if you look around the shifter (cant remember where), you will see a little slit, that is a cover that opens up, put the key in that to release tranny when not started or in on position

 

I was wondering what that thing was.

 

I was away in Mexico for a 1 1/2 weeks, back in April. The car started up with no problems. 2 weeks after my return is when my battery died.

So time will tell.

 

Took the car to the dealer this morning after TLC's jump. Dealer ran some test for more than an hour and the manager named 'Chuck' told me that they cannot replace the battery because according to the test guidlines set by Acura, it is not a defective battery and if he replaced it , he won't be able to get reimbursed by Acura.

Typical battery cost about $50 and the TLC call probably cost more than that much.

Aside legal remification, it does not make sense not to make customer happy and give him a piece of mind... Was not happy but
could not argue no more.


AND I PAID $36K FOR THE CAR.

cy

 

i have one of the earliest production rdx's 000975 and have left it for 10 days with no problems. must be a bad batch of batteries or something, hope they figure this out before 08's roll out. especially if it is an electrical short.

 

I'm sitting at my dealer waiting on another battery for my RDX (this will be my third). I left my RDX for 4 days and came back to it dead. No accesories had been left on. The service guy laughed at me and said of course it's dead after leaving it for so long (4 days??). I'm thinking about throwing a little snit. If I had left it for a couple of weeks or a month I could accept a dead battery, but 4 days!

 

wow third battery :S somethings draining is draining it for sure.

Did you try picking up a better quality battery (such as Interstate or Yellw or red top ones ?). 3 batterys dieing out that quick really doesn't look good, it sounds like something is discharging the battery.

 

Yes and if that's true, a better battery will last longer, but it will drain too eventually.

 

Are these issues based upon the '07 MODEL? or08 model?

 

Just experienced 4th dead battery. Each time after sitting for 2 to 4 days.

First 2 times, the service mgr insinuated/implied that I left light on or door open. 3rd time I left it at dealer while on travel. It died on their lot.

This time I learned from service mgr that there is a defective amplifier module on certain range of VIN's. It doesn't go to sleep and draws up to 300 mA. This is the battery killer.

Acura issued a "techline summary" to dealers about 2 weeks ago. My replacement module is on critical delivery status. Should be in next Tuesday.

 

Good that they finally found and can fix this problem. My RDX definitely doesn't have this problem, I only drive it at most once a week and never had a battery problem.

 

I travel a lot and regularly leave my RDX parked for a week or more. Never had a problem with the battery. I hope they are able to fix your problem, though.

 

Any idea what the range of effected VINs is?

 

Service Mgr rode her broom to work that day and wasn't very helpful. Will check with service consultant and post any available information.

 

yes please do post the vins if you can find it.

according to nhsta there are only 2 defects and or recalls on the 07 rdx's I'm wondering if this slow discharge thing is what makes the car start like it has a weak battery

 

Interesting! I regularly travel and leave it 3-4 days... up to 7... and haven't had a repeat since the original battery was replaced last New Year's eve.

I wonder if this has anything to do with an odd "bug" I'm experiencing - after switching from aux-input (my Blackberry, playing music) back to XM or DVD, I only get sound out of one channel (L or R, not consistent) - after restarting the car (or rebooting the radio system) it's OK... will do some searching to see.

I do notice that the more days left out, the "harder" the car seems to start. I do worry with the cold weather coming.

Please share the VIN range if you do find it, and thanks!

-mj

 

Here's a transcription of the Honda article:

HONDA Tech Line Summary Article BTS070905
Battery Goes Dead When Parked
Applies to: 2007 RDX (Tech Package)

A faulty audio amplifier on vehicles between 5J8TB185*7A000001 and 5J8TB185*7A010179 can cause an intermittent (220-300 milliamperes) current draw that can discharge the battery while parked. To correct this problem, replace the audio amplifier P/N 39186-STK-A11.
__________________________________________________ __________
I'm going to drive my RDX for a week, then park it for 3 days and see what happens.

 

Thank you for posting the VIN ranges. I have left my car for 8 days without having any problems with it starting when I got back. From your post, I can see that my VIN is well beyond the upper VIN in that range.

At least they know the problem and are prepared to fix it for those who are experiencing the problem.

 

i am vin 000975, my car starts a little weak when left, think i should inquire about getting this replaced now? havent had a dead battery yet though. any thoughts?

 

Certainly can't hurt to ask.

 

About a week prior to battery dying each of 4 times, there was a couple of things that occurred:
1) weak start
2) moon roof wouldn't complete open or close sequence on first attempt

 

When I first bought my used 2011 RDX, my battery died the first week of driving in in November 2018. I put it off as sitting in a lot for a while and this is what happens. Tested battery and it still had juice. Since they battery hadn't been replaced in almost 5 years (previous 1 owner - took it to the dealership for every service so history was good on the services it had) I asked for a new battery for Christmas - gift was a good battery. Went out to the car and did not start the vehicle - just turned on the ignition to figure out how to get the Bluetooth connected to my phone. Battery was completely dead the next day. Battery was checked and was still good just needed it jumpstarted and was good for a while. Took my car to my new job and I like to take breaks in my car and listen to music. Had ignition on with headlights set to "Auto" listening to radio for 20 minutes. When I finished work my car wouldn't start - battery was dead. Again checked the battery to make sure it was still good and not defective. Had a mechanic friend of mind check my alternator - it was fine. Had to make a conscious effort that if I went to my car for a break and wanted to listen to radio, I made sure I started the car and left it running. Several months later, I go to lunch and park at a park - I turn my lights to "off" and I am not listening to radio, but I have the ignition on and the key in the ignition so that I could control opening the windows - because of the fact if you disengage key to just first click, after 10 minutes you cannot move your windows up and down, you need the ignition on. Did this for about a half hour - finished my day at work and went to leave and battery is DEAD again. Because i was having all these battery issues, a friend of mine let me borrow their battery charger thing so I kept in in my car. It also has a tester attached to it so you can check if the battery needs to be replaced or still has a charge and battery was fine.

I learned my lesson - these are not like the cars where you can leave your key in the ignition and let it sit there EVER! After I learned this I would always turn my headlights to Off and take my keys out of the ignition completely, Or keep the engine running of you do because for some reason these cars drain batteries like no other vehicle I have ever owned before. After not getting stranded anymore once I realized this - I still love the car. But When I had an AC issue last summer and the battery died, I lost hope and now know that if the car has any issue, the battery is more than likely going to die and I invested in my own battery charger thing and keep it with me at all times. My daughter is turning 16 this summer and since my RDX is paid off I was going to let her drive this car and invest in a new vehicle, but I don't want her getting stranded in random places and having her deal with cables and electricity - that scares me.

If someone can offer a fix as to why this year/model has battery draining issues and I can rely on the car to not die at random, I will defiantly let my daughter drive it, otherwise I will have to sell it I love the car - it get's me through unplowed roads (snow) with ease and doesn't fishtail hardly at all, even when I gun it in deep snow. I never have gotten stuck and I love the car so much.

 

Well this has definitely been an issue for lots of RDX owners, myself included. My big fix was removing the Bluetooth unit. I just unplugged it from under the center console. I haven’t had issues since. I also carry around a jump pack just in case. I’m also off grid a lot and it’s just smart to have it.

Also putting in a nice new alternator has been good for the battery charging. I wouldn’t change it if it doesn’t need it.

 

Any chance you've got a tutorial on how to do this?