So my sis' RDX is coming up on 47K miles and was just wondering if there were any problems that she needed to get fixed before the warranty expired?

TIA

 

I'm getting close also so I will watch this thread.

 

my top priority would be the turbo, not that it does have any problems, but if anything is going on under the hood, any noises, rattles, oddities, that would be my main focus and somehow get them to check it out.

anything else mechanically tho, i dont think any horror stories have surfaced for the RDX. Myabe random turbo problems but other than that im in the dark.

if she runs the gas tank to empty/with the light on, you may have some existing cat issues

 

If applicable, get the B pillar rattle coming from the seal belt anchor fixed.

It is a minor issue but really annoying to hear that creaking noise on and off.

 

if she runs the gas tank to empty/with the light on, you may have some existing cat issues[/quote]


How could this possibly affect the cat? The vehicle runs no different with 68 liters or 8 liters with the light on!

 

ya wana bet? documented known problem with RDX's

The car leans out the mix too much and the cats burn out. dont believe me? ask your tech (if hes smart enough at least)--->not that the tech would know, but its an issue that has come down from Acura, not service guys speculation.

 

With the low fuel light on the motor is going to use the same amount of fuel if it has a full tank or not depending on load factors, as long as fuel rail psi is reading normal there would be no need for the engine to burn lean. Acura recommends not running on the low fuel light due to a misfire that would occur if the car ran out of fuel. Its that misfire that causes damage to the catalyst. Its not just a service guy speculation, its in the owners manual.

 

An Acura regional rep told me this info. i am relating it to everyone. im not a mechanic so i dont know specifics in terms of operation, but what he told me was "the car will run lean, and this burns out the cats due to increased heat". This is the problem/issue. Its reliable info from the manufacturer. do with it what you want. The misfiring may also occur as a result of NO GAS, but that is a separate issue.

 

NOt being aware Low/No gas is a USER ERROR...pERIOD.
Like majority of the computer problems...caused by USER ERROR

 

I think any cat damage would be covered under the emissions extended warrantee.

 

well....yea if you didnt "cause" the problem. so who knows. I asked the same warranty question as to why the company would pin it in on the owner for a failing part....so it all comes down to a matter of if theyve seen it before, they know what it is i guess...tough to make that determination you would really piss off the customer big time but if they can isolate it....

 

thanks for the replies guys.. keep 'em coming!

 

You can't prove someone ran out of fuel and that it directly caused the cat to fail. The magnusson-moss act puts the burden of proof on the dealer. "bet" on that.

Running lean does result in higher egts. High egts are the nature of forced induction engines. The fact that most cars in the past 7 years have been emplyoying precatsfor cold start emissions doesn't help the rdx. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a precat upstream of the turbocharger... It's be dumb and adversley affect performance but is a cheap and dirty way to get a car to pass federal cold start emissions... especially considering getting turbocharged vehicles to pass emissions is difficult to begin with. My supra had two cats in 1989 when everone else could get away with one!!

The crappy thing is that precats are only good for cold starts and just a hinderance durin any othertime. This means that doing a wot pull on the freeway to merge with traffic is already going to get extremely hot. The leaner it gets, the hotter it'll get. Cats will die in a fire and melt if it gets too hot. Low fuel pressure is a guaranteed way to run lean. Sucking air into the fuel pump and getting air in the lines will create a momentary lean condition. And if the stock rdx fuel system is a dead head/returnless, this means the air bubbles won't flush back into the tank. The only way out is thru the injector (in lieu of fuel!) and pop goes the cat...

 

while the act is great in theory, its alot different in application.

 

I really doubt the RDX runs lean.

 

Buy extended warranty?

 

it doesnt, like we have been talking about, it happens when you are very low in the gas tank.

 

As I stated before the engine will not lean out the mixture because of a low fuel light. When the fuel level gets low or you run out of GAS, fuel pressure can and/or will drop precipitously, leading to excessively lean engine operation and resultant "lean misfires", which allow unburnt gas to travel to the cat. If the cat has to combust excess amounts of unburnt gas on its own, it will overheat, causing the catalytic converter's element to begin to sinter and/or break up. Sintering is when the wispy surface of the cat element begins to erode and collapse, sort of like squashing cotton candy flat. Breaking up is simply that, the element fractures into chunks. Either will result in impaired cat operation. Acura warns against low fuel level or running out of gas in your Owner's Manual. You did read that book, didn't you?

 

this is me caring.

its what acura told me. dont really give 2 shits about what or how it comes about...what they said was low on gas, the mixture is leaned out and it leads to problems discussed above.

the owners manual dig...really? you had to go there? you got 15 posts total on the board, actually contribute something before you make idiot comments

 

There is no right or wrong, just life experiences. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.