I would always trust an outside gauge vs the internal computer gauge, although mine has been pretty accurate so far.

Also If temps greatly fluctuate in your area I would consider switching to nitrogen.

 

Well the dealer screwed me over... I put in some cree LED backup lights that failed in the cold temperature i guess?? This caused the circuit to blow with my gauge cluster/turn signals and fuel pump... They charged me for 4.75 hours of labour!! (which i negotiated to 3.75hrs).

The CREE LED bulbs ended up costing me near 700 dollars!!

 

How did the dealer screw you over? If the problem was the LED's, how was that the dealer's fault?

 

Ok, well i feel that I could have done the job in less time for free and I'm not a mechanic charging a $100/hr+ shop rate.

Also I know your thinking they had to diagnose the problem but I told them I had done that modification and it could be the problem. I didnt do they fix because I don't have a heated garage.

They have had my car since new years eve and have put it on the side burner everyday because they didn't want to deal with it.

 

How much do you recommend? Its hard to know here because it can be 70 F one day, and 2 F the next here all winter long and I'd ratehr have them low in the snow then over inflated sicne I get better ice traction with them low.

I still have the stupid OEM tires which are horrible in the ice snow, but the low pressure has actually improved the traction quite a bit.

 

Well you probably want them inflated to the average temperature. If its only going off on the coldest of days but mostly its fine then I would leave them. If the TPMS is going off everyday I would put some more in there.

If you are filling the tires cold or if you've been driving on them for a while the pressure will be different. You'll want the pressure so that they're not under-inflated when cold or over-inflated when driving.

 

I fill them to 34 when cold, and my dash always says they are 30 or 31. I have used a few gauges, and they are always the same, so I trust the gauges. The alert only goes off when its very very cold. Like 10F or lower, but it always stays on for a day or two, even if the pressure and temp goes up. I will just leave them alone. I think my TPMS is somehow reading too low, that could be whats causing it. Not a big deal, just curious what others recommended.

 

On a related issue;
My owner's manual states that the seat bottom warmers will shut off automaticly after a short period because they use so much battery power. If you sit idling the car with the seat warmers going on HI, you risk running your battery down and .....(you can vision what worst case senerio you like).
So my suggestion is;
Wait until your engine has started before reaching for the seat button.
And my question is;
Does the circitrey cut out power to all other systems at start-up, providing max. battery power for the starter?

 

Good question! In other cars I have had, when I start the engine the headlights cut off while its cranking, which I always thoguth was intentional for this very reason. In my TL, the headlights seem to stay on while its crankign and then flicker as the engine takes over.

 

Wow. Expensive fix! I didn't know the fuel pump was on the same circuit.

 

Same here. It appears to be an engine speed sensitive noise. Its probably a pulley, hope its the drive belt tensioner pulley and not the timing belt idle pulley. But it definately appears that the sound is coming from outside the covers of the timing belt and not inside. I will investigate more when the weather gets a bit warmer by removing the drive belt and the tensioner pulley to see if there is rust on it. It also may be the alternator pulley or the compressor pulley. The alternator is a much better scenario than the compressor one. I'll let you know which one it is.

One more "victim" of the cold weather is the driver side outer handle door lock button. I suspect the car wash did a job on it. When I park in a heated garage I'll see if the damn thing gets back to work... if not, the outer handle remove/replace procedure is a b#tch !!!

As far as the tire pressure that was mentioned above, yes, same here, had to pump more air in them in the winter.

 

While in NJ it hasn't been as cold as in the upper midwest, it's still pretty frigid (7 degrees this AM). What I do when it's really cold is start it up and almost immediately put the car in drive with my foot on the brake to drop the RPM, then drive with the sport shift to keep the RPM under 2000 until it's a bit warmed up. I use 5W-30 synthetic oil as well.

 

This thread is reminding me of why i moved from MD to SoCal...

Houses are pretty much built on slabs around here due to cost of building underground basements. There's a lot of new development around here that are 3 story homes, with the garage being the bottom level. I guess you could call that a basement if you really want.

 

Thanks! Either way I'm sure the noise is a bad sign; I almost cringe when I hear it. I'll schedule an appt with the dealer when I have some time; it's still under warranty so hopefully this won't cost me anything but time.

 

That's the funny part. Apparently the reverse lights and gauges are on the same circuit. But since the gauges are an integral system component the fuel pump doesn't work without the gauges.


So basically if your reverse lights short out your car can die lol.

 

I have the same exact problem. Whenever temp outside drops to around 20F and lower loud screech every time i start it. Started looking around and seems like a ton of people that live in cold sates have the issue and no one knows for sure what it is. Some say crankshaft pulley, some say power steering. Surprised Acura wouldn't do a recall and fix the issue.

 

I have this issue with my 2010 TL, and had it with the 2010 Accord I just got rid of. I think it's a non-issue.

However, I noticed the HVAC fan making an audible/annoying noise this morning. I hope it was just due to the cold.

 

Start-up at -25C after a night at -29 around
It was already around noon with the sun so... Sorry, iPhone video :

Weird doesn't seem to work on the forum but works if you click Watch on YouTube

 

Yup..I had the same issue with putting reverse LEDs in there...

 

Amazing how different things are tightly wired together in cars these days.

 

So, what was repaired, fuse?

 

Just a warning to all who have those aftermarket Tire Stem Valve Caps from China from ebay and you drive in freezing winter temperatures. They tend to seize ! If you try to take them off without warming them up and rubbing with alcohol you can kiss your TPMS valves goodbye!

A friend tried to remove them to get some air in the tires and the valves snapped!

 

We don't have power steering in our 4Gen. Its electric. You are right about the crank pulley emitting that screech noise. But the issue is that the tensioner pulleys or possibly the alternator or compressor pulleys get out of alignment when they contract/shrink because of the cold.

I guess as the engine gets older, the metals used on these pulleys or the installation is a bit questionable and they don't react well on freezing cold temps when the engine is dead cold.

(Acura people: do more cold weather testing, not on new cars but on older ones to see what fails!)

That misalignment pushes the belt against the inner-most rib of the crank pulley. That emits the screech noise from the crank pulley when the belts touches the outer rib edge. We are talking about seriously small deviations you can only see with a laser.

Solution? Go through all the pulleys and see which one is misaligned. You want to have your mechanic do that in freezing temps outside with a laser and gloves off... you better pay him very well! LOL.

Just live with it until the weather gets better. Not dangerous to keep the engine running like that.

In the meantime some candle wax on the edge of the belt (just rub a candle on the edge of the belt while it runs), will stop the noise for a few days. Careful don't lose any fingers!

 

I have read that in a previous post.

I was also thinking about led rear lights. Well, there goes that idea as it like -15- -25 C.

 

Ya, they ended up replacing the fuse and the reverse lights. I should have figured it out...

 

It happens all the time with all the Honda products I have owned over the years. When the weather improves and the temperature rises after a long winter... something brakes down. Once it was a rear bearing that cracked when the temperature went up, the other time it was a weld on the exhaust pipe (both with Accord).

Well, This time around it was the windshield washer rubber hose under the hood liner that got disconnected and spilled washer fluid all over the engine. Thankfully no damage was done. I guess warm weather combined with pressure from the pump, disconnected the rubber hose from the plastic connector.

The real b*tch was that I had to break one of the clips to lift the edge of the liner to reach underneath and re-connect it. More cold weather testing Acura people, more testing! You aren't doing so well in that department!

Anyone else experienced the same issue?