Every few weeks my Acura TL 08 loses power while driving. I am able to brake, stop, then restart the engine. A dealer mechanic drove the thing for a week trying to replicate the problem. Another garage has done a bunch of usual diags. We replaced the ignition switch. Still happening, with no obvious pattern. Any ideas from the wise auto-heads here, apart from trading in the thing ASAP? Thanks!
-MM
Things to check: gas cap not venting creating a vacuum in the tank. Partially clogged fuel filter. Weak fuel pump. Voltage regulator not producing enough voltage and battery low. Clogged air filter. Air mass valve not working correctly. Partially clogged fuel injectors. Computer needs to reset itself - disconnect the battery for 30 minutes - reattach, start the car and let idle for 30 minutes before driving. If the problem goes away but comes back at some point, the computer is bad and should be replaced.
Do the simple things first. Obviously.
Good Luck, Paul (Acura TL’05 owner)
When you say it loses power, do you mean it slows down, or does the engine completely stall? If it completely stalls, look at the dash. Are the warning lights the same as when you first turn the key to “on” and before you start the engine?
The engine stalls completely (rpm goes to 0) while on the road. No warning lights appear, as far as we have noticed. Five-ten seconds later all the dashboard lights go off. After stopping, the car happily restarts and behaves problem-free for a few weeks, until another stall. We have got a new battery, which made no difference. The computer reset theory seems the most promising…
Could also be something like a wonky crankshaft position sensor. If the sensor output is interrupted, the engine will shut off suddenly with no warning. These can go bad in such a way that they will work most of the time but sometimes cut out randomly.