I've had my 14 RDX Tech for almost three months, 2300 miles.
In the last week or so I've noticed a pretty big jerk going from reverse to drive. It was definitely not there before. It feels like a lunge forward. Has anyone experienced this, can't be a transmission problem this early?? ( I had this on a 81 Malibu years ago, and was told by dealer "it's just the way these cars are") This can't be the case on this car? Thanks for any input.

 

Does it always do it or only when the engine's cold like when you first start in the morning? When started from cold, the engine will idle a bit faster than normal which could cause an abrupt shift from R to D. If it got colder about the time you noticed it, that might be it and is normal. Are you coming to a complete, dead stop before shifting? A rolling shift could also be a factor.

 

Thanks, it really is worse in am when leaving. It's in the 50's here in Mn. So hopefully it won't be worse when it's below zero. Definitely am completely stopped before shifting, I purposely stop longer than normal to see if it improves it but it doesn't. Might be worth a service call.

 

Check the engine RPM when you start it in the morning. If it's up around 1200-1500 rpm when you shift, it will probably be kind of abrupt. I believe that warm idle is around 600-800 RPM. When you go from R to D, pause a second in N and then shift to D and see if it's any better.

 

I noticed the higher revs, a lunge with a creaking noise, when shifting from R to D this past winter especially after the car was parked a long while. Once the weather got warmer it stopped. Still warm in N. FL but am waiting to see if this a normal occurrence during colder weather.

 

I usually notice that lunge when going from P to D on cold starts

 

The AWD RDX I test drove a year ago did that too, felt like the rear clunking, salesman didn't know why it did that, but it was a loud "clunk" noise coming from the rear diff and a forward jolt when it engaged, made it feel like some 4WD system from 25 years ago.
I would replace the rear diff fluid, cheap if you can do it yourself, might help.

 

Ours does the same thing. The RDX really doesn't have a well defined cold idle then idle down. It seems like it's a slow idle down to 800 or so but it takes forever. I wish this was programmable. The Landrover and my Volvo have a well defined 10 second high idle then down to normal. The RDX does NOT like to be moved during high idle.