause of my issues, but who knows. Either way, I am happy I don't look/feel like an idiot anymore stalling/bucking my car at every stop.