2.4 2.4l Cd Am/fm Radio Mp3 Decoder Radio Data System Air Conditioning on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Acura SLX

By the second half of the 1990s, the tremendous sales success of the Ford Explorer (introduced as a 1991 model) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (introduced as a 1993 model) had made it clear clear that the future of the American road would be trucks. Any automotive manufacturer not selling a full line of SUV-ish machinery here would be irrelevant soon after the dawn of the new century, and the car-and-bike-centric American Honda Motor Company was therefore in big trouble. The Civic could be used as the basis for a small crossover SUV (which debuted here as the 1997 Honda CR-V), but Honda needed to buy time to design and produce the platform that would underpin the 2001 Acura MDX and 2003 Honda Pilot. That time was purchased via a deal to sell rebadged Isuzu trucks as Hondas and Acuras. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those Honda-ized Isuzus, found in a Colorado boneyard. Honda began selling the Isuzu Rodeo as the Passport (recycling the name they'd used on the U.S.-market Super Cub motorcycle) for the 1994 model year, and Acura dealers started moving SLX-badged Isuzu Troopers in the 1997 model year. Just to make things interesting in the Isuzu-Honda world, North American Isuzu dealers sold Honda Odysseys with Isuzu Oasis badges at the same time. Isuzu had gone all-truck for the American market after the last Styluses (and closely related Geo Storms) were sold here as 1993 models. Sadly, Isuzu's final (non-commercial) new vehicles sold here were rebadged Chevy Trailblazers and Colorados, more than 30 years after Chevrolet began selling Isuzu Faster pickups here with LUV badges. Honda never did build any body-on-frame trucks, but that proved unnecessary in order to make some money during the CUV/SUV era. The SLX never sold particularly well, but it gave Acura dealers a luxury truck to park next to the Integras, TLs, RLs, CLs and NSXs in their showrooms. After 1999, the SLX was gone, leaving just the 2000 model year as a blank spot for Acura-badged SUVs. This truck held together like a real Honda product, getting fairly close to the 300,000-mile mark (I've found junkyard Accords with better than a half-million miles on their odometers, plus one apiece Civic and CR-V that got past 400,000 miles during their lives). The original owner's manuals were still in the glovebox when I found this truck. At the end, it appears that it was towed away for being parked illegally. Maybe the engine or transmission failed and its final owner just walked away.

Acura recalling 76,000 TSX sedans in certain cold-weather states

Parent company Honda is issuing a recall for Acura TSX vehicles from model years 2004 to 2008, for a rather interesting fault with the electrical systems (well, kind of). It seems that TSX made between during that range have carpeting that degrades when it becomes saturated with "corrosive materials for deicing." The carpeting is in contact with each Acura's electronic control unit, which may in turn rust or become corroded as a result. All of that business could cause the engine to stall.
Acura is singling out cars registered in states that use these corrosive deicing materials (presumably road salt): Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by Honda and instructed to bring their cars into the nearest Acura dealership. Dealers will inspect the ECU for damage, replace if needed, and cover with a waterproof piece; all free of charge. Check out the official recall notice below.

Honda recalling 405K vehicles over airbag issue

Honda is in hot water due to an airbag glitch that is causing it to recall 405,400 vehicles. According to the campaign, the supplemental restraints might fire for no apparent reason. 342,000 of the affected vehicles are 2003 and 2004 Odyssey minivans, which gels with a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation we reported on in June.
Joining the Odyssey in the recall is the Acura MDX, with 63,400 units covered from the 2003 model year. Unlike the van, though, the MDX's recall covers Japan and Australia, in addition to the US and Canada. Both vehicles are suffering from an airbag control unit that is prone to malfunction when exposed to electrical noise, a condition that can cause the airbags to deploy without warning. Although no crashes have been reported in such scenarios, there have been some injuries typical of airbag deployment - abrasions and such.
Honda will be mailing recall notices to owners near the end of October, asking them to bring their vehicles into the dealership for installation of an electrical noise filter. The repair will take about an hour and be free of charge. Scroll down for the official announcement from Honda.