changt82

I have an 2005 Acura RL SH-AWD that has about 157K miles on it. This morning I went to start the engine to get it warm out before taking the kids to school. I could not move the keyless ignition switch to start, or to the accessories at all. I could not move it at all. Normally when I open the door to get in, the light around the keyless switch lights up. But there are no lights there, and there are not any light coming from the dashboard welcoming the driver. So I thought it was a dead battery ( I just bought this battery new 3 weeks ago, 5 years warranty ), so I went ahead and try to jump it from my other car which is an Odyssey.

I could not get anything. No life. I went back to make sure a few times to check for the battery cable connection to make sure they were securely clamped on. I still get nothing. The locks, gas door, trunk which are all power would not even work. The lights on the bottom of the doors did not even come on with the door open. For the life of me I could not figure what is going on. The next step was to check for bad grounding and the battery connector. Grounding looks tight and secure. I took off the positive and negative terminal and sandpaper cleaned them as well as the terminals on the battery too. I took the battery to our local auto part store to have it test. The test it good with plenty of charge and cranking amp. I brought the battery back and installed back into the car. I tried to start the car. Nope nothing! Still the same, everything is dead.

Next step was checking the fuse. I checked both side of the passenger fuse box and painfully pulled each fuse to check if they were blown. All the fuse were still intact. I went to the engine bay fuse box and also check them out. They were fine all fine. I unscrewed the 120/70 battery fuse to check if it was blown. By looking at it, it still look good. But I wanted to make sure, so I hooked up a continuity light tester at all three ends, and all pass with contunty.

Now the things that would work would be the Hazard signal when pressed. The interior dome lights and reading lights comes on when I press the "on" button or pressing on the light itself would turn it on. The sun visor lights comes on if I flip the cover to access the small visor mirror. Those are the only life I see. When I remove the main battery fuse, then those would not come on. So I am ruling out the battery fuse. Next step was to check for the wiring harness around the engine bay that leads from the battery to the fuse box and to the car interior. As far as I see, they are all intact.

So pretty much, I am lost for word. I don't know what is going on anymore. Any advise?

thoiboi

What voltage you get when you put a voltage meter to the battery?

changt82

I do not have a voltage meter. But I took it to our local Auto Part store ( Autozone) to have them test it and possibly have it charge if it was bad. However they said the battery is still good and have plenty of juice. I just got done swapping out the battery to my Kia Sorento which uses the same battery size and type. My Kia started right away, and removing the one of the Kia to my Acura RL. The same issue still occur on the RL. Thanks

RL09

Check fuse 7 again. You may have missed it. Sometimes they are too tiny to tell.

The lights that come on while all else is off sounds like 7.

Also, pull off the ignition plastic cap, and see if you can turn on the ignition with the key.

changt82

You are right. I checked fuse 7 again. It is blown. I couldn't believe it that I missed that one the first time going through the fuses. I went ahead and replaced it with another spare fuse and it kept blowing until I moved forward to a 30amp. After that, I saw smoke coming from my drivers door handle. Now at least I know the problem, and I will follow through with unplugging the harness like other forums here had advice so with the same issue I had. Thanks.

RL09

You didn't have to put in a triple size fuse (the limit is there for a reason!) and risk burning an important and expensive part up, all you had to do is say yes it is fuse 7, what can it be? It's always the handle.

yea. disconnect the handle.

Geez.

jbyrd867

How do I disconnect the door handle?

RL09

See the beginning of this video. Then reach in for the plug and unplug it.

If your car is 09-12, there's a fourth screw below the leather piece inside the armrest. need a needle tool to pull leather out.

kimasilv

Where is fuse 7 located cause I’m having the exact same issue

Midnight Mystery

Another RL? Seriously...

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Well, its an RL forum, its kinda what we do here.

RL09

Driver side, left of your leg while u drive. Panel slide backwards and shows fuses.

Also see manual.

Midnight Mystery