hello everyone,

I am very glad found this forum, tons of great information!

I live in bay area, and 2 days ago I had swapped my 11' prius(bought new) for a 10' rdx with 50k mi on it. Adjusting to a sub 20mpg from 45+ is not easy, but I am extremely satisfied with the feel, comfort, power, space etc of this car - just exactly what I wanted. This is my 1st turbo car, almost brought me to tears when I was test driving. But to be honest, I didn't have enough time and resources to check everything on this car at the dealer, so basically I had signed the deal once it became financially acceptable.

CARFAX says that it was leased to one person for the past 3 years. But no info on maintenance, and the dealer couldn't provide me any proof either except that it had passed their 80 or so pt. inspection. Seeing several extremely reliable acuras from friends, I have swallowed my fear and decided to take the risk.

Anyways, the car been last serviced at 49,9k miles last march. My 1st question is:

(1): shall I take the car to its service soon in a month or so? or shall I wait until the oil life drops below certain level?

I know it's the opposite of what should be done, but today - after buying her - I did some inspection and found few things:

(2): when the turbo kicks in while I am making a turn I have noticed some vibrations in the steering wheel. Not a rough one but still quite noticeable. Is this normal?

(3): while the car is in "p", when I turn the wheel to left and right I can hear a corresponding increase in the sound from the engine. It almost sounds like just turning the wheels actually adding some rev... but my rev-meter didn't move. Any ideas on this?

I should probably research my questions in the forum before posting, but it is so much info to swallow right away and it is getting late here. I would really appreciate if you guys can provide me some guidance (i.e. point to links if these specific questions have been discussed before).

So far I have found that (3) might be related with the worn out o-ring and (2) might be related to cv. Please correct me if I am wrong.

One final note, I love the DIY section! I have never touched any of my previous cars before myself, but after looking at some of the posts I have decided to learn to perform all basic maintenances on my own!

thanks,
T

 

Also anybody has recommendations on the dealer/mech-shop in bay area? I live in Santa Cruz, but won't mind driving to valley if the place is highly recommended.

 

you bought from a non-Acura dealer?

if you want peace of mind, then change out all the fluids (oil, brake-it's due every 3 yrs, tranny, PS if dirty) and check/replace the engine and cabin filters. can't speak of the engine behavior of the RDX you speak of. the RDX requires synthetic oil changes, just FYI.

you really shouldn't be turning the steering wheel with the car stopped (ie parked). it puts a lot of stress on the power steering pump.

as far as the vibration, if the problem presents as you are accelerating from a turn then straightening out and the steering wheel stutters or vibrates...it could be the inner CV joint wearing.

once you've taken care of the fluids

 

We have a 2010 RDX bought from Sunnyvale Acura now called Acura Authorized Service. We have always received excellent service from them. A friend took her Honda/Acura to Foreign Affair in Santa Clara and raved about them. If you Yelp Foreign Affair, you'll find positive reviews.

 

yes from VW dealer, thats why I managed to talk the price down.

yah but I also don't want to create unnecessary waste if it is not urgently recommended.


don't we do that all the time when doing maneuvers in the parking lot? I have noticed it yesterday while trying to squeeze in a tiny space.

thats the impression I got from reading some of older posts. I'll read some more on this.

thanks,
T

 

perfect!

 

usually i try to make sure the car is moving even a little bit while i'm turning the car.

as far as the fluids are concerned...it's your car, but not knowing the service history makes me weary. at a minimum, you need to do the brake fluid this year sometime. check the PS and engine oil. i understand the OCI interval on the 1G RDX is relatively short 3-4k miles per MID.

enjoy the new ride.

 

thanks TLtrigirl!

I have checked the engine oil on the day of purchase it looked good, and the car says its 100%.
what does PS stand for? and MID? Ill make sure to change the brake fluid on the next service.

thanks,
Tuguldur

 

PS=power steering

MID=multi informational display (the thing you use to view your trip mileage, oil ife, trip odometer, outside temp).

looks like the car may have had an oil change before you purchased...i hope they used synthetic.

 

thanks again TLtrigirl!

One last question:

this low even with synthetic oil?

T

 

The turbo spools-up a significant amount of time, even at low speeds, for improved gas mileage. My observed oil mileage for my own 2009 RDX is:

3K @ 100% short trips under 5 miles
3-4K @ 80% commuting at 10 miles one-way
6-8K @ 100% highway miles

The '09 OM (owner's manual) specifically warns against holding the steering wheel against the steering stop, even when moving, as that can damage either the PS pump or the steering rack, from excessive fluid pressure.

Moving the steering while stationary will either flat spot the tires, or eventually damage the PS pump or rack. If you had learned to drive, before power steering was common, you would have a better understanding of this topic. The car only has to move a bare inch (literally) as you begin to steer.

Hey, its a 4,000 pound car with tires almost as wide as the ones on my old Camaro, and tiny tie-rod ends. The steering system operates at 1,300 pounds of hydrolic (PS fluid) pressure. The steering rack is *aluminum* and any excessive pressure or dirty PS fluid, will both wear the rubber seals and the aluminum itself. So change the PS fluid, or suffer the consequences.

As for the engine oil, its synthetic, because the horsepower per CI (cubic inch) is more than the typical Camaro or Corvette. Given the same CI as a Corvette, the RDX would have around 600 HP or more.

So if you want to risk running with possible non-synthetic engine oil, or dirty oil, your choice. Changing it yourself would cost around $40 for the oil and filter. It takes only a minute to reset the oil life monitor to 100%, without actually changing the oil. Sorry, but used car salesmen have a deserved reputation.

The turbo bearings are easily damaged from dirty oil. Acura has stated that they specifically specified Mobil-1 oil because of its low ash content - very hot oil, heated by the turbo will 'flash', vaporize, and leave behind ash which can possibly carbonize. That will damage the bearings, or non-synthetic oil can lose its lubrication ability (failed film strength) if hot enough.

A turbo 4-cylinder is not a high horsepower large CI V8. The V8 will operate under lesser stress. As an engineer, I am puzzled that people cannot seem to comprehend this. But then, most people do not open the hood of their cars.

Finally, the transmission. All current manufacturers are specifying synthetic ATF, except of course, for Honda/ Acura. There are one or two people, the same one or two people, who have posted (everywhere) that DW-1, the current Honda ATF, is a synthetic, but I have never seen any kind of validation of this claim. So if you are unwilling to use a synthetic ATF, change your transmission fluid every 15K miles. Remember, a drain-and-fill replaces only 4 out of a total of 8 quarts that the trans holds.

Remember, while the later Honda trans seem to display reliability, early 2000's Honda transmissions did not, resulting in numerious class action law-suits against Honda. I personally use a synthetic ATF, and short ATF OCI (oil change intervals).

Good for you that you are interested in learning to maintain your vehicle. For more info about any of these topics, also read the TL section of this forum, not just the RDX sections.

 

great info! thanks so much dcmodels!

I'll update you guys once I get some time to work on the car, probably next weekend.

 

thank you for clarifying dcmodels...i had read over the thread about the RDX guys complaining about the short OCI.

OP-so bearing the OCI in mind this will be reflective of the type of driving you do. the oil life monitor is also NOT linear in nature. it takes into account all the driving variables environmentally and physically (you the driver). i would also agree with everything dcmodels has said in his post. good stuff.

 

I did not mention the effect of weather, but where I live, this past winter, there were about 60 days when the temperature did not hit 30 degrees, even during the daytime. Short trips in the RDX under this condition will produce very short OCI from the MID.

And despite my comparison of a small cubic-inch turbo-4 against a larg(er) cubic-inch high horsepower V8, my 2001 Camaro also reported short (3K or less) oil change intervals during mid-winter. But that was partly because my commute was only 3 miles one way.

Yes, there are many threads in the RDX area of the forum, complaining of short OCIs. I have observed my wife's driving, and I simply think that many people do not notice just how often the turbo engages, and do not understand the resultant consequences on the OCI.

 

^^from what i gathered from those threads was the frequency of the turbo kicking in (which can occur during "short, in town" driving), as you have just mentioned.

 

just a random thought, is there a way to turn off the turbo temporarily? I have tried controlling the turbo usage myself with my feet, but its not trivial.

 

This question reminds me of the very first MAD MAX movie. Max and his Patrol buddies drove Interceptors with super chargers that could be turned ON/ OFF with a simple switch. Of course, those were movie cars, and the super chargers were *fake*.

A modern vehicle is a very complex piece of machinery, controlled by literally dozens of high-power computers (chips if you like). If interested in a vehicle's performance, a person would be happier if they investigated function before purchase - either by reading or by an extended test drive of a new vehicle, at the dealer, even if planning to purchase an earlier version of the same vehicle.

Would anyone really buy a V8 Corvette, and then ask how to disable 4 of the engine-cylinders at convenience? Well, maybe, since there are some vehicles currently that do just that (automatically) when cruising down the freeway. And, of course, IMO, the engineers have not yet quite worked out the bugs - so I will not be buying one of those any time soon.

The turbo is an integral part of the engine function: its there for improved gas mileage and to provide additional power when desired, both at the same time. It is best to consider the RDX engine as a V8 Corvette engine in terms of function - power output per cubic centimeter and consequent fuel usage and maintenance required.

With a little practice, you will learn. But really, there are only two reasons to do this:

WHEN THE ENGINE IS COLD (first 10 mintues of operation), the oil does not flow well enough to properly lube the turbo bearings.

JUST BEFORE ENGINE SHUTDOWN, the turbo should not be spooled up, to allow it (and the oil) to cool. Yes, I am aware that this 'supposedly' is not necessary. Just remember that the Owner's Manual is written by the Marketing/ Sales people, not by the engineers who designed the car. For max life, either make certain that the turbo does not spool up for 2 minutes before engine shut off, or else allow the engine to idle for 2 minutes before shut off. JMO
========

I would encourage you to focus on the opposite: getting the turbo to spool-up at will, as desired.

What you really want to learn is how to pull out from a dead stop, into traffic, and minimize the turbo-lag, to lessen the likely hood that you will be T-boned or rear-ended.
CHEERS

 

Hi Tuguldur- I recently bought a 2010 RDX as well, also from a non-Acura dealership. I had a horrible experience at an acura dealership in Ft. Worth, and found a great Volvo dealership with the RDX here in Dallas. Anyway, upon inquiry, they mentioned that they serviced the car. However, the Honda-brand oil filter was still in place, which means they changed the oil, but most likely not the filter. Upon further questioning, the salesman said "oil is changed, all fluids are checked, and topped off as necessary." Because Honda/Acura is very specific about what types of fluids (Mobile1 full synthetic oil/full synthetic DW1 ATF, etc), I changed all fluids. For example, I changed the oil and the filter, I did the 3x transmission flush with DW1 (a case of 12 quarts at my local dealer was about $90), and I used a turkey baster to remove brake fluid and then I did a bleed. I simply removed PS fluid with said turkey baster and replaced, I did not drain.

Good luck, and enjoy the car, I know I do!!

 

Any reputable dealer would have spotted a torn CV boot if they had given it a good look-over.

If you aren't taking any vactions in the near future, I wouldn't waste your money. Have you ever heard the saying, "If it aint broke, don't fix it.?"

 

stopped by the dealer today. My oil filter seems to be replaced, but I have no information on what kind of oil the VW dealer used to service my car. Guys at Honda think that VW most likely had used their 'synthetic blend' which is used in passat and jetta cars, not the actual thing like Mobil1. He kept saying that it would be a waste of money/time/oil if I change it now just for the peace in mind, and he recommended me to keep driving until the oil life indicator is at least at 30%.