ViperZ

I've noticed recently the RDX gets a drive line vibration at about 1500 to 2000 rpm. It usually happens after take off from a stop while the transmission is shifting into a lower gear, 3rd I think... and settling into city traveling speed of about 45 to 50 kph.

Its during this time as engine speed is reducing from above 2000, that the drive line gets a vibration like as if the engine is lugging or something. Its slight, and not a serious vibration, but it's apparent, and at times it worse than others. I'm sure it has something to do with the reduction of the engine RPM and gear change to a lower gear. I think it may be valve timing or ECU mapping related. What ever it is its really diminished my enjoyment of the vehicle.

It's going in the shop Monday, however I was wondering if anybody else has noticed this?

My RDX currently has 2600 km on it. This seemed to just start happening one day... And maybe getting worse... Or I'm noticing it way more.

mwachel

What you describe sounds like a common complaint with the VCM. Mine does it as well when cruising about 25mph. Do a search on VCM vibration and see what pops up. Might not be the same thing but it sounds like it.

Other Honda engines do it as well. The one thing I don't like about my RDX is that stupid vibration.

ViperZ

Yeah, I was suspecting that as well.... If it is this it seems like there is nothing Acura can do about it and I will have to live with it?

mwachel

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will have to live with it. Should a luxury car have this problem? No. Is it a deal killer for me (assuming that it doesn't cause mechanical failure)? No, I would buy it again in a heart beat.

I really have gotten used to it and only notice it occasionally. Annoying but not the end of the world in my opinion.

ViperZ

Sigh, that is really too bad as it's more and more noticeable and occurs at about 50kph @ ~1500rpm, which is where most of my city driving is performed at...

The worse case is it's one of these things that goes away during the other 3 seasons here... Personally it is a major annoyance to me, I wished it would have done it during the test drive, or even with in the first few weeks of ownership. It would have been a deal breaker for me

I'm still keeping my appointment tomorrow with Acura Centre and will report back....

ViperZ

Well I don' t have a lot of faith they will be able to do anything. When I dropped of the RDX this morning and started explaining the problem. The service advisor sort of grinned as soon as I mentioned VCM to her. She said they had be other client with this problem and they could not fix it as it was apparent in all RDXs

Silvermoon

Perhaps I'm hearing the same thing? I hear it immediately after the RDX shifts into 3rd gear, first thing in the morning when I'm leaving home. It sounds like a rumbling, rattling, grinding sort of sound coming from underneath the center of the dashboard/center console. It's very faint. If the radio is on I certainly won't hear it.

Yesterday, after leaving home I heard the noise, as usual. Then I decided to drive around until the engine had a chance to warm up. I drove back home and tried driving away as I usually do and the noise was gone. I wonder if the engine/transmission just makes this sound when it's cold?

On another topic, the VCM, loud groaning sound coming from the engine when first placing the RDX into reverse in the morning. Drive for a while and let the engine warm up, then no groaning in reverse.

kdonaghy

My RDX is less than 4 months old, under 5000kms and I have experienced the same issue for about the least 6 weeks. I spoke to the dealer service tech guy who knew exactly what I was talking about, speculated it is drive shaft issues, and I will take it in this week for an inspection, and then report the outcome.

kdonaghy

Further to my post the dealer tech indicated that they want to do a "snapshot" under various driving situations. Record data. Rep said they had not seen this vibration in 2014 models but know of it from a number of 2013 cars. Sounds like this dealer changed out the driveshafts on a couple of cars and they are monitoring to see if it addresses the issue. Looks like this may be the start of a longer story.

Hat4990

Two month old 2014 with the same problem. Going into the dealer tomorrow. When making the appointment, they said they never heard of this problem. Glad I found this forum

magoo

Took the NEW 2014 RDX Tech in after having it one week! Started noticing as soon as I was driving it the vibration that started at 55mph (on the nose!). The vibration felt like I suddenly started driving on rough road. I drove it a while to see if it was the "new car" wheels or something but - never went away.
Took into dealership today less than 400miles on her...they confirmed - not tire issue - something in the driveline possibly - will let me know!
Will keep the forum posted.

Hat4990

Dealer said my problem was the cvm, and they all do it. Couldn't answer me as to why it didn't do it during the test drive, but started at about 3,500 miles. Not too happy about it.

magoo

Follow-up, they had to order an entire new Propeller Shaft #40100-TX4-A01. They stated "Shaft out of balance".

thephantom

Let us know if that fixes the issue. Thanks!

magoo

Should know how it performs soon - doing a long road trip to ATL and back to DC. Right now she has 500 miles on her, will give her a good workout, interested to see how she performs on an extended drive (11+hrs each way)!

ottoman101

I thought the vibration was simply the cylinders cutting off. No matter what speed I'm cruising, when I only lightly tap the gas peddle to maintain speed I feel a vibration on the peddle, and then the engine sounds like a muffled four cylinder (anyone who's ever driven a four cylinder would know). Once I accelerate even the slightest, the vibration stops, and the sound turns smoother (like a V6).

Now with all this talk of drive shafts has got me all confused. Does anyone with a FWD model have this vibration? That should solve the mystery.

mindanalyzer

Yes, I drive a FWD and the VCM vibration has always been my faithful companion

magoo

Just got back from the road trip to ATL. The RDX now has 2400 miles on it. No issues since the propeller Shaft replacement, rode smooth, accelerated nicely. Yesterday and today, drove in the snowy weather everything worked as expected!
BTW - Can anyone explain why people only clean the windshield on the drivers side only and the rear driver side only? How can you drive like that!??? (saw it many times last night and today - LAZY and Careless people!)

kdonaghy

I posted in December about my vibration issue.
After an examination I was told it is a propellor shaft issue and I have to wait for Honda to come out with Service Bulletin that is in the works before the attempt to fix it can occur.

thephantom

Someone on this board had his/her propeller shaft replaced already, and it didn't make much of a difference. Will someone correct me, if I am wrong?

JFK-USAF

I have this on my 2014 and have had 2 loaner RDXs that both did the same thing.

YeuEmMaiMai

only thing I noticed was a slight increase in noise when the engine came out of 3cyl mode back to v6.. just like a little growl but no drive line vibration...

Biersmith

I just advanced the propeller shaft solution to my dealer who has been dealing my vibration issue since day one. He confirms that there is an issue and is skeptical about replacement parts availability. At least Acura Corporate is no longer telling me that the vibration is "a characteristic of the car". That just makes my head spin off my shoulders.

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully it will be addressed and corrected, it's an annoyance but not a deal breaker.

Cablerat

Same issue here - going to bring it up at my next service schedule and mention some of the feedback posted above.

Thanks for all the insights!

rjm-1

Hello, I'm new to this forum but have been following it for awhile now.

I've had my RDX since last May and now have 4,000 miles on it. I also have the dreaded vibration. I finally took it to my dealer yesterday after living with the vibration for way too long. They did a road test and confirmed the vibration and are ordering a new propeller shaft. ( I don't know why they just don't just call it a driveshaft?) We'll see if that helps.

I really wish Acura had incorporated a button similar to ECOBOOST, so you could choose to turn off the VCM. I'd gladly sacrifice 2 or 3 miles per gallon to eliminate the annoying VCM characteristics. I've seen way too many complaints on these forums about vibration issues and dealers saying that it's normal.

BTW, If vibration was detected during the road test, the instructions stated to stop and remove the VCM module and continue with the road test. If removing the VCM module eliminated the vibration, then the instructions stated to replace the propeller shaft.

If the vibration still occurred, the instructions stated to continue trouble shooting. I know, it sounds backwards but that what the service bulletin 14-001 states. We'll see?

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

Can someone please post that TSB to help the rest of us? Thanks

rjm-1

Here you go!

edmua6

^I hope this TSB fixes our issues of vibration. It does suck when you way 40-50k for something that vibrates all day long. Now, let's wait for Acura to solve the issue regarding the rear shocks.

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

RJM-1, thanks I have an appointment for next week. The dealer wasn't familiar with the TSB, once I gave him the number they got me right in.

weather

rjm-1....Welcome to Acurazine and thanks for your very useful and informative post. It is always nice to see new members bringing a positive contribution to this site. Glad you joined our family

mdfree

So given that I live in the nice warm desert and probably won't be driving in subzero temps anytime soon, will Acura replace/fix this at a later date if it becomes an issue? It's just a service bulletin but do you think at some point it may become an extended warranty type issue?

mindanalyzer

Pardon my ignorance, but do you know if FWD models also use a propeller shaft? I live in Miami so it couldn't be any warmer and the VCM vibration is killing any fun in my ride; I find myself using S mode a lot to minimize this stupid behavior. This dreaded rumble noise plus subtle vibration ... I simply can't stand the mf

From what I see this TSB only applies to freezing temperatures, so what happen with us unhappy campers hailing from warmer territories?

rjm-1

I believe the term "propeller shaft" is the same as driveshaft and yes you could have adriveshaft problem regardless if it's FWD or AWD. Best to take it to your dealer and tell them about your vibration so they can road test it.

And I experienced the vibration/low rumble in warm and cold temperatures although it did seem worse in cold weather.

markAZ

Uh...I don't think so. There is no drive shaft in a front wheel drive car.

rjm-1

Whoops! My bad, way too early this morning! The minute I left the house after posting I thought, Oh crap, not for FWD!! Gotta edit the post when I get home. Thanks for correcting me.

The second part still holds true. If your experiencing vibration or rumbling that you do not think is normal, take it to your dealer.

stuhFAN

Another dumb question, do US-issued service bulletins apply to Canadian vehicles as well? I would assume the answer is 'yes'. I'll be contacting my Alberta Acura dealer to inquire about this, since I notice the same vibration issue.

singidunum

Bring your car in and complain about vibration, and let them put it in the system, also ask the service guy to check if there are any recalls in regards to this issue. In a week complain again and make an appointment for them to take a look at it, than print this bulletin and bring it with you when you go there the 2nd time and if the service guy gives you the run around , pull out the service bulletin and ask him why he couldn't find this service bulletin in his system.

mc607

Is there any reason that the VCM can't be left disabled and let it run like a regular V6?

mindanalyzer

interesting ... Can anybody shed some light on this?