mlb11

I've had my rdx for 2 weeks now and love it! We had 6 inches of snow yesterday and it was great to have it to drive around.

However, the sh-awd light has stayed on twice after starting the car. This happened once last week and then tonight. It has only happened when I've parked outside for awhile and after making the trip home (about 30 minute drive) I've turned the car off and then restarted it and the light functions fine. While driving I notice nothing unusual with the light on. It has been frigid here with below zero temperatures and a lot of ice and snow....I'm wondering if the light or sensor is getting frozen? Of course I've driven it many other times and the light comes on when starting and then immediately goes out....

Any thoughts? Thanks!

sasair

SH-AWD can be affected by high powered wireless devices like CBs or HAM radios.

If vehicle voltage drops to 10 volts or below or when the rear wheels spin alot on snow or ice the indicator can come on also. It won't shut off until the vehicle is shut off as you already know.

Any of these conditions that trigger the SH-AWD should log a DTC that your dealer can read. The vehicle will remember the last 8 DTCs so you should take the vehicle into your dealer, and have them read the DTC and determine what caused it. It doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong with your SH-AWD system, but you probably want to know what caused it.

mlb11

Thanks for the advice! Should I take it in when convenient (over the next few weeks) or do you think it is serious enough to warrant taking time off work?

Also, could a cell phone trigger it was well?

What I'm guessing is that maybe occasionally when its parked outside for several hours (about 5 to be exact) and the temperature is 5 degrees or less, the voltage may drop enough to trigger the inidicator? Then once its driven and charges, the inidicator will go out and not come on again when I restart it when coming home....this is just a guess on my part, the dealer I'm assuming would tell me more.

Thanks for the advice!

sasair

I would take it in when convenient. Its not something that is any big concern. The DTCs will remain stored until you get to the dealer.

mlb11

Thanks again for your help and advice. Much appreciated.

JoeinILL

Anyone experience this yet? After decelerating down an expressway ramp twice yesterday, the SH_AWD failiure indicator came on. Both times, I followed the instructions and shut the car off a few minutes and restarted. The thrid time it happened, I was making a turn on a road. SH-AWD is working now but it figures that we are due to get blasted by snow tomorrow too.

By the way, using Philips 66 Premium gas, with cruise control on and running 70 MPH, I was only able to get 20.5 MPH between Chicago and Milwaukee which is flat as a pancake. Very Very disappointing.

sasair

You don't have ham gear installed if I remember correctly do you?

JoeinILL

No SAS, no gear at all in the RDX.

JoeinILL

By the way SAS, where did you find the information about the CB & Ham gear? I have posted a question regarding ham gear installs in an Acura/Honda and have received positive information back from Honda owners regrding installations.

Of course they all recommend mounting the radio as far back in the vehicle as is possible and installing the antenna as far away from the front of the car as possible. They people who responded had 2007 Pilots, one with HF and VHF gear, and I don't believe they have SH-AWD.
I tried Acura Customer service but they said the RDX was never tested with transmitters and they have no clue as to what would happen. I don't want to be a test case :-)

sasair

I think it was in the service manual about the CB/ham radios. The SH-AWD control unit I believe is in the rear left quarter panel of the vehicle so not sure a rear install would be best for the SH-AWD interference.

mlb11

I'm going in today in about an hour to have the DTCs downloaded when my SH-AWD light came on. Hopefully I'll have some news to report on this tonight.

mlb11

Not sure which thread to post this on but I got back from the dealer to get my sh-awd light looked at. sasair are you an Acura mechanic? After they downloaded the DTCs they told me that the light was on because of a low voltage going to the sh-awd. They checked the battery, fuses, and sh-awd system and everything looked fine. The DTCs also showed that everytime the light came on it was a cold start, therefore their guess on why the voltage was low going to the sh-awd was because of the very cold temps and the fact that it was sitting outside on the nights this light came on.

In any event, everything checked out fine and they told me to just keep an eye out for it coming on again and report back when I go to pick up my tags. Given that there is more cold air coming for mid-week, my hunch is that it might come on again, but who knows....at least it isn't anything wrong with the sh-awd.

The tech I talked to said that it was an "intermittent" DTC that was recorded meaning not serious. He also said that the more serious issues with the sh-awd normally cause the light to come on while driving and not when you would first start it and not move.

Anyway, sasair, you were absolutely correct in your diagnosis! Thanks!

sasair

I'm not an Acura mechanic, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night...

Glad to hear it wasn't anything major. I'm surprised nobody else has seen this issue if the culprit is cold weather.

c_hunter

My RDX sat through some serious negative temps while skiing in the WV mountains last week, and no issues with the SH-AWD. I did have a real hard time backing out of a snowed in parking space, and then I realized I left the parking brake on Next time I tried with the brake released and it went a whole lot better....

mlb11

Yes, I'm still not sure about the cold weather theory....I do know that my RDX was unloaded on October 26th and sat on the lot until I bought it the end of January. Maybe this combined with the really cold temps caused the battery to weaken a bit, although I do not notice it on starts - it works fine.

Sometimes those parking brakes just add a little extra degree of difficulty for the RDX ;-) I backed out of my driveway today through 24" of untouched, drifted snow and it went so easy, that maybe I should put the brake on to make it more of a challenge.... :-)

Of course, I've also got a reservation at a Holiday Inn Express this weekend....I need to learn more about how my RDX works....

JoeinILL

Took the RDX in today to have the SH-AWD failure codes read. Used the AWD extensively yesterday and this AM as we received 9" of snow. The RDX performed well inspite of the poor steets and drifting. I did slie a few times but that just meant I was driving too fats. Gaining traction was easy.

The error coded indicated that something was amiss with the right rear wheell drive system. The shop tested the RDX for 2 hours and found nothing amiss. They believe it was just a computer glitch.

Per the discussions here, the weather was not cold here in Chicago on Sunday. It was 27 degrees and and dry. For the record, we had 5-6 days last week and the week prior where the temps never reached 10 degrees in the daytime. At night it went as low as 15 below. my car sits outside and I had no issues with the car starting or performing other than the darned Passenger Seat Air bag indicator going off all the time. Of course, the indicator remained off when I took it to the dealer today.. go figure...

JoeinILL

Took the RDX to a different dealer for service because the SH-AWD Failure indicator came on 5 times after I had my purchase dealer evaluate the car. They could find no issue with the car. Turning the car off for a few minutes resets the indicator but of course doesn't cure the problem.

I noticed that the SH-AWD would fail making either 90 degree left-hand turns or in one case, a U-turn. The Service Techs at the new dealer (actually the dealer I used have service my TL) connected a diagnostic laptop to the RDX and took it for a drive. The system failed as predicted making a 90 degree left turn within 5 minutes.

There was a component failure within the SH-AWD system. The part is on order and will be installed tomorrow or Friday. I am somewhat disappointed that my purchase dealer didn't do more than just read computer codes but am pleased that the issue was identified finally and will be fixed soon.

Alll in all, the RDX rocks. I expect and understand teething problems with a new model.

JoeinILL

Well the fix wasn't as simple as expected. The "part" that the dealer is replacing is the full rear differential, not just a component. The unit is on order from Acura and for some reason, it is being shipped from California. I am quite sure that the diff is pretty heavy.

I miss the truck but the TSX loaner I have is pretty enjoyable.

rdx4fun