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2003 Acura TL electrical problems

15 complaints (4% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 87,243. 4 crashes reported.

owner complaints
15
of this car's complaints
4%
typical mileage
87,243
crashes
4
recalls
0

Which part fails

  • Ignition
    3
  • Ignition: switch
    2
  • Wiring: rear compartment/trunk
    1

At what mileage

Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.

0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+

Acura TL electrical problems in other years

1996200020052013

Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Acura TL electrical

Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.

Fire or smoke 6

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

What 2003 Acura TL owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Mar 25, 2018 · Electrical, Transmission · 138,000 miles · CA

In forward motion, freeway. Electrical. Tranny. Car currently reads 138,356 miles. Around roughly 134,000 miles the vehicle check engine light began to flash as a result from rpms reaching about 6 on the cluster RPM display due what felt like slipping into to 3rd or 4th gear. Slipping however usually results with what I would consider a slamming experience from eventually catching and shifting into the correct gear. This happened as I was merging onto freeway. Car did not catch gear but nuetralized until I switched to sport shift mode and displayed 4 gear and the vehicle jetted off. Cel has remained on and 3rd gear still a issue. Did much maintenance, replacement of solenoids,fluid flush, etc. Problem solves then returns. This has went on for about 6mon this last month seemed issue had resolved itself after two more atf flushes in the prior month. This last week my lady and I coming home from our date night, luckily thats wednesday(hump day) for us, so freeways at 12:30-1am in san diego hold few traffic.I say luckily because going about 70-75 MPH the car suddenly felt like what slamming into a wall head on at 75 MPH must feel like. Jerking us forward, uninjured due to seatbelts, thank god. The scariest thing however was the fact that in the far right lane at that speed after the jolt caused the vehicle to neutralize and any accelaration that would occur would instantly give a less intense jolt but rapidly slowed the vehicle down making it extremely difficult and drastically increasing our levels of danger of something worse ,as I made my way over to far left side of freeway. Reaching safety I examined vehicle found nothing visually wrong. After letting car cool and letting warm to normal op.temp I put vehicle in sport mode exited freeway and took city streets home only using d2,no problems occurred. Today repeated the maintenance as before. Runs okay but I'm nervous

Filed Sep 9, 2016 · Electrical · 220,000 miles · NC

By accident, I am able to turn off the engine and remove the key from the ignition with the transmission still in gear. Campaign #10v364000 covers honda version of my car, #12v573000 covers acura mdx only, nothing for my acura version of the honda sedans.

Filed Sep 2, 2016 · Electrical · 119,500 miles · OH

Interlock operation of ignition switch does not function properly allowing ignition key to be turned off and the key removed without shifting the transmission to "park." this is the same defect described in the federal safety agency campaign no. 05v025000, although that campaign was for acura tl model years 1999-2000, and did not include model year 2003. I have recently experienced this problem where the car rolled back after I exited the vehicle requiring that I open the driver's door, jump into the car while in motion and depress the brake. I understand that there have been similar defects that have caused serious injuries and deaths. I reported this to acura today (case no. 05011338) but was told that my car was not included in the prior recall and no repairs would be covered by acura.

Filed Mar 25, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 55,000 miles · MN

My brother was driving my car one then it all the sudden car just stopped when was going and bad part was it stopped in traffic he almost got hit it was scary. I got lots of problems with this car please help!

Filed Jun 4, 2014 · Airbags, Body · 120,000 miles · GA · crash

My daughter died in a accident on november 7, 2013 in the acura tl 2003. She had been telling me that it felt like the ignition was sticking and would speed up. I would check with my local mechanic and he told me acuras are known to idle high. I believe that her car problem was the cause of the accident and the police could not give me a reason for the accident. She was 19 and a senior in high school and was a good child.

Filed Nov 8, 2013 · Electrical · 125,000 miles · WA

Can remove key from ignition while the vehicle is in d (drive).

Filed Jun 8, 2012 · Electrical · 61,521 miles · TX

A routine service diagnostic showed high resistance points in the ignition switch due to the condition of the solder joints in the switch. The higher current draw is a potential fire hazard. I asked the service advisor whether there was a recall in effect for the switch, and was told there was not at the present time. Replacement of the ignition switch remedied the problem.

Filed Jul 5, 2011 · Electrical · 158,000 miles · NC · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 acura tl. The contact stated that when turning on the air conditioner, it did not dispense any air. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who advised her that wiring harness burned which caused the blower to fail. The wiring harness and the blower were repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were approximately 158,000.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Electrical, Transmission · 52,900 miles · FL

There is a known transmission issue with acura 2003tl version, even though acura have put it in recall, to do the work the dealer charge anywhere from $350-600. The vehicle chokes up in between the road because of overheating in transmission. The headlights flickering is one another issue which when taken to the dealer called it as computer system mess up in the car and this is not in the recall, the dealer charges about $800 for such repair which is not reasonable for the faulty equipment of acura.

Filed Jan 10, 2009 · Electrical · 82,430 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

2003 acura 3.2 tl on december 5, 2008 a faulty ignition switch on our 2003 acura 3.2 tl allowed the key to be removed in any gear, resulting in a rollaway accident causing head, foot and hip injuries to our daughter after she parked the car in our slightly inclined driveway. Dealer agreed ignition switch was definitely faulty. Key should never come out in any gear but park. Our mileage on the date of accident was 82,430 miles. Shortly after we bought this car new, it started having intermittent no start/no crank problems, and sometimes it would start 5 or 10 minutes later. Each time the dealer could not duplicate problem and assured us they checked everything and couldn't find any problem. The car would be fine until it happened again. This problem continued up until just a few months ago. It has been well maintained and taken to dealer many times for same problem . They probably never inspected the ignition switch because our year car was never included in previous recalls of ignition switches, as it should have been. A faulty transmission on this same car went out on our daughter once about 5 months ago when she was driving. It was replaced under the extended warranty due to previous transmission recall.

Questions about the 2003 Acura TL electrical

Does the 2003 Acura TL have electrical problems?

Owners have filed 15 complaints about the electrical of the 2003 Acura TL, 4% of all its complaints.

At what mileage do 2003 Acura TL electrical problems start?

The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 87,243 miles.

Was there a recall on the 2003 Acura TL electrical?

There is no recall for this problem on this model year.

What year does the Acura TL have the most electrical problems?

The Acura TL model years with the most electrical complaints are 1999 (58 complaints), 2006 (31 complaints) and 2005 (28 complaints).

Other 2003 Acura TL problems

Transmission 246Airbags 50Engine 22Acceleration 20Body 15Suspension 14Lights 10Tires 10Brakes 9Steering 5Fuel system 4Seat belts 4Wheels 3Seats 2Driver assistance 1Locks 1Visibility 1

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