I brought my 07 RDX in for a minor maintenance yesterday (got a "free" one with a test drive) and they found two issues.

Rear brakes are 95% worn (not surprising since it has 78k miles on it). They want $300 to replace the pads and turn the rotors. I'll probably just pay the crazy price because I haven't done brake work since high school shop class 30 years ago!

The more troubling issue is they say my power steering is leaking fluid into the boots and will completely fail at some point if nothing is done. I haven't noticed any fluid on the garage floor and no peculiar PS noises. Is this possible? They want $1600 to repair that. Can anyone suggest a way I can verify what they're saying or should I take it to another Acura/Honda dealer to get a second opinion?

The service consultant says they've seen a lot of power steering issues on the RDX which is strange since I haven't seen much written in the two years I've been following the AcuraZine forums.

 

If the rack seals are leaking inside the bellows boots, it may be difficult to verify it. The boots should be clamped tightly, preventing the leaking fluid from escaping. You could cut off the boot clamps and slide the boots down so you can see, but then you would have to buy and install new boot clamps.

Otherwise you may be able to squeeze the boots and listen for "sloshiness" inside the boot. Or, perhaps the boot is leaking some of the fluid and it is visible outside the boot.

The primary evidence of a PS leak is low fluid in the reservoir. Is the res low? Does the car have a history of needing PS fluid at regular services?

 

Okay, that's pretty much verbatim what the service consultant said so you put my mind at ease. I always feel like I'm being duped into replacing my flux capacitor when I bring my car in for service!

I've owned the car for the last two years and don't have the service records for the first three but the car seems to have been well cared for. I have checked the PS fluid level when I've checked the other levels and I've never noticed it being low before. The level is fine at the moment but they may have added some when I brought it in the other day.

Thanks for your assessment.

 

If they keep pushing it, ask them for verification. Sometimes they'll take you back there to see it for yourself (maybe not so much these days) or they can take a few pictures if it's visibly leaking. Ask them if they've topped up the PS or have in the past.

Maybe take it to an indy shop for another opinion. He's more likely to let you stand under there so he can show you the problem.

At any rate, PS fluid works hard. At 78k it is definitely time to flush and change it. Flushing is a simple procedure, or you can even get a decent exchange by emptying and refilling the res 5 or 6 times.

If it is leaking, don't panic. I have had repeated success stopping PS leaks in friend's cars with quality PS stop-leak. A quality stop-leak remains liquid in the system fluid. It only hardens when it comes into contact with oxygen at the leak site.

I have never added the full bottle -- only about 2 ounces at a time -- then monitored the system. It usually only takes one treatment with 2 ounces to completely seal the leak -- on rare occasions it has taken 2 treatments. Some of these cars are coming up on 4 years with no further leaks.

 

By the way, I always buy my flux capacitors in 1985. They are a lot less expensive and you can still see a drive-in movie while you're there.

 

lol

 

Maybe I'll work up the nerve to do a flush in the next weekend or two. Thanks again! I'll post back if I attempt the flush myself.

 

Nice! Man, do I miss those drive-ins from back then...

 

Mine is not leaking, but the dealer wants to replace the PS fluid, due to "contamination". I checked and it looks good, not dirty, light amber color. I also checked the service manual and it doesn't say to replace the PS fluid anywhere. It's not even hermetically sealed, or pressurized. But I have 80K now.
So I'm not sure if it needs replacement?

 

True enough -- there is no scheduled PS fluid change. That is probably because Honda wants to keep the scheduled service cost attractive and they expect the original fluid will make it to the end of warranty.

The fluid is pressurized as high as 1200 psi by the pump and through the rack. It returns to the res under low press. The only filter is a fine screen in the res.

I agree with the dealer on this one -- 80k is certainly time to replace PS fluid. It is an inexpensive service that you can do yourself if you like -- and it is a fraction of the cost of PS pump or rack replacement.

 

My PSF turns dark within a year which is only 7K miles, about the color of slightly diluted Coke (not the kind you sniff). New fluid is almost clear as water, with only a slight yellow color. But my RDX is only driven city miles, so that causes more wear.

Are you the original owner? are you certain the PSF has never been changed? At 80K miles the fluid should look like black coffee.

There are some DIY threads in the DIY & FAQs RDX section, for changing the fluid, or adding a better filter (inline).

 

I had to change my PSF at 19k or 4years of city type driving. The pump would start to make a loud whirring sound when the fluid got warm. I switched in a bottle of the Lucas treatment which solved the problem.

 

Yes, I'm the original owner. The PSF has never been changed. But since it is dark yellow color, like Pilsner beer, at 80K, I will have it replaced next time.

 

Yikes, the wife's brand new 2012 is in the shop with only 10K miles for a new rack. Same thing, the small amount of fluid that is left in the reservoir is coke colored. I actually had the power steering dissapear for several seconds while driving through my parking garage at work. Unacceptable in this car with this many miles. Hmm, this, in addition to my "shuddering-while-in-gear" in the cold TL makes other brands seem more and more desirable, and further confuses me as to why I hand Acura over loads of cash for this and my TL each month.

 

OK, I am assuming the new rack is a warranty replacement - but what happened to the remainder of the PS fluid? Your quote of "the small amount of fluid that is left ..." So what happened? any idea? was there a leak? problem with the pump? what does the dealer say? I have not heard of this type of problem before, so soon on a new vehicle.

Certainly, using the steering a lot in city driving does seem to 'wear' and discolor (degrade) the PS fluid faster than highway driving. Also, the OM (owner's manual) does specifically caution against turning the steering wheel full left or right against the lock, and holding it there, can damage the power steering pump.

And I cannot persuade my DW that turning the steering wheel while the car is stationary is worse than letting the car begin to move first, if only a few inches, before turning the wheel.

But a problem on a brand new car seems unusual?

 

My thoughts are that the fluid is leaking past a bad seal in the rack, and filling up the boots on each end as we park the car in a garage everyday, and have not seen any leakage anywhere. The car is driven highway 95% of the time, and to add to that, we only make 10 turns a day, 5 to work, and 5 back. The dealer agrees that a seal in the rack most likely the cause of this issue. We never turn the wheel full lock in either direction, and even if we did, 10K miles should not mean end-of-life for seals inside of a rack. If that in fact does shorten the life, manufacturers should design a limiter stopping full lock of the steering wheel from occuring, similar the purpose of a RPM limiter.

 

Its the PUMP that can be damaged by holding the steering wheel hard against the full lock stop, not the rack - as the (OM) owner's manual (and as I) stated.

And this does not apply only to the RDX, but to any vehicle with a power steering system. Its just that the RDX OM is the first to specifically state it, that I am aware of. Although I have seen similar statements in factory service manuals for various vehicles.

Of course, there is already a steering lock stop on the RDX, and any other vehicle. The problem is not the *position* of the steering wheel/ rack per-se, but its holding the steering wheel firmly against the steering lock, that causes an excessive pressure in the PS system.

In other words, most people do not seem to understand that they are trying to turn the steering wheel further than it is meant to go. Holding the steering wheel or rack, so that the steering linkage just *touches* the steering stop, is not much of a problem - although it is best to back-off so that the parts are not actually touching, i.e. the steering linkage is not touching the steering stop-lock.

If you are "lucky" you will either blow a hose or a hose clamp, before the seals inside the PS pump fail. Usually, one of those happens before the steering rack itself loses a seal.

Remember, the PS system is rated at a max of around 1,300psi on the RDX. Holding or forcing the system (rack) against the stop, increases that pressure *way* above the rated max, and something is going to fail.

On older vehicles, the pump would begin to whine under that condition, as a *warning* that the driver should "back-off" the steering wheel just an inch. Or else the power steering pump belt would slip, also causing a warning-noise. But that was with the old V-belts, before the current multi-rib belts, which don't slip - they break.

On current vehicles, there is usually no pump noise or other warning - just a catastropic failure of a seal somewhere in the PS system.

Again, I agree with you that 10K should not see a problem with either the pump or steering rack. Has the dealer actually diagnosed the problem or still just "guessing"? Has the dealer agreed to replace the rack for you? Hope the problem is resolved to your satisfaction.

 

As an update, the dealer replaced the rack, confirmed the "missing" fluid was residing in the boots on the rack and now the issue has been fixed.

 

I've been telling my wife this for years now, I'm going to print this out and make her read it.
for some reason she thinks everything that comes out of my mouth is bullshit. I can't imagine why.

 

Okay, albeit I have a 2007, this sounds like it might be the right thread.

My car groans unpredictably. The groans seem to be related to steering, inasmuch as they are exacerbated by turns, and I can feel the groans. They don't usually start right until I've been driving a while, and I do mostly around-town driving, so it is totally intermittent. I live in St Petersburg, Florida, so it isn't in extreme cold.

I thought it was, perhaps, steering wheel belts and had planned to have them changed, but the sound/action is not easily reproduced.

Any ideas?

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-rdx-problems-fixes-160/power-steering-pump-noise-872043/

 

Thanks and that's interesting but I don't understand any of that. I'm not a DITer. I guess I need to post my own thread.