A historical scenario with geographic limits
Honda’s March 14, 2013 notice 13V-093 concerns certain MY2004–2008 TSX originally sold or registered in specified road-salt states and DC, identified from production records. Body year alone does not establish coverage.
Honda / NHTSA repository: Honda Part 573 notification: TSX ECU Corrosion / 13V-093
Record the exact front-cabin moisture location, carpet and accessible ECU housing. Water in car establishes no path. Contact with the engine controller, rather than arbitrary moisture elsewhere, matters here.
From footwear to controller damage
Honda describes moisture/deicing chemicals carried on driver footwear into carpet touching the ECU housing. Housing corrosion and excessive internal corrosion could damage electronics and stall the engine. Whole-vehicle submersion is not required.
Honda / NHTSA repository: Honda Part 573 notification: TSX ECU Corrosion / 13V-093
Housing rust does not show the board beneath. A dry exterior cannot reconstruct past moisture. Separate accessible signs from whether the unit was opened and how internals were checked.
What investigation did and did not establish
Returned ECUs/carpet were physically examined; sodium/chlorine were identified in some samples. Honda expressly could not attribute all ECU returns to this cause without examining each unit. Claim counts are not a verified defect rate.
Honda / NHTSA repository: Honda Part 573 notification: TSX ECU Corrosion / 13V-093
Similar corrosion or an ECU invoice on another TSX does not repeat that laboratory analysis. Establishing the same path needs its own contact location and condition data; otherwise cause remains a hypothesis.
Water shield and replacement are different branches
The dated remedy separates shield installation from ECU replacement, which depends on fault indication linked to corrosion. It does not replace every ECU. A shield today proves neither board health nor all other repairs.
Honda / NHTSA repository: Honda Part 573 notification: TSX ECU Corrosion / 13V-093
If carpet was replaced, retain baseline images and removed-material descriptions. New carpet does not prove original dryness. Record controller condition, established moisture path and inaccessible areas separately.
Even this family has year differences
IIHS identifies MY2004 introduction; frontal CEF0405 applies MY2004–2008. Side CES0515 applies MY2005–2008 after curtain/side-airbag changes from MY2005. All MY2004–2008 restraint systems cannot be assumed identical.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: IIHS: 2008 Acura TSX
Crash testing does not investigate an individual ECU’s corrosion. This historical overview establishes no present recall status or electronics health without diagnosis.
Applicability to the individual vehicle
- Historical MY2004–2008 only; no automated-prediction support claim.
- Salt-state original-sale/registration limits preserved; carpet moisture is not flooding diagnosis.
- Attributable claim count remains unknown; MY2005 side-airbag changes not transferred to MY2004.
Primary sources
Sources checked on . Model or recall information does not establish the condition of an individual VIN.
Honda / NHTSA repository: Honda Part 573 notification: TSX ECU Corrosion / 13V-093
Applicability and source location
Certain US MY2004–2008 TSX originally sold/currently registered in listed salt states/DC; production and geographic conditions.
Page 1: years/region; page 2: carpet/ECU/chemicals/sample research; page 3: unknown attribution and MIL-conditioned remedy.
Document date: 2013-03-14. Checked: .
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: IIHS: 2008 Acura TSX
Applicability and source location
US MY2004 introduction; CEF0405 MY2004–2008. Side changes MY2005; CES0515 only MY2005–2008.
Moderate frontal CEF0405 and side CES0515; explicit MY2005 change, not all MY2004 cars.
Document date: not specified in the source. Checked: .