Is it the tranny??? Help!
 

I tried searching for my problem but couldn't come up with anything so here it is:

1. '04 - 66,700 miles - Auto
2. All maintenance done on time at dealership

Problem:

My wife was driving up a small hill when all of a sudden the VSA, VSA Activation Indicator and the Malfunction Indicator Light all turned on and she could no longer accelerate, total loss of power. The engine sounded fine the AC was on, nothing abnormal inside.

Thankfully we were near our house and I was following her to get some lunch before we ran some errands.

I was able to "drive" it home although at about 10-15 mph. The car wouldn't go past that. There was another small hill going in the other direction but I made it up that one at 5 mph.

Any ideas what this may be???

The car is being towed to the dealer and I have the extended warranty but we're one car down now.

Help...

probably not, sounds like the computer went into 'limp home' mode. Usually something with the drive-by-wire or computer. Tranny problems usually come with erratic shifting/hard down shifting while driving, getting stuck in second gear and so on. Sorry, at least it's under warranty.

Bump for help...

try turning off the vsa and driving it. You may have an abs speed sensor giving a false reading. The car thinks a wheel is slipping and it is trying to stop it.

I just spoke with my Service Manager and she told me the Throttle Body has to be replaced. They tried to tell me it had gotten wet and that the warranty doesn't cover that but that the tech will dry it off and get it covered by the warranty. Bologne, it hasn't rained in 4 days and it's been 95+ so I doubt it was wet. Anyway, the Acura Care Extended warranty is picking up the bill for the part and for a rental, a compact car. :(

Just had the same exact problem occur in my '04 with 45K miles. I was able to limp the rest of the way to work. I checked the car at lunch time and the VSA light had turned off, and although the malfunction light was still on, the car was running nomrally. When I started it back up after work, the malfunction light had turned off and the car was still running normally.

I'm going wait and see if the light comes back on before going the the dealer (my warranty recently expired). In case it's the throttle body, do you know what the repair cost was for yours?

Ditto. This happened to me a year or two ago at a traffic light. I think I inadvertantly hit the switch and the VSA turned off. Pulled into a parking lot and turned the engine off. Restarted the engine and everything was back to normal. It has been 20-30K miles since this happened and it never reoccured.

Hey, similar situation happened to me over the weekend. I had the Ck Engine light & VSA light come on and a loss of power. I shut the car off, and restarted with no further issues but he Ck Engine stayed on for another 2 days, then went off.

So I took the car in today and the tech said it was a throttle sensor causing the funny shifting and Ck engine light to come on. I pick it up tomorrow, so we'll see...

old thread (somewhat) but i got the same issue. at first it was ok now its really bad - its happening everyday, reaching the point where its almost dangerous to drive. any more news on you guys that recently tried getting it fixeD? my cars not under warranty anymore so how much would a throttle sensor actually cost and is it repairable elsewhere than a dealership?

it is the throttle body for sure

Tranny Problem???
 

Sorry, I'm a bit late but my issued ended up being a Throttle Position Sensor. The dealer fixed the issue on the main sensor, then a couple days later the Secondary sensor failed! Bunk!!

Luckily, the dealer came back and fixed the Secondary Sensor for FREE, seeing as how I told him about my experience avoiding cars & trucks going 70-75 mph, while my car slowed to 45 mph in the fast lane!

It's been almost 2 mos now, and no additional problems (fingers crossed).

Hope this helps.

I have had the exact same thing happen to me only mine is a 6 speed manual. I thought it migth be clucth related but i guess not. both times it happened to me my ac was on, not sure if that is conciddence or not.

went into limp mode.

ok.. so i am having this same problem. I have had this happen 3 times in the last 2 months. I have an 05 TL Automatic. Is it pretty much the consensus that it is the trottle position sensor or throttle body (are they the same?) is/was the problem? if so.. what was the cost from the dealer to fix it? Can it be done DIY? can a shop other than the dealer do this repair?

I have 77k miles on it.. no warranty... and really cant be without a car.

it seems to happen when i am holding steady between 35-45 mph. i pull over, turn the car off, start it back up again, all the lights mentioned in previous posts turn off except for the malfunction light and the car drives fine in regards to having power etc.... the malfunction light stays on, but every time it has turned off within 4 hours. my car seems to be "lurching" "lagging" while driving on the freeway at a constant speed, shifting irregularly when it downshifts to speed up in a quick manner, but always has the normal power for acceleration. i dont know if it is a coincedence or not, but the malfunction light has turned off at least once of the three times by seemingly shifting thru the gears in manual mode.
I have never expected this to be a "mechanical" problem as (correct me if i'm wrong), if it was something physically/mechanically wrong, simply turning the car off and back on again would not fix anything as far as the drive train is concerned.

Any info/help/insight would be greatly appretiated! :)

Thanks!

APP- Accelerator pedal position sensor-- for approx. prices, see the last two posts in this thread: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/tranny-malfunction-light-690295/

If it is the APP sensor, it's apparently a simple DIY repair, IIRC-- check the 3G Garage or do a search for "APP," accelerator, etc. for a post with description of the replacement procedure.

Have the codes pulled by AutoZone if one near your location.

well.. Here in California, i guess it is a state regulation that auto parts stores dont have the ability (per the regulations.. of course its possible but their not allowed) to pull codes from cars anymore. I called autozone, and the guy that worked there told me that he couldnt do it.. i asked if it was him, his store, or an autozone thing.. he said.. its a "california thing". So... i also asked the dealer if they could pull a history of the codes, because as i stated above, the light never stays on for more than a few hrs...and he said the light had to be on or within about 24 hours of it being on as the car doesnt maintain a history of fault codes so there would be no way for them to know what was wrong unless it was on.

I guess my experiences are EXACTLY the same as the many people that have posted on many different threads on here and i was hoping to get a resolution from the posters.. unless none of them every needed to or had it fixed. :)