Acura_CL3.0

The had come for my Gf to get herself a new car. We recently rebuilt or 1g Acura Cl 3.0. I really didn't know much about the RDX. We were looking at Mdx and Rdx. We live out in Idaho in a very small town. We ended driving to Salt Lake City to look at a RDX 2007 tech package. The vehicle was very un-cared for. Had 15 engine codes and had ZERO transmission fluid in it. My girlfriend was very upset we drove all the way out to salt lake to look at this vehicle and that it was not represented in the ad well. Feeling like we lost out I pulled up Facebook marketplace and gave it one last effort before the 300 mile trek home.

To my surprise I found a 2008 Acura RDX base model. It was a single owner, it was black and had decent maintenance records. We ended up test driving the vehicle and long story short she fell in love with it. It had 156k miles and some dings and scratches. Overall it was a decent vehicle though. We paid 6k cash and drove it the 300 miles home.

So far we have owned the vehicle about a month. Overall mpg's do lack a bit so far. From my understanding these things run really rich without a tune. As far as everything else the vehicle is excellent. Very nice to drive in the snow.

So far we have added the following:
-9006 Led high beam / drl lights 10,000 lumen bulbs
-9005 led yellow fog light bulbs (good for driving in snow)
-Weathertech front and rear floor mats and rear cargo cover
-Led dome light bulbs 194
-Led rear dome light bulb de3175
-Led rear cargo bulb 194?
-Snow studded tires for winter 245/60/18


Things to do:
Any maintenance items that come up
-Spark plugs
-Coolant change
-Reseal headlights (mositure ends up inside)
- Both front window regulator/motor Assemblies

I'm sure there will be more to add.





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Drl led bulbs with built in resistor.

I will have interior pics after I clean the interior. It's the middle of winter so it's pretty dirty. Let me know what you guys think. If I have any maintenance items I could possibly miss please let me know.

mrgold35

Nice pick-up! I still have my 08 RDX tech with +165,000 miles. Loaned the RDX to my daughter in the Army on active duty when she was temporary assigned to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio from South Korea. I was able to improve my combined mpgs from around 17-17.5 to 18.5 - 19 mpgs when I did Hondata+ETS intercooler. I rarely got over +20 mpgs with the RDX; unless I drove it like a CR-V.

Changing out the P/S fluid is something I did at 100K and again when I replaced the P/S pump at 140K.

Acura_CL3.0

@mrgold35 I am truly hoping with some supporting mods (intake,downpipe,tune,plugs) that we will be able to get close to that 20mpg mark. That intercooler is really a nice piece! Not gonna lie I'll pick one up when I can afford it.

These vehicles ride so well I can live with the less than stellar gas mileage. My Gf daily drives it right now and I can tell she likes it by the amount of miles she's already put on it.

I forgot to add to the list of things we had done was a drain and fill x1 on the transmission. We had some rougher downshifts than I would like to feel 3-2 2-1. To my surprise the fluid was clean and still had good color, didn't smell burnt. It did help improve the downshifts, on my next drain in fill in a couple hundred miles I will go ahead and clean the dual shift solenoid. I'm hoping the transmission will go to 250k before I go ahead and rebuild it.

I will need to replace the high pressure line on the power steering pump eventually as it is starting to seep. Have you had anything with the timing chain tensioner give you any problems.

mrgold35

The engine, 5AT, and sh-awd has been very dependable and solid with Hondata, ETS Intercooler, K/N drop in filter, and Hondata heat shield gasket for +6 years (purchased used in 2010). In the last few years, I had to replace all four coil packs, hairline crack in bottom half of radiator, P/S pump replaced because of leak, and had the i-Vtec solenoid replaced. She still runs like a bat out of hell. I figured I might be pushing my luck with the RDX as the wife's main daily driver and move it to the sidelines after purchase of the 19 MDX. Worked out perfectly because my daughter needed a temp vehicle in TX. She loves driving the RDX; except, when it she needs to put 15-18 gals of premium in it every 300 or so miles.

The RDX seems to feel better the harder you drive her.