2014 RDX awd Tech Maintenance Question
01-01-2020, 11:25 AM
#1
2014 RDX awd Tech Maintenance Question
Hey guys,
i traded in my 2016 wrx for a 2014 rdx awd tech last week. New dad and needed something bigger! Anyways, the car is a creampuff. 1 owner, 42,000 miles, and carfax had all the services at the dealership. Ill have to double check whats been serviced on it already but i remember reading that some fluids have been changed already. I don't doubt that everything has been performed based on the maintenance schedule. So, i didn't even realize that this V6 had a timing belt. I just assumed that it had a chain, i guess i was wrong. Also, not quite sure how this maintenance schedule works. This is the first car that supposedly tells me when i need to perform service. I would much prefer a list with millage and time so i can prepare for what needs to be serviced and when. My biggest concern is that the timing belt might be due already because the car is 7 years old. Whats the general consensus? Do i wait till the car says its time? When exactly will that be? Is it millage and time based or just millage? Also, are there other services to be performed that aren't exactly part of the standard schedule? For example, i hear about transmission fluid changes, how often does the car tell you they need to be done vs how often they actual need to be done? Im just looking for any general maintenance rules of thumb i need to adhere to. Thanks!
i traded in my 2016 wrx for a 2014 rdx awd tech last week. New dad and needed something bigger! Anyways, the car is a creampuff. 1 owner, 42,000 miles, and carfax had all the services at the dealership. Ill have to double check whats been serviced on it already but i remember reading that some fluids have been changed already. I don't doubt that everything has been performed based on the maintenance schedule. So, i didn't even realize that this V6 had a timing belt. I just assumed that it had a chain, i guess i was wrong. Also, not quite sure how this maintenance schedule works. This is the first car that supposedly tells me when i need to perform service. I would much prefer a list with millage and time so i can prepare for what needs to be serviced and when. My biggest concern is that the timing belt might be due already because the car is 7 years old. Whats the general consensus? Do i wait till the car says its time? When exactly will that be? Is it millage and time based or just millage? Also, are there other services to be performed that aren't exactly part of the standard schedule? For example, i hear about transmission fluid changes, how often does the car tell you they need to be done vs how often they actual need to be done? Im just looking for any general maintenance rules of thumb i need to adhere to. Thanks!
01-01-2020, 09:47 PM
#2
The oil life is real, it will drop to 15% anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 miles usually. Once the oil life reaches 15%, the codes for other services show up.
There is a way to look at what services will be coming up, but I can't remember how right now. The service intervals are the same as a vehicle without oil life monitoring,
it just counts oil changes and sets codes based on how many there have been. So a 30k service is going to come up after the 4th oil change. The timing belt & spark plug codes
will come up after about 14 oil changes. What gets done to a Honda v-6 hasn't changed since it was introduced with the 1999 Odyssey. Only the way it tells you to do it has changed.
Here is what that was before oil life algorithms:
Oil change every 7500, along with a tire rotation and a look at brake pad wear.
Every 15k the obsessive do a normal drain & fill of the transmission fluid
Every 30k the cabin & engine oil filter gets replaced. This is also the new interval for a trans fluid change.
Every 45k is what the trans fluid change was.
The timing belt, tensioner, water pump, drive belt, & spark plugs get changed at 105k or 84 months.
The coolant lasts to 120k, but usually gets changed with the timing belt because the water pump is changed and the coolant needs
to be drained anyway. Many folks like to change the thermostat then as well. If you are not going to use a Honda one, don't bother.
The brake fluid gets changed every three years regardless of miles.
I do not have experience with the all wheel drive systems, but there are fluids to change there as well. The AWD guys will have to chime in on that.
Keep in mind that a "normal" trans fluid change only replaces approx 1/3 of the fluid. There is a service bulletin that includes a software update
and changing the fluid 3 times. This is done if symtoms they call "juddering" are present. If you ever feel like you need all new fluid, you must do
the normal drain & fill three times with actual driving in between. Around the block is not enough, it must go through all the gears and the torque
converter must lock up, like when cruising down the highway.
It is very popular in other Honda/Acura engines that have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) to install a device to keep that from activating.
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda)
To your original question: Yes technically you are due for a timing belt. That said, I think you are not really playing with fire yet, unless you or the RDX
happen to live where it is very hot or very cold. They rarely break unless severly neglected. The tensioner will probably start making noise long before the belt breaks.
There is a way to look at what services will be coming up, but I can't remember how right now. The service intervals are the same as a vehicle without oil life monitoring,
it just counts oil changes and sets codes based on how many there have been. So a 30k service is going to come up after the 4th oil change. The timing belt & spark plug codes
will come up after about 14 oil changes. What gets done to a Honda v-6 hasn't changed since it was introduced with the 1999 Odyssey. Only the way it tells you to do it has changed.
Here is what that was before oil life algorithms:
Oil change every 7500, along with a tire rotation and a look at brake pad wear.
Every 15k the obsessive do a normal drain & fill of the transmission fluid
Every 30k the cabin & engine oil filter gets replaced. This is also the new interval for a trans fluid change.
Every 45k is what the trans fluid change was.
The timing belt, tensioner, water pump, drive belt, & spark plugs get changed at 105k or 84 months.
The coolant lasts to 120k, but usually gets changed with the timing belt because the water pump is changed and the coolant needs
to be drained anyway. Many folks like to change the thermostat then as well. If you are not going to use a Honda one, don't bother.
The brake fluid gets changed every three years regardless of miles.
I do not have experience with the all wheel drive systems, but there are fluids to change there as well. The AWD guys will have to chime in on that.
Keep in mind that a "normal" trans fluid change only replaces approx 1/3 of the fluid. There is a service bulletin that includes a software update
and changing the fluid 3 times. This is done if symtoms they call "juddering" are present. If you ever feel like you need all new fluid, you must do
the normal drain & fill three times with actual driving in between. Around the block is not enough, it must go through all the gears and the torque
converter must lock up, like when cruising down the highway.
It is very popular in other Honda/Acura engines that have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) to install a device to keep that from activating.
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda)
To your original question: Yes technically you are due for a timing belt. That said, I think you are not really playing with fire yet, unless you or the RDX
happen to live where it is very hot or very cold. They rarely break unless severly neglected. The tensioner will probably start making noise long before the belt breaks.
Last edited by egads; 01-01-2020 at 09:51 PM.
The following 4 users liked this post by egads:
acuratech481 (03-02-2020),
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01-01-2020, 10:26 PM
#3
The oil life is real, it will drop to 15% anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 miles usually. Once the oil life reaches 15%, the codes for other services show up.
There is a way to look at what services will be coming up, but I can't remember how right now. The service intervals are the same as a vehicle without oil life monitoring,
it just counts oil changes and sets codes based on how many there have been. So a 30k service is going to come up after the 4th oil change. The timing belt & spark plug codes
will come up after about 14 oil changes. What gets done to a Honda v-6 hasn't changed since it was introduced with the 1999 Odyssey. Only the way it tells you to do it has changed.
Here is what that was before oil life algorithms:
Oil change every 7500, along with a tire rotation and a look at brake pad wear.
Every 15k the obsessive do a normal drain & fill of the transmission fluid
Every 30k the cabin & engine oil filter gets replaced. This is also the new interval for a trans fluid change.
Every 45k is what the trans fluid change was.
The timing belt, tensioner, water pump, drive belt, & spark plugs get changed at 105k or 84 months.
The coolant lasts to 120k, but usually gets changed with the timing belt because the water pump is changed and the coolant needs
to be drained anyway. Many folks like to change the thermostat then as well. If you are not going to use a Honda one, don't bother.
The brake fluid gets changed every three years regardless of miles.
I do not have experience with the all wheel drive systems, but there are fluids to change there as well. The AWD guys will have to chime in on that.
Keep in mind that a "normal" trans fluid change only replaces approx 1/3 of the fluid. There is a service bulletin that includes a software update
and changing the fluid 3 times. This is done if symtoms they call "juddering" are present. If you ever feel like you need all new fluid, you must do
the normal drain & fill three times with actual driving in between. Around the block is not enough, it must go through all the gears and the torque
converter must lock up, like when cruising down the highway.
It is very popular in other Honda/Acura engines that have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) to install a device to keep that from activating.
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda)
To your original question: Yes technically you are due for a timing belt. That said, I think you are not really playing with fire yet, unless you or the RDX
happen to live where it is very hot or very cold. They rarely break unless severly neglected. The tensioner will probably start making noise long before the belt breaks.
There is a way to look at what services will be coming up, but I can't remember how right now. The service intervals are the same as a vehicle without oil life monitoring,
it just counts oil changes and sets codes based on how many there have been. So a 30k service is going to come up after the 4th oil change. The timing belt & spark plug codes
will come up after about 14 oil changes. What gets done to a Honda v-6 hasn't changed since it was introduced with the 1999 Odyssey. Only the way it tells you to do it has changed.
Here is what that was before oil life algorithms:
Oil change every 7500, along with a tire rotation and a look at brake pad wear.
Every 15k the obsessive do a normal drain & fill of the transmission fluid
Every 30k the cabin & engine oil filter gets replaced. This is also the new interval for a trans fluid change.
Every 45k is what the trans fluid change was.
The timing belt, tensioner, water pump, drive belt, & spark plugs get changed at 105k or 84 months.
The coolant lasts to 120k, but usually gets changed with the timing belt because the water pump is changed and the coolant needs
to be drained anyway. Many folks like to change the thermostat then as well. If you are not going to use a Honda one, don't bother.
The brake fluid gets changed every three years regardless of miles.
I do not have experience with the all wheel drive systems, but there are fluids to change there as well. The AWD guys will have to chime in on that.
Keep in mind that a "normal" trans fluid change only replaces approx 1/3 of the fluid. There is a service bulletin that includes a software update
and changing the fluid 3 times. This is done if symtoms they call "juddering" are present. If you ever feel like you need all new fluid, you must do
the normal drain & fill three times with actual driving in between. Around the block is not enough, it must go through all the gears and the torque
converter must lock up, like when cruising down the highway.
It is very popular in other Honda/Acura engines that have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) to install a device to keep that from activating.
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda)
To your original question: Yes technically you are due for a timing belt. That said, I think you are not really playing with fire yet, unless you or the RDX
happen to live where it is very hot or very cold. They rarely break unless severly neglected. The tensioner will probably start making noise long before the belt breaks.
The following users liked this post:
Infinite0180 (01-02-2020)
01-02-2020, 06:31 AM
#5
Instructor
I believe transfer case fluid and differential fluid are every 30k miles. Assuming your car is up to date on fluids, you should be ok until 60k miles. I wouldn't worry about the timing belt and tensioner until 105k.
01-02-2020, 12:40 PM
#7
Thanks! According to carfax, rear diff fluid was changed at 20k and the transmission fluid was changed at 25k. There is no mention of transfer case fluid change, is that something they typically change out when they do the diff or trans fluid? Trying to figure out what i should have taken care of this year...
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01-03-2020, 06:28 AM
#8
Instructor
Thanks!
Thanks! According to carfax, rear diff fluid was changed at 20k and the transmission fluid was changed at 25k. There is no mention of transfer case fluid change, is that something they typically change out when they do the diff or trans fluid? Trying to figure out what i should have taken care of this year...
Thanks! According to carfax, rear diff fluid was changed at 20k and the transmission fluid was changed at 25k. There is no mention of transfer case fluid change, is that something they typically change out when they do the diff or trans fluid? Trying to figure out what i should have taken care of this year...
The following users liked this post:
Infinite0180 (01-03-2020)
01-03-2020, 03:19 PM
#9
Advanced
It is very popular in other Honda/Acura engines that have Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) to install a device to keep that from activating.
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda).
In our Acuras, the VCM activation/deactivation is very smooth unlike some older Honda products. But if you plan to keep this RDX for a long time,
it is worth exploring. Those devices are called Muzzlers and all trick the engine management system into thinking the engine is not quite warmed
up enough to allow the cylinders to shut down. They vary from a simple resistor (cheap) to the top two (S-VCM & VCM Muzzler II) over $100. that
automatically adjust themselves and even turn themselves off completely is the engine should actually overheat. (pretty rare in a Honda).
01-03-2020, 03:43 PM
#10
In some of the engines with this feature, the rings allow oil by during cylinder shut down. The plugs foul and set misfire codes.
It was so bad that Honda extended the warranty on certain vehicles and is tearing down the engines to replace the piston rings.
There are now reports of engines newer than than the warranty extension ones showing symptoms.
In early versions on Odysseys, Pilot, and Ridgelines. (maybe the MDX as well?) the cylinder shut down would tear up the engine mounts.
The issues with the automatic transmissions "juddering" can sometime coincide with cylinder shut down/restart and make diagnosis of that harder.
Remember, this hare brained idea mostly helps Honda meet their corporate average fuel economy rating, it barely makes a difference in fuel economy for individual vehicles.
As I sort of said above, the RDX and probably the MDX are probably as good as VCM ever got. But you don't have to have it if you like having all 6 cylinders all the time.
It was so bad that Honda extended the warranty on certain vehicles and is tearing down the engines to replace the piston rings.
There are now reports of engines newer than than the warranty extension ones showing symptoms.
In early versions on Odysseys, Pilot, and Ridgelines. (maybe the MDX as well?) the cylinder shut down would tear up the engine mounts.
The issues with the automatic transmissions "juddering" can sometime coincide with cylinder shut down/restart and make diagnosis of that harder.
Remember, this hare brained idea mostly helps Honda meet their corporate average fuel economy rating, it barely makes a difference in fuel economy for individual vehicles.
As I sort of said above, the RDX and probably the MDX are probably as good as VCM ever got. But you don't have to have it if you like having all 6 cylinders all the time.
The following users liked this post:
Infinite0180 (01-03-2020)
01-04-2020, 03:33 PM
#11
From my point of view (multiple past and current owner of VCM equipped Hondas / Acuras)...I would ask why would anyone NOT WANT TO run on all 6 cylinders all the time? In my opinion, VCM is a really poor "tack on" technology" Honda rolled out a little over 10 years ago in a effort attain their Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) threshold. It's worth mentioning the warranty extension on those early VCM vehicles (1st gen Ridgeline not included as it did not have VCM) was a result of Honda losing a huge class action lawsuit.
Possible downsides to VCM? Oil consumption, oil-coated mis-firing spark plugs, and drivability issues. Further, to counteract the engine's imbalance when running on 3 cylinders...Honda created and installed computer controlled (read really expensive) engine mounts which also have demonstrated reliability issues over time.
Upsides to VCM? 1-2 MPG at most highway miles in most user's experience.
I've lived with the oil consumption and drivability issues in previous VCM equipped Hondas...so I happily installed S-VCM Controller in my wife's 13 RDX-Tech AWD to avert those problems now and in the future. When I bought the RDX in early 2018 with ~55k miles on it...it drove like a pig going up thru the gears and constantly shuddered with the engaging / disengaging of VCM on the highway. A 3x drain/fill with Valvoline MaxLife synthetic ATF and installation of S-VCM Controller cured all that and to this day it drives like a small 270 horse premium SUV ought.
Possible downsides to VCM? Oil consumption, oil-coated mis-firing spark plugs, and drivability issues. Further, to counteract the engine's imbalance when running on 3 cylinders...Honda created and installed computer controlled (read really expensive) engine mounts which also have demonstrated reliability issues over time.
Upsides to VCM? 1-2 MPG at most highway miles in most user's experience.
I've lived with the oil consumption and drivability issues in previous VCM equipped Hondas...so I happily installed S-VCM Controller in my wife's 13 RDX-Tech AWD to avert those problems now and in the future. When I bought the RDX in early 2018 with ~55k miles on it...it drove like a pig going up thru the gears and constantly shuddered with the engaging / disengaging of VCM on the highway. A 3x drain/fill with Valvoline MaxLife synthetic ATF and installation of S-VCM Controller cured all that and to this day it drives like a small 270 horse premium SUV ought.
01-08-2020, 06:46 AM
#12
So it looks like the dealer did an oil change when it was traded in. It appears to have been about 5000 miles earlier than necessary, i imagine they reset the MID early as well when they did this. Will that throw off my service codes for the future or is the car smart enough to adjust for it?
01-08-2020, 12:50 PM
#13
I really don't know, but I will say that, as you described it, it's a creampuff. Very well taken care of. Nothing missed so far.
I doubt that, even if off by 5000 miles, any maintenance item would matter by being done a that late. Including the the timing belt.
Stop worrying and start enjoying.
If, in the future, you experience some weird jerking, just know that there is a software update for the trans, trans fluid needs to be changed regularly (like all Hondas)
And you can Muzzle the VCM it bothers you. The only thing that seems weird to some of us is the downshift you get when deacelerating from a blvd into your tract.
It is apparently completely normal, just different from older Honda automatics that would only do that if you were stepping on the brakes going downhill.
I doubt that, even if off by 5000 miles, any maintenance item would matter by being done a that late. Including the the timing belt.
Stop worrying and start enjoying.
If, in the future, you experience some weird jerking, just know that there is a software update for the trans, trans fluid needs to be changed regularly (like all Hondas)
And you can Muzzle the VCM it bothers you. The only thing that seems weird to some of us is the downshift you get when deacelerating from a blvd into your tract.
It is apparently completely normal, just different from older Honda automatics that would only do that if you were stepping on the brakes going downhill.
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Infinite0180 (01-08-2020)
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