Good day all. I am the proud owner of my Acura. Its a 2008 RDX with Tech Package, black on black, 88000 miles purchased from Acura of Reno. I traded a Cadillac DeVille for it. Was originally looking at a TL, then a TSX when I spotted this on the lot and fell in love. Its the perfect combination of sport, rugged and luxury all wrapped in a nice package.

Now on to the question... Under 3/4 to full throttle, occasion, the cars powertrain will buck. When it does it, it is usually around 4000 RPM with full boost. Once it bucks once or twice it will resume operating as expect to the redline.

I took it back to the dealer and did a test drive with two techs. They were able to recreate the problem.

They checked for codes, none. Reflashed the computers and the problem seemed to vanish, but it showed up again yesterday.

Acura of Reno is great dealership and I have no doubt they can fix the problem if we can figure out what it is. It mostly has occurred in first, although I have had it happen in second.

I am wondering if the last owner might have been using a cheap gas or if it needs plugs. The dealer is thinking it is the transmission hunting, but I am not thinking that is the case.

I do know the car was a lease from 2008 to 2011 and then privately owned.

Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or ideas on what might be the cause.

The good news is I bought the extended warranty on it, and other than this issue, the car runs great and pulls strong.

 

All,

After tooling around this weekend, I managed to recreate the bucking once while pulling out into traffic. I am thinking that maybe I call the dealer and schedule the following.

1) Change the plugs
2) Perform a fuel system service/cleaning and filter change
3) Perform a transmission service (fluid change)

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Look over the intake and air filter. I would not start changing out good parts. They need to hook up a portable computer to see live what is happening at the time of thie event.

We have a 2011 RDX with 64K and are now getting a sort of same symptom but only early on in the run cycle. I described it as cold engine under 3/4 load in my post when asking if anyone else had this problem, but its after warm up, and goes away with temp increase. (a more concise definition)

Still looking for answers to ours...

 

^^ See my post in the problems and fixes section!

 

honestly, it sounds like knock and engine timing being pulled.

the car needs to be data logged to see what is exactly going on at that exact RPM.
what kind of fuel are ya'll using?

 

Chevron 91 (Cali) same as always. But this came on in the last couple weeks or so. I took my foot off the gas as soon as I felt it so I'm not sure if the knock sensor would pull out timing to stop it or not. It may have time for about a handful of knocks or surges before I react. My wife drives this car mostly so I have had little time to figure it out and I'm almost out of warranty.

 

I'm taking ours in to the dealer Wednesday and will post results here and on my post as well. I suspect they wont find the cause.

Could be on to something regarding fuel though. The switch in Cali to summer/cleaner fuel may be our cause. But this is our 4th summer with the car so and never had this issue before, so???

OP what state are you in and do you get a different fuel blend seasonally?

 

Hey DRR, just wondering if your dealer found anything. I am dropping mine off in the morning. Hoping to have it back for the holiday weekend.

 

Our dealer is Niello Acura. They found a subtle vibration but not a knock. They are replacing the d/s front drive shaft. Just got back from a test drive with the tech (Shaun) and I can feel the vibe he's talking about. Not sure if this is my root cause, but hopeful. It would only do the knock and buck in a cold environment and it is not happening now. I wish I had an extended warranty but the service mgr (Mike) said all we can do if the problem come up when the weather gets cold is appeal to the factory. I have developed a good relationship with them over the years on a couple other issues and I trust them. Sorry for the dang novel.

How about your problem?

 

I dropped mine off this morning. No word yet. At the end of the day I love the car and I, like you am totally impressed with the service department.

I will keep you posted.

 

Just an update all. Still no word from Acura of Reno. I am expecting to hear something Monday or Tuesday. I am guessing if they haven't called yet, they haven't figured out the cause.

 

Update on mine: Parts to be in on Saturday. Ready for test drive by EOB Monday. Still not sure if a bad cv joint can cause intermitent "bucking/knock/thumping" but hopeful. More on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

 

Just heard from Acura of Reno. RDX needs a new turbocharger and intercooler. Covered under the extended warranty. I will keep everyone posted.

 

 

Well, I think it is time for an update.

Finally got a call from the dealer yesterday. The warranty company said they would cover the turbo charger (4500 installed) but not the intercooler (1750 installed). I blew a gasket on the sales manager. The warranty company is claiming they won't cover subsequent damages. No where in my warranty does it state that nor does it state the intercooler is excluded. They were ordering the parts yesterday and had the finance manager calling his contacts at the warranty company to work out the intercooler payment.

 

Did they say what exactly failed on the turbo? I mean, if a seal popped and some oil got into the IC it shouldn't warrant a replacement. I'm just trying to see how a turbo issue could be responsible for an IC failure unless the turbo just disintegrated and threw chucks of impeller through it.

Worst case, instead of paying 1750 installed for a new OEM IC just grab one from ETS for half the price, assuming your dealer would be willing to install a non-OEM part. Those can be hit or miss. Good luck either way!

 

They haven't exactly told me what failed on it. I have asked for the old parts after the repair so I can check it out. I am trying not to let this spoil my enjoyment of the car. And I am praying this actually fixes the problem.

 

So I just got back from the dealer. Warranty company, dealer and myself are going the split the cost of the intercooler part, no charge for labor.. I am not thrilled about it, but my out of pocket is going to be minimal and I don't think I can push them any further.

 

What a mess. Sorry. Hope all is well after the new parts are installed.

 

Thank DRR. It is a bit of mess but these things happen. I am going to test drive it before I drop any cash on the repair job.

If you ever find yourself in the Reno Tahoe area, drop me a line and we can meet up

 

Turbo and intercooler went bad??

How? I have a feeling this will not fix the issue.

Did they even do a on board snap-shot(data-log) of when this bucking happened to show proof of fault?

I know turbo's go bad on these cars around 100k miles but not the intercooler.

 

?? news to me, and I have seen no threads supporting this contention. Please provide links, or other evidence of this statement.

 

bmconway, Thanks for the invite, will do.

I agree with dc on turbo longevity info provided by ECRD being false. We are at ~ 70k miles in our '11 RDX. No reason to believe our turbo will fail in another year when it's been properly maintained. There are many other cars and SUV's with inline fours with turbos and if they had only a 100k mile life expectancy they would not be able to sell them.

Don't drink his koolaid.

 

No oil+water cooled OEM turbo should be expected to fail in 100k...I think the notion of short-lived turbos goes back to idea of mandatory 3k mile oil changes.

 

I think the thing to remember here is at the end of the day, any mechanical part can fail regardless of how well it was maintained. I don't agree that a turbo will fail "around 100k" anymore then I believe that my power window will break sooner if I use it everyday. At the end of the day the turbo was designed to last the lifetime of the car, mine failed, a ton of oil was sucked up into the intercooler and throttle body, its being fixed and mostly covered by the service contract. This is a fun car to drive and if someone is going to spend their time worrying about a tubro failing, they should probably get something that is naturally asperated, or a scooter.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Acura called and the car is ready. The service manager wants to keep it one more night to make sure that their isn't any issue with the cold start. Since I am in loaner, I really don't mind. Of course I am sure someone on here will say its part of a bigger plot to make sure the new turbo doesn't give out in 24 hours.

 

DRR, what part of cali are you in?

 

We live in the 'burbs of Sacramento near the American river. Of course we'd love to do a meet up if you are in town. PM for more details.

Any progress on your RDX.

 

Oops, just saw your update! Sweet, you'll be back Rollin' soon. Look under the hood, do a test drive, listen to the car under full load, and then enjoy!

 

I doubt this was meant literally, but I personnally, would treat the turbo as a new part (which it is), and allow some time, as much as possible, for those new turbo bearings to *wear-in* with a fully warmed up engine (and oil), before using full boost.

 

As long as the bearings are primed with oil you are ready for boost.

Hopefully the dealer did the best practice of pulling the fuel pump relay and cranking it 30 seconds to prime the bearings with oil.

It's not like breaking in a new engine. Prime it with oil and go.

 

Well, I got her back today. The car is running great. Pulling strong and not bucking at all. Final failure cause was blown internal seals that led to bearing failure and oil ingesting up into the intercooler and intake manifold.

Acura of Reno has a great service department if anyone is wondering.

 

I hope they at least threw in an oil replaceme - I mean oil change.

 

Its not on the invoice but I am sure they topped it off. I am sure some oil was lost during the TC change and I doubt they would send me back on the road with low oil.

 

Brad, just check the oil level before you next start it after it has rested overnight. As for the console lamp look at the exploded view here...

http://acura.bernardiparts.com/SearchOptions.aspx

...and see if you can get it out easily. Not sure if our model years share the same console and I'm not near ours now.

 

Looks like my search results did not save in the link I posted. After you enter the yr and model and type click on the section called interior/bumper and you'll find the console exploded view there.

Hope you are having a blast driving your new hot hatch!

 

DRR, I check the oil this evening, after the car had been sitting for almost 24 hours. Oil level was right at the top hole. I have to say, not to impressed with the dip stick. Kinda hard to read

 

Spoken like a sorry Mitsubishi owner.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself Mr Marco.