2012 Acura TSX Sport Wagon

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.

POWER STEERING MODULE DIED AT 95K... FIRST NOTICED AFTER STARTING IT UP AT THE END OF WORK DAY IN THE PARKING GARAGE. IT WAS DRIVEABLE WITH LOTS OF EXTRA MUSCLE DURING ANY KIND OF TURN. AFTER DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMED BY DEALER, ISSUE DID NOT OCCUR FOR A 30 MINUTE DRIVE HOME. THE NEXT MORNING THOUGH...IT WAS OUT AGAIN.

NHTSA ID

11209063

Incident

May 14, 2019

Mileage

95,000 mi

EPS (ELECTRIC POWER STEERING UNIT) FAILED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY. AMBIENT TEMP OUTSIDE WAS -11 F. LIGHT TURNED OFF OVERNIGHT. NEXT DAY WAS FINE, -4 F, NO WARNING LIGHT, POWER STEERING ACTIVE. DAY AFTER, AT MORNING STARTUP, 20 F, LIGHT WAS BACK ON. NO POWER STEERING SINCE.

NHTSA ID

11174451

Incident

Feb 1, 2019

Mileage

103,000 mi

I WAS DRIVING AROUND 30 MPH AND THE EPS WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, THEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT. I ALMOST CRASHED AS THE WHEEL WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN.

NHTSA ID

11165408

Incident

Jan 5, 2019

Mileage

117,000 mi

VEHICLE HAS LESS THAN 57K MILES AND FANTASTICALLY MAINTAINED. WHILE DRIVING WITH MY 3.5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER THIS AFTERNOON, THE POWER STEERING LIGHTS AND MESSAGE CAME UP AND THE STEERING IMMEDIATELY FAILED CAUSING PANIC FOR MY DAUGHTER'S AND MY SAFETY. THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM ADVISED OF THE PROBLEM AND SUGGESTED TO TURN VEHICLE OFF THEN BACK ON AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED FOR THE NEXT 4 MINUTES OF DRIVING THEN A MANDATORY STOP WAS MADE, VEHICLE TURNED OFF AND SAT FOR 20 MINUTES THEN STARTED AGAIN AND PROBLEM WAS NONEXISTENT BUT WHILE DRIVING FOR ANOTHER 4 MINUTES, THE SYSTEM SHUT OFF AGAIN WITHOUT WARNING. LUCKILY I WAS NEAR MY HOME ABLE TO PARK. THIS WAS AN AWFUL FEELING AND I FEARS FOR MY DAUGHTER'S AND MY LIFE.

NHTSA ID

11128834

Incident

Sep 11, 2018

Mileage

57,000 mi

DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH ON RESIDENTIAL COLLECTOR ROAD POWER STEERING FAILURE MESSAGE APPEARED AND STEERING WHEEL INSTANTLY BECAME ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN. FORTUNATE ABLE TO WRESTLE STEERING AND TURN INTO RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODCOMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. TURNED CAR OFF TO INVESTIGATE ISSUE. UPON TURNING CAR BACK ON NO FAILURE LIGHT APPEARED AND NOW APPEARS OK TO DRIVE? IT WILL BE TAKEN TO SHOP FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING BUT LIKELY THIS IS THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING UNIT. IF THIS HAPPENED SUDDENLY ON A A HIGHER SPEED TURN OR CURVE DRIFTING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC MORE THAN LIKELY. AN INABILITY TO STEER YOUR CAR JUST DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD WITH NO EXTERNAL EVENT IS A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11119424

Incident

Aug 11, 2018

Mileage

61,860 mi

VEHICLES ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING CONTROL UNIT FAILED. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY WHEN THIS HAPPENED, BUT BECAME INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO STEER. THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE ON THESE CARS WITH SIMILAR MILEAGE (73,000). ACURA WILL NOT HONOR THE PART AND OWNERS HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR A COMMON SAFETY ISSUE.

NHTSA ID

11064150

Incident

Jan 2, 2018

Mileage

73,000 mi

LUCKILY I WAS MAKING A VERY SLOW LEFT TURN WHEN MY POWER STEERING COMPLETELY FAILED IN MY ACURA TSX WAGON. I WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE SITTING HERE WRITING ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE IF I WAS DRIVING AT A HIGH SPEED. MY HEART WAS POUNDING OUT OF MY CHEST AS A STRUGGLED TO PULL OVER. THIS IS SO UNACCEPTABLE AND THESE CARS SHOULD BE RECALLED.

NHTSA ID

11016381

Incident

Apr 15, 2017

Mileage

67,000 mi

WHILE OUT ON A SHOPPING TRIP I STARTED THE CAR AND THE POWER STEERING WARNING INDICATOR AND ALARM DISPLAYED. I COULD NOT TURN THE WHEEL OF THE CAR TO EXIT MY PARKING SPACE SO I CALLED A TOW TRUCK. THE TOW TRUCK OPERATOR WAS ABLE TO MUSCLE THE CAR ONTO THE FLATBED. MY MECHANIC'S DIAGNOSTIC TEST INDICATED THAT THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING MODULE HAD FAILED. THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEM PRIOR TO THIS FAILURE. THE CAR HAS 59K MILES AND IS WELL MAINTAINED. THE WEATHER WHEN THIS OCCURRED WAS CLEAR. I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH ACURA (CASE #05948611) BECAUSE I SEE THAT THIS UNIT HAS FAILED FOR OTHER OWNERS WHILE THE CAR IS IN MOTION CREATING AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD.

NHTSA ID

10972316

Incident

Apr 13, 2017

Mileage

59,000 mi

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.

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.

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.

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 front passenger's airbag inflator only.