General Information (4-cyl) Acura TSX II

Service Information

The service and repair information contained in this service information is intended for use by qualified, professional technicians. Attempting service or repairs without the proper training, tools, and equipment could cause injury to you or others. It could also damage the vehicle or create an unsafe condition.

This service information describes the proper methods and procedures for doing service, maintenance, and repairs. Some procedures require the use of specially designed tools and dedicated equipment. Any person who intends to use a replacement part, a service procedure, or a tool that is not recommended by Acura, must determine the risks to their personal safety and the safe operation of the vehicle.

If you need to replace any parts, always use the correct parts supplied by an Acura dealer. Never use inferior quality parts.

For Your Clients Safety

Proper service and maintenance are essential to the client's safety and the reliability of the vehicle. Any error or oversight while servicing a vehicle can result in faulty operation, damage to the vehicle, or injury to others.

For Your Safety

Because this service information is intended for the professional service technician, we do not provide warnings about many basic shop safety practices (for example, hot parts - wear gloves). If you have not received shop safety training or do not feel confident about your knowledge of safe servicing practices, we recommend that you do not attempt to do the procedures described in this service information.

Some of the most important general service safety precautions follow this text. However, we cannot warn you of every conceivable hazard that can arise in doing service and repair procedures. Only you can decide whether or not you should do a given task.

IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

1. Make sure you have a clear understanding of all basic shop safety practices, and that you are wearing appropriate clothing and using safety equipment. When doing any service task, be especially careful of the following: Read all of the instructions before you begin, and make sure you have the tools, the replacement or repair parts, and the skills required to do the tasks safely and completely. Protect your eyes by using proper safety glasses, goggles, or face shields anytime you hammer, drill, grind, or work around pressurized air or liquids and springs, or other stored-energy components. If there is any doubt, put on eye protection. Use other protective wear when necessary, such as gloves or safety shoes. Handling hot or sharp parts can cause severe burns or cuts. Before you grab something that looks like it can hurt you, stop and put on gloves. Protect yourself and others whenever you have the vehicle up in the air. Anytime you raise the vehicle, either with a lift or a jack, make sure that it is always securely supported. Use safety stands if needed. Protect yourself by wearing an approved welding helmet, gloves, and safety shoes anytime you are welding. You can receive burns from hot parts; allow the parts to cool before working in that area. Protect yourself from paints and harmful chemicals by wearing an approved respirator, eye protection, and gloves whenever you are painting. Spray paint only in an approved paint booth that is well ventilated.
2. Make sure the engine is off before you begin any servicing procedures, unless the instruction tells you to do otherwise. This will help eliminate several potential hazards: Carbon monoxide poisoning from engine exhaust. Be sure there is adequate ventilation whenever you run the engine. Burns from hot parts or coolant. Let the engine and exhaust system cool before working in those areas. Injury from moving parts. If the instruction tells you to run the engine, be sure your hands, fingers, and clothing are out of the way.
3. Gasoline vapors and hydrogen gases from batteries are explosive. To reduce the possibility of a fire or explosion, be careful when working around gasoline or batteries: Use only a nonflammable solvent, not gasoline, to clean parts. Never drain or store gasoline in an open container. Keep all cigarettes, sparks, and flames away from the battery and all fuel-related parts.

How to Use This Service Information

This service information is divided into multiple sections. The first page of each section is marked with a black tab that lines up with its corresponding thumb index tab on this page and the back cover. You can quickly find the first page of each section without looking through a full table of contents. The symbols printed at the top corner of each page can also be used as a quick reference system.

Each section includes

1. A table of contents, or an exploded view index showing: Parts disassembly sequence. Bolt torques and thread sizes. Page references to descriptions in text.
2. Disassembly/assembly procedures and tools.
3. Inspection.
4. Testing/troubleshooting.
5. Repair.
6. Adjustments.

Safety Messages

Your safety, and the safety of others, is very important. To help you make informed decisions, we have provided safety messages, and other safety information throughout this service information. Of course, it is not practical or possible to warn you about all the hazards associated with servicing this vehicle. You must use your own good judgment.

You will find important safety information in a variety of forms including

1. Safety Labels - on the vehicle.
2. Safety Messages - preceded by a safety alert symbol and one of three signal words, DANGER, WARNING, or CAUTION. These signal words mean: CAUTION: You WILL be KILLED or SERIOUSLY HURT if you don't follow instructions. WARNING: Tel You CAN be KILLED or SERIOUSLY HURT if you don't follow instructions. CAUTION: You CAN be HURT if you don't follow instructions.
3. Instructions - how to service this vehicle correctly and safely.

All information contained in this service information is based on the latest product information available at the time of printing. We reserve the right to make changes at anytime without notice. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. This includes text, images, and tables.

As you read this service information, you will find information that is preceded by a [NOTICE] symbol. The purpose of this message is to help prevent damage to your vehicle, other property, or the environment.

First Edition 11/2010 Honda Motor Co., Ltd .

All Rights Reserved Service Publication Office

Specifications apply to USA and Canada

As sections with * include SRS components; special precautions are required when servicing.

marked sections are not included in this service information, see Volume 2.

SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS)

The Acura TSX SRS includes a driver's airbag in the steering wheel hub, a front passenger's airbag in the dashboard above the glove box, front seat belt tensioners in the front seat belt retractors, side curtain airbags in the sides of the roof, and side airbags in the front seat-backs. Information necessary to safely service the SRS is included in this Service Information. Items marked with an asterisk (*) on the contents page include or are located near SRS components. Servicing, disassembling, or replacing these items requires special precautions and tools, and should be done by an authorized Acura dealer.

1. To avoid rendering the SRS inoperative, which could lead to personal injury or death in the event of a severe frontal or side collision, all SRS service work should be done by an authorized Acura dealer.
2. Improper service procedures, including incorrect removal and installation of the SRS, could lead to personal injury caused by unintentional deployment of the front airbags, side airbags, side curtain airbags, and/or front seat belt tensioners.
3. Do not bump or impact the SRS unit, front impact sensors, side impact sensors, or rear safing sensor, especially when the ignition switch is in ON (II), or for at least 3 minutes after the ignition switch turns to LOCK (0); otherwise, the system may fail in a collision, or the airbags or the tensioners may deploy.
4. SRS electrical connectors are identified by yellow color coding. Related components are located in the steering column, center console, dashboard, dashboard lower cover, in the dashboard above the glove box, in the front seats, in the roof side, and around the floor. Do not use electrical test equipment on these circuits.

General Information

Chassis and Paint Codes...1-2

Identification Number Locations...1-4

Danger/Warning/Caution Label Locations...1-5

Under-Hood Emission Control Label...1-7

Lift and Support Points...1-8

Towing...1-9

Parts Marking...1-10

General Information

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Paint Code (2011 models)

PAINT CODES REFERENCE CHART

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Paint Code (2012 models)

PAINT CODES REFERENCE CHART

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Danger/Warning/Caution Label Locations

Front Passenger's Compartment

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Engine Compartment

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Doorjamb Area

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Emission Group Identification

Example

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'11 Model

CONFORMS TO REGULATIONS: 2011 MY

'12 Model

CONFORMS TO REGULATIONS: 2012 MY

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Lift and Support Points

Note. If you are going to remove heavy components such as suspension or the fuel tank from the rear of the vehicle, first support the front of the vehicle with tall safety stands. When substantial weight is removed from the rear of the vehicle, the center of gravity can change, causing the vehicle to tip forward on the lift.

Scheme 34

1. Position the lift pads (A) under the vehicle's front support points (B) and rear support points (C). NOTE: Be sure the lift pads are properly placed to avoid damaging the vehicle. Sedan is shown.
2. Raise the lift a few inches, and rock the vehicle gently to be sure it is firmly supported.
3. Raise the lift to its full height, and inspect the vehicle support points for solid contact with the lift pads.

Safety Stands

To support the vehicle on safety stands, use the same support points as for a vehicle lift. Always use safety stands when working on or under any vehicle that is supported only by a jack.

Scheme 35

1. When lifting the front of the vehicle, set the parking brake. When lifting the rear of the vehicle, put the shift lever in reverse for manual transmission, or in P for automatic transmission.
2. Block the wheels that are not being lifted.
3. Position the floor jack under the front jacking bracket (A) or the rear jacking bracket (B). Center the jacking bracket on the jack lift platform (C), and jack up the vehicle high enough to fit the safety stands under it. NOTE: Be sure the floor jack is properly placed to avoid damaging the vehicle.
4. Position the safety stands under the support points, and adjust them so the vehicle is level side-to-side.
5. Lower the vehicle onto the stands.

Towing

If the vehicle needs to be towed, call a professional towing service. Never tow the vehicle behind another vehicle with just a rope or chain. It is very dangerous.

Emergency Towing

There are three popular methods of towing a vehicle.

Flat-bed Tow Truck Equipment - The operator loads the vehicle on the back of a flat-bed tow truck. This is the best way of transporting the vehicle .

To accommodate the flat-bed tow truck equipment, the vehicle is equipped with front towing hooks (A), front tie down hook slots (B), a rear towing hook (C), and rear tie down hook slots (D).

The towing hooks can be used with a winch to pull the vehicle onto the flat-bed tow truck, and the tie down hook slots can be used to secure the vehicle to the flat-bed tow truck.

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Wheel Lift Equipment - The tow truck uses two pivoting arms that go under the tires (front or rear) and lifts them off the ground. The other two wheels remain on the ground. This is an acceptable way of towing the vehicle.

Sling-type Equipment - The tow truck uses metal cables with hooks on the ends. These hooks go around parts of the frame or suspension, and the cables lift that end of the vehicle off the ground. The vehicle's suspension and body can be seriously damaged if this method of towing is attempted. This method of towing the vehicle is unacceptable .

If the vehicle cannot be transported by a flat-bed tow truck, it should be towed with the front wheels off the ground. If the vehicle is damaged, and must be towed with the front wheels on the ground, or if the vehicle is towed with all four wheels on the ground, do this

Manual Transmission

1. Release the parking brake.
2. Shift the transmission in neutral.
3. Leave the ignition switch in ACCESSORY (I) so the steering wheel does not lock.
4. Make sure all accessories are turned off to minimize battery current draw.

Automatic Transmission

1. Release the parking brake.
2. Start the engine.
3. Shift to D, then to N.
4. Turn off the engine.
5. Leave the ignition switch in ACCESSORY (I) so the steering wheel does not lock.
6. Make sure all accessories are turned off to minimize battery current draw.

It is best to tow the vehicle no farther than 50 miles (80 km), and keep the vehicle speed below 35 mph (55 km/h).

Note. Improper towing preparation will damage the transmission. Follow the above procedure exactly. If you cannot shift the transmission or start the engine (A/T models), the vehicle must be transported on a flat-bed tow truck. Trying to lift or tow the vehicle by the bumpers will cause serious damage. The bumpers are not designed to support the vehicle's weight.

Parts Marking

To deter vehicle theft, certain major components are marked with the vehicle identification number (VIN). Original parts have self-adhesive labels. Replacement body parts have generic self-adhesive labels. These labels should not be removed. The original engine or transmission VIN plates are not transferable to the replacement engine or transmission.

Note. Be careful not to damage the parts marking labels during body repair. Mask the labels before repairing the part.