Mikey Dallas

OK, this is a bit embarrising, but I bought my RDX 5 weeks ago and just noticed on the readout that all the tires had been inflated by the dealer to 46 psi. I just lowered them all to 33 psi and now the car seems to be pulling to the right. This was not happening before. Could running for 1500 miles at such a high pressure have damaged the tires causing the pull. Any thoughts are appreciated. And yeah, I know I am an idiot for not noticing this before.

Dorsey

This indicates an inadequate dealer predelivery inspection and I would burn them on the Acura satisfaction survey if you have not yet taken it or if they do a followup. I do not think it hurt your tires and certainly did not hurt your alignment or suspension. My daughter had the same thing happen when she bought new tires at one of the big chains. I did not catch it until I visited her some months later and there were no issues. Take it back and I am sure they will align it for free and make sure there are no defects in the steering.

weather

Mike....Is it pulling on every single roads or did you notice it once after you adjusted the tie pressure? The reason I ask is that some roads are not perfectly level and are designed to slope toward the ditch to allow water to drain from it. If ALL tires were equal before, it shouldn't have done too much damage to the wear of the. Do you see any evidence of poor wear on the the edge of the tires?

Bring this to the attention of the dealership and see if they will do anything about it although it could be a tough one to prove....they might give you the "you must have put additional air in the tires after you drove off the lot" or the "how do we know there was 46 psi in the tires". Keep us posted and hope its nothing serious....

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

I do not believe that running those tires at a higher pressure would have caused an alignment issue. One thing...along the lines of what weather was talking about....you are just not used to the tire pressure being back to normal.

I learned this lesson a long time ago....about a dealer not checking the tire pressure. Guess what I did when I picked up my RDX 2 weeks ago?????
I took my calibrated tire gauge with me.....and, before I left the lot I checked the tires!! They were OK...but, still too high for my liking. So, I dropped them a tad before I drove off. And, that way on my 60 plus mile drive home I knew the tires were where I wanted them to be....and thus could evaluate how the RDX handled.

Tip for those still waiting to pick your new RDX up....or any new car.

The car I talked about earlier where I learned this lesson.....had 50 psi in all 4! Driving home I realized the car rode VERY HARD and the hood was bouncing like crazy. I checked the TP as soon as I got home.
That pressure...on a Japan built car was the "shipping pressure" when they were on the boat coming to the U.S. I had complained to the dealer and let them know that someone was not doing their job.

yojcboy

What is the recommended psi on RDX? Also, is RDX made in USA?

Mikey Dallas

Thanks for all the help. When I took the car back out today to test drive it, the pulling issue was gone. I can only surmise that the tires needed to "settle" a bit as the psi levels had all changed a bit from when i lowered them yesterday. Or, as others suggest, I was not used to the new pressure on not level roads. Either way, it seems to be solved.
As for the dealer, when my car was delivered from make ready they brought it out and it had several small scratches on the roof and plastic trim. They said it must have happened when it was unloaded from the truck that brought it but had no excuse for why such noticable scrathes had escaped the make ready guys. They had to take it back in and work on it for three hours. When they returned it to me, it looked great so I accepted it, but was amazed they would send it out noticably damaged. I did mention this on the survey, but did not know about the tire pressure issue at the time, so that was not part of it. The dealer is David McDavid Acura of Plano.

weather

Mike Dallas....Happy to see everything is back to normal I agree that its funny how some dealers don't seem to treat the cars with as much care and attention as we, owners, do. I guess for them, a car is just that, a mean to generate revenue...for most of us, they are a passion and our pride and joy I don't have kids so for me, my cars are my babies *lol*

BobBass

Just out of interest - does Acura have a pre-delivery checklist where the prep techs check off various areas and features of their vehicles? You know it's a mere formality in most dealerships and probably a PIA for the techs, but it sure would be interesting to see if somebody checked "tire pressure" on a list like that.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Every new car that I know of...and have been a part of, which is many..........the first few pages of the Maint. Log that is provided within the "new car manual package"......has every check list item that the PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) service tech has to to check out and initial and then signed on the final page. All of us have that in our book. I checked over mine to see just what the Acura list looked like. It's a few pages for sure.

Also, these techs have to be Certified by Acura before they can do this type of work. It includes all the functions of the vehicle....driving it, etc. IF anyone has not looked at it...I invite everyone to do so. During the first week or so of ownership and something goes wrong that is on that checklist...and it was initiatled, then, besides a Warranty repair you can also talk to the Serv. Mgr. and point out that just maybe....the tech didn't do his/her job correctly.

I don't know about other motor corporations....but, I do know this...Honda Motor Corp. mandates that the PDI tech be trained, tested, and certified. My Honda dealership, where I bought 5 new vehicles, I know had 2 dedicated techs to PDI all new vehicles. Then when slow....based on their other certifications, would do other tasks, like Accessories installation. They have to be certified to do that by Honda Motor Corp. also.

Mikey Dallas

I do have one of those. It shows checks for tire pressure and body scratches or dents checked as all good. Not too happy. This dealership prides itself on great customer service. The people in the make ready dept. clearly did not do their jobs.

FWAcura

Interesting. They noticed that the tire pressure on my RDX was too high as the salesman was giving me the walk-thru the night I took delivery. It got adjusted before I left.

I'm curious- why do they overinflated the tires at the plant?

Dorsey

I can think of three reasons. The first is to "set the bead" which are at the edges of the tire that goes against the inside of the rim. It may have some small advantage in finding any leaks that occur before delivery as the higher pressure would be more prone to leak. Finally, it creates less body movement during shipping. The clearance on the bottom level of transport trailers is fairly small and they don't want the car to rock into the side of the trailer. BTW, I doubt they mount the tire at the plant. At the highly automated assembly plants I have toured the tires and wheel come from the supplier as a unit. I am sure they spec them to be overinflated on purpose for one of the above reasons.

yojcboy

What tire pressure do you guys have? Mine is 41, is it a bit high?

Dorsey

41 is a bit much even hot. I run mine 35 cold which is about 37 after highway driving in the Florida heat.

weather

I have mine set on 35 PSI (cold) as well.....

RDXAWD

If I am serious in buying the vehicle, I bring a digital tire pressure gauge and make sure all 4s are inflated to the recommended pressure before I test drive. A bit dorky but you'll be surprised at what you found. It also changes the ride and handling impressions of the car if the tire pressure is not correct.

Recommended pressure usually can be found opening the driver's door. Just a guideline but this is at least something that will not trip the TPMS.

As for delivery list, sometimes dealerships just kind of "check" them off on the paper and get you on your way!

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

I thought I was reading my earlier post here....just go back a few and this is exactly what I suggested for folks to do. When I picked up my RDX I had my calibrated gage with me...and checked all four...adjusted as needed before I left the lot. I guess you don't read all the posts. Some are pretty informative!!

Plagiarizing......LOL!! Just kidding...so moderators don't go off with your point deductions.

smarty666

Just curious, I was planning on doing 34 or 35 PSI cold in each of the four tires. Does this sound right to everybody else? I know the door sill says 33 PSI cold but I usually do 1 or 2 above that.

weather

^^^ I also do 35 PSI cold and have not noticed any deterioration of the ride, handling or tire wear by doing so. 1 or 2 PSI more than the recommended value is nothing to get worried about. You will be fine...as will your RDX .

hawkeye62

I think the tire pressure recommended by manufacturers is to give a soft ride, A few pounds more will usually give better tire wear.

Good luck, Jim

GRDX

Source: Service Bulletin 12-009

2013 RDX: TQI and New Model Service Information
Dated March 20, 2012 Revised June 26, 2012

CoachRick

This is good to know; however, I think the RDXs in August and Sept. were going out as soon as the paint was dry and MINE was taken directly from the truck to PDI. I'm guessing less than a week from Ohio finish to Austin dealer . Not much time for flat-spotting!

I've noticed our RDX shows 40,41,42(variously) as the running temp for our tires...same as our XC60 tires of the same size and recommended pressure. Certainly, a cold reading of 40+ isn't indicated unless running fully loaded, but a cold 35-36 showing 40-42 seems about right for the 235-60/18s. Our XC didn't have pressure read-outs, just low-pressure warnings. My manual gauge readings showed the 40+ pressures at operating temps(when the cold readings were +-36).

I'm going to check the cold readings in the AM tomorrow, just to get a baseline cold(70ish F) reading, just in case.

Thanks for the official info .

Dorsey

I love the individual readouts. One thing I have noticed is that with all 4 set at 35 psi cold, the front tires are generally 1 or 2 pounds higher than the rear after driving. I suspect it is a combination of more weight on them and the heat from the front brakes which are bigger and work harder.

GRDX

That sounds about right. It may be of interest to know that I found when I park outside either the left or right side is in the sun all day while the other side is in the shade. I find the cold pressure readings are one or two PSI higher on the sunny side than the side in the shade after sitting all day. Would be a good idea to make sure when setting the cold tire pressure that the sun is not an influence.