2014 Acura TL

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.  During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V-668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU.  In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment.  FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle.  Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW.  These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes.  An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time.   In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU.  This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners.  Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation.  The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage.  There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation.  The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU.  If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC.  Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC.  All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled.  In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V-668, 18E-043, 18V-137, 18V-363, and 20V-024.  With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.

I have a 2014 Acura TL. I have kept up with all the maintenance on my car since day one including getting my oil changes every 3,000 miles or a little under 3,000 miles or even when my dash would say 30-40% oil life.And when it gets to 30-40% oil life the dash board dings check oil. This time my dash board dinged at 60% which I found very odd- My husband checked my oil dipstick & I had no oil- I’ve been parking my car in the same spot in my drive way for the last 10 years so no oil drain marks & the car is not showing any signs of burn oil such as any type of smoke. I go to the dealer to buy a quart of oil- parts guys asked me for model and year of my car- I said 2014 TL he comes back with the quart that says 0W- we put it in it. A week later we get another quart- same part guy brings out 0W- I said why are you giving me 0W when my car manual and engine cap clearly says 5W- he is puzzled and says ok if you want 5W I’ll give you that, I said I’m only going by my car manual and engine cap. My husband puts it in and still low, at this point my husband goes to auto store and buys 2 more quarts of 5W. Car still low on oil- I take in the next day to the Acura dealer for an oil change and explain everything to the advisor and service manager. The manager digs deeper into my maintenance and see’s that I have been keeping up with the maintenance for 11 years. Now he digs deeper and looks up my VIN # for any recalls- apparently there was a recall on my engine piston and piston rings which causes an issue with burning oil and/or oil consumption &make it seem like there is no oil in car. I said I never received a recall. He states unfortunately I am out of the recall window and nothing can be done. I am original owner and having been living at same address 32 years-never got a recall notice. Per NHTSA there's 86 manuf. comm. on the engine pistons from 2016-2019. They say I have Rear main seal leak-they want me to fix first before they can advocate for recall- 2 separate issues

NHTSA ID

11721653

Incident

Feb 27, 2026

After driving the vehicle for about 30 minutes a red flashing dash warning light came on with an alarm that there is a power steering problem, after which power steering was lost. Parked the vehicle for two hours to have dinner and then proceeded home with normal steering until reaching home when the same dash warning light and alarm occurred. The following day had vehicle towed to dealership to diagnose the problem. They could not duplicate the problem, and no computer code of failure was recorded, therefore they could not therefore proceed to execute a repair, so I picked up the vehicle and drove home. I called Honda customer service to open a case number for my issue and the called the following day and basically told me what the dealership told me. I have since driven the vehicle several times without issue, however, am concerned that my wife is the primary driver and being elderly will have extreme difficulty in maneuvering the vehicle if she encounters a power steering failure.

NHTSA ID

11607280

Incident

Aug 4, 2024

On Monday, August 30, 2021, just south of Temple, Texas on I-35 south, the sun roof shattered. It was about 89 degrees outside.

NHTSA ID

11431061

Incident

Aug 30, 2021

My 2014 Acura TL with 36,000 miles has developed serious aluminum alloy wheel corrosion and metal peeling on all four (4) wheels and results in intermittent tire pressure loss. The Acura company refuses to replace at their cost the defective material alloy wheels which cost and the dealer is requesting per wheel $357.00 plus 245$ plus labour and for new tire pressure sensors located inside on the mag wheels. I believe that they did not use the proper balancing weights which are clearly recommend that Acura weights be used. I have investigated the cause of this problem by consulting with automotive engineers and it is certainly in their view related to poor quality mag surface coating which causes moisture to enter in between the rim and wheel thus resulting in wheel corrosion and loss of tire pressure which when driving can result in a serious accident. Yes, tire pressure waring lights came on frequently. The Dealer did inspect the and notice the corrosion last fall (2020). It is in their files and noted on my invoice. Please note that I live in Quebec Canada J0E 1B0.

NHTSA ID

11424865

Incident

Jul 5, 2021

MY CAR ONLY HAS 56,700 MILES ON IT AND THE EPS FAILED WHILE I WAS DRIVING THE CAR. NEARLY CAUSED A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WHEN THE STEERING FROZE AND I COULD NOT MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL.

NHTSA ID

11181151

Incident

Feb 18, 2019

Mileage

56,700 mi

TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 ACURA TL. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V061000 (AIR BAGS) AND STATED THAT THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME FRAME TO SCHEDULE THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER DID NOT GIVE A SPECIFIC DATE FOR WHEN THE PART WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER COULD NOT PROVIDE AN ESTIMATED DATE FOR WHEN THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WOULD RECEIVE THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT WAS NOT EXPERIENCING A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ID

10925912

Incident

Mar 1, 2016

TRANSMISSION/TORQUE CONVERTER ISSUE. IN LOWER SPEED CAR JERKS. REALLY BAD IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC.THIS ISSUE IS WITH 2013/2014 TL. ON SLOW SPEED FROM 0 -40. DEALER SAY THEY AWARE OF THE ISSUE BUT DONT HAVE A FIX. THEY HAVE A RELEASE (S/B #16046) FROM MANUFACTURE REGARDING THE PROBLEM JUDDER FROM TORQUE CONVERTER LOCK-UP CLUTCH.

NHTSA ID

10908303

Incident

Aug 1, 2016

Mileage

36,000 mi

TAKATA RECALL. I WAS NOTIFIED ABOUT THE RECALL IN MAY 2016. I IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE DEALER IN WAPPINGERS FALLS, NY TO HAVE THEM GET THE PART. IT IS NOW 4 MONTHS AND NO NEWS IS AVAILABLE CONCERNING WHEN THE PART MAY BE DELIVERED. THE DEALER CONTINUES TO SEND ME NOTICES WITH BRIGHT RED TEXT WARNING THAT THE INSTALLED AIRBAGS MAY CAUSE DEATH OR OTHER SERIOUS INJURY. WHAT IS YOUR AGENCY DOING TO PRESSURE THE INVOLVED CORPORATIONS TO EXPEDITE THE DELIVERY OF THIS PART KNOWN TO CAUSE FATALITIES????

NHTSA ID

10906300

Incident

Sep 12, 2016

Service Bulletin - Warranty Extension: Customer Support Program For Driver's Airbag Inflator for 2013-14 ILX Hybrid and Other Listed Years and Models.

Service bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects in the replacement driver's airbag inflator only.

Service Bulletin - This bulletin is a notification of a class action settlement relating to airbag inflators. American Honda is offering a Customer Support Program (Warranty Extension) to cover any manufacturing defects in the replacement driver's airbag inflator only.

Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the floor. To better understand the cause of this condition, AHM would like to collect specific parts from the vehicle prior to you attempting a repair of any kind.

Dealer Message - American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM) is searching for certain 2009-2014 TLs, TSXs & TSX Wagons with a client complaint of the brake pedal feeling soft or spongy when depressed, almost reaching the floor. To better understand the cause of this condition, AHM would like to collect specific parts from the vehicle prior to you attempting a repair of any kind.

ServiceNews Article - Do you have a slow tire leak, but there are no signs of sidewall damage or anything stuck in the tread? While you're checking for leaks, check the valve stem; it could have oxidation buildup from road salt. This buildup can cause a poor seal, resulting in a slow leak.