Car SHUTS OFF at 75mph on the highway
 

I have to vent. Please bare with me:

1. My 09 TL SHAWD has 47000miles and already had the battery replaced by the dealership under warranty sometime last year.

2. I'm driving from Philadelphia to Chicago and about an hour into the trip at a rest stop, the car won't start. So I call Acura Roadside Assistance, get the car jumped and I'm back on my way.

3. I call the nearest Acura dealership in Wilkes Barre to see if I can bring the car in to have the battery replaced. This is around 2pm. They said they're full so now I'm trying to look for a local shop along the way.

4. About 20mins later on I-80 West, I'm driving at 75-80mph and I have a lights galore on my dash. SHAWD warning comes on, ABS warning, all sorts of warning and the Nav goes crazy.

5. After about 5sec while I'm trying to pull the car over, the car just SHUTS OFF AT FREAKING 80MPH.
At this time, I'm next to a trailer, 2 cars behind me and all. My car is slowing down, all the electronics are dead, brakes don't work properly and my steering wheel is hard as a rock.

6. Managed to fight the car and pulled off to the side. Thanked God for saving me and called roadside assistance again. Car is completely dead at this point.

7. Tow truck comes, and since now it's getting late I have my car towed to Montgomeryville Acura which is about 100miles away, but near my home. Acura only covers 68miles, and I went 40miles over. At $5/mile, paid $200 out of my pocket.

8. Now it's around 7pm and the dealer tries to jump start the car and it works again?!? I'm totally confused at this point. They say one of the battery cable seems loose but they are unsure. So I dropped the car off and now I'm waiting for their reply.

I don't know what to think or say. Never had a problem with the car until now.
Even if the battery was dead again, that's not a reason for the car to shut off is it? A bad alternator perhaps?

I'm scared to get back into the car now. I nearly freaking died today :whyme:

It sounds similar to this https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=car+shut

Any thoughts or comments? Help would be appreciated. Thank you.

My money's on a bad ground or something ECU related. Sorry dude - sounds horrible.

Wow, what a story. I would have been freaking out. Good luck with everything.

let me ask you, have you put in any HID kit or any electronical parts that requires you to ground?

Sorry to hear that, I'm glad you are safe and sound out of this accident. Is the car bone stock or you have some mod under the hood?

wow that's dangerous if it was me I would leave the car at dealership and called Acura Corporate to have them look at it. Your car is going to run out of warranty at 50k miles so you have to push hard for all the necessary repairs!

Probably a bad alternator. It wouldn't be the battery as you've already had your car on if it was the battery it wouldn't start in the first place. Just make sure you tell them the situation like you did in your post and don't take the car back til they assure you that they've taken care of all those points (especially how it turned off while you were going 80MPH)

Good thing you made it out okay. Must've been scary fighting that thing to stop at 80mph with no steering or proper braking

STOP driving the car, if you haven't done so yet. I'm sure they (dealer) would love for you to keep driving it, tell you bring it in if problem persists, bang 50,001 rolls in and all of a sudden the tech grows a brain. Sorry your car does seem to be having a serious problem it'll cost 400 to diagnose and 1,500 in parts and labor to fix, would you like us to start immediately?

Thanks for the replies. The car is bone stock and I've yet to hear back from the dealership.

The car is at the dealership. No way I'd drive it again without some proper reasoning behind the incident.

thats crazy O_O.. glad you made it out okay

i smell lemon......

A car that suddenly lost power on the highway is a very frightening experience.

It's good to hear that you're ok.

YIKES, so glad to hear that you are okay! So I read your story now, the link you provided (and I remembered that one as well and was going to locate it and post it here if you hadn't already) AND I have seen a few '09+ TL's broken down and on the side of the road on my way to work quite a few times now. Hmm...

Again, I am so happy to hear that you are okay, best of luck with this all, fight like hell if you have to, and keep us posted! This is definitely a MAJOR safety issue!

any update?

Whoa, I'm interested to hear on this too...subscribed.

Interested to hear how this one turns out... We recently purchased a '12 TL Base and have about 8K on it now. Runs like a champ. Hopefully this is a easy fix. :thumbsup:

Interesting situation. Glad you're okay, shutting down at 80 with no power steering and no breaks is insane. Can't wait to find out what the issue is. Good luck!

I've always wondered why people thank an imaginary figure for saving them from injury or death.
OP, The person who saved you was the skilled driver behind the wheel of the car.

Another thread that starts up and disappears into the void with no follow up with a resolution.

Since then he has put a few miles on it, so I'll assume it was resolved by dealer. \/

3-22-2013

On the same topic, but at the risk of hijacking OP's thread (though it seems he's perhaps not around)...

Several years ago I was involved in a trial defending a NorAm automobile manufacturer in a case where the driver was driving down the highway (at highway speeds), and his truck just started accelerating. Rather than throw it into neutral, and risk blowing the engine, he simply turned the ignition to "off"...which engaged the steering wheel lock. Since he was already veering off to the shoulder, this just caused him to launch into the ditch, leaving a trail of transmission parts behind him.

He survived it, but still had the cuts and scratches to show for it at trial. Felt a little bad going against him.

I guess it must have been resolved then. Would have been nice if he had updated his thread a year and a half ago.

Sound like a alternator easy fix but dealer always make thing difficult just to make some extra cash

This just happened to me!
 

Scariest thing ever! This is just so dangerous. Acura said it was the alternator and put in a new one. I am afraid to drive it on the highway. I feel like I should do something so that this situation does not happen again and someone die needlessly.

I don't know where to go from here. And yes, I thank God that I wasn't killed

well your firs tthing is to fix it.. lol..

thats where you should start at.. bring it to the dealer.. there is no 100% guarantee unless you determine the problem.

If it was the alternator, the issue can happen with any car on the road. Basically the alternator charges the batter when you drive! If the alternator goes bad the car will start drawing on the battery and eventually kill it! Also a bad battery can also cause these symptoms !

Don't be afraid to drive it, I doubt after replacing the alternator and battery that the issue will ever arise again. Be sure to double check all the battery and alternator cables too! :thumbsup:

I'm confused, are you the OP? You're writing as if you are but with a different screen name and your response is nearly 4 years later. How do we know OP didn't die in his TL and this is his ghost starting a new profile while forever haunting the streets fearing his death over and over again in our beloved vehicle?