2011 Acura TSX 2.4l base model 6 spd manual transmision

Question

I have 2011 Acura TSX 2.4 l, base model 6 spd manual transmission.

In October 2018 it was experiencing a slipping clutch so had the clutch replaced at a garage. On the way back from the garage after few kilometers the check engine light start flashing, there was a loss of power and no acceleration.

After turning the engine off and back on again power returned but after few km the problem recurred and I had to turn it off an on again to clear it.

Next day returned the car to the garage who carried out the clutch replacement, who diagnosed, misfires on all four cylinders and said the timing chain had stretched, and needed replacing.

Next day I took the car to an Acura dealer, who agreed with the misfires but saidf that the timing was fine. They replaced the spark plugs, cleaned the injectors and replaced the crank shaft position sensor but the problem persisted. They replaced coil packs, to no effect, same with the MAP sensor.

The engine will run fine for a seemingly-random distance then flashing CEL and loss of power/acceleration.

The next suggestion from Acura dealer is to replace engine wiring loom.

Could it be the case that during clutch replacement, the mechanic did not support engine properly, causing it to drop a little, stretching the wires and causing this kind a problem?

Any suggestions? Please.

Answer 1

The symptoms you're experiencing sound very much as if the car's ECU is detecting a fault condition and putting the car into "Limp mode" in order to protect itself from damage (this would be the flashing Check Engine Light and loss of power).

Given the engine seems to run fine for a while this would tally with the idea of a wiring/electrical fault providing a false reading to the ECU triggering the limp mode.

While the idea that the wiring harness would be "stretched" during the clutch work is unlikely (electrical wire generally doesn't stretch) it could be that the harness or one of it's connections was damaged during the clutch replacement and there is a poor quality connection somewhere giving you the intermittent issues.

It sounds as if the dealer had been reading the fault codes from the ECU and replacing the parts that would throw the codes if faulty, when this hasn't worked they appear to have come to the conclusion that the codes are spurious. Assuming they are just talking about the engine wiring harness (as opposed to the full wiring loom!) then it's not too bad a job to replace but they aren't exactly cheap I'm afraid.