Honda has issued a recall of 273,000 Acura TLs from the 2004-08 model years, citing two different mechanical issues. The first has to do with the windshield wipers. Approximately 129,600 ’04 and ’05 TLs could have wipers with a faulty circuit breaker that at some point could leave the wipers inoperable. Fixing the problem involves a simple trip to the dealer to check and replace the windshield wiper motor, if necessary.

If you only have time to take care of one problem on your Acura TL, however, we kind of recommend this second one. In some cases, engine heat has caused a power-steering hose to crack, which could potentially leak steering fluid onto the catalytic converter. This could lead to a great deal of smoke or, in a worst-case scenario, fire. Honda wants to replace all the hoses.

No one has yet reported an accident or injury due to either problem, but Acura will of course fix both free of charge. Clearly this is a bargain: A free windshield wiper motor and your car not catching on fire.

Acura Recalls 273,000 TLs Due to Fire Fears (Autoblog)