Hi,

I am new to this forum... so i dunno if this has been discussed or not before. I have an 08 acura rdx with about 50km on it and i get an issue when i decelerate. It seems that as soon as i get over 60 km/hr and the car starts to slow down i feel a bit of a "pull back" in the car as if i can feel the gears changing. i dunno if anyone else has this problem but does anyone know what it could be or is this something thats normal?

thanks for your help in advance

 

At least its not an ACCELERATION problem... Zing!

Does it feel more like engine braking?

 

hahahahaah.....

Ya kind of... it just feels like its automatically braking or something...and there is an awkward pause....

 

The transmission will sometimes gear down while slowing down / braking (I've got an '09, but I'm sure it's the same for the '08).

 

is there any way for turning this off or is it an automatic thing.

thanks for the help as well

 

I don't think it can be turned off, I believe it's part of the Grade logic within the transmission system.

 

no way to turn it off and it's actually working as it should be. I wish my prelude did that!

It keeps you in the gear you should be in so that if you need quick acceleration you don't have to wait for the tranny to down shift.

 

Maybe have your brakes inspected. I think i had read at one point that someone had had an issue with their rear brakes binding.

 

To avoid engine brake put it to "N" when you decelerate and put it back to D to accelerate. This driving habit will save you gas but your brake pads and rotor will suffer.

 

I don't exactly agree with coasting in neutral.

One, it's dangerous! If you had to make a sudden move, the time it would take you to get it back into "D" could be critical and one could get into an accident, etc.

Two, I believe it may actually be illegal. Granted, if it's an emergency where you need to switch to "N" that's one thing. Otherwise, keep it in "D" or "S" mode while moving.

 

It cant be illegal becuase manual cars coast in nuetral all the time. (part of the reason stick is more fuel efficient plus less stress on the tranny... just saying...

 

DO NOT put an Automatic vehicle in to Neutral and back in to Drive while it is rolling a unless you have some sort of malfunction (Toyota issue comes to mind). Putting the vehicle in to N and then back in to D while it is moving will do some serious damage to the transmission. Automatic transmission isn't built to switch gears like that.

 

Sounds like what my car does when I drive downhill.

 

characteristic of Honda engines. hate it. grade logic needs to be either shelved or reworked. Always feel a tug, especially when there shouldnt be one. I throw the truck in N all the time on hilly roads to avoid it

 

yeah, i felt that when i was going downhill fast without accelerating, then my rmps sayed the same, you get this pull back stumble, and my exhaust note just increases. I thought there was a problem with my RDX, but i guess it's the same for all RDX, thank goodness for this thread, I was soo worried !!!!!

 

rev match it

 

let me also say that i dont recommend doing what i had said all the time, im talking here about long winding hills and letting the car coast, I will shift back into gear at a very low speed when the engine is not calling for any power; in no way am i saying shift into N then slam back into D on a highway etc ...

 

There is no advantage to shifting into neutral on downgrades or to decelerate.

When the RDX's grade logic downshifts it is using engine compression for braking. This closes the fuel injectors -- no fuel is being used. It also saves wear on the brakes, in addition to preparing for acceleration as mentioned above.

If you shift into neutral the computer must continue to inject fuel to keep the engine running and the brakes are absorbing all of the deceleration force. Shifting back into gear while moving can be hard on the trans as well, depending on speed and rpm.

 

Likewise for a manual trans. Clutching-in or selecting neutral is not more efficient -- it forces fuel injection to keep the engine running.

Releasing throttle to decel with engine compression closes the injectors. But downshifting to slow a manual must be done with rev match or it is very hard on the clutch. Brake pads cost far less than a clutch change.

 

...wast using it to 'decelerate' quite the contrary - want the engine friction free and not braking my car when it should be coasting, at least when i want it to