tinmaner

i have owned the vehicle for 2 + years now ( bought new ) and experienced this vibration on 2nd or 3rd day but didnt pay much attention ..

so the problem is rdx 2018 tech is super smooth till upto 75 mph and then once it gets to 80mph vibrations are very noticable in the steering..
i got the wheel allignment done and wheel balancing and rotation done ( wheels are out of balance they said and balanced them) but the vibration still persists ..


is this a common thing in 2018 Acura RDX vehicles ? or did i hit the jackpot ? what else could it be ? cant believe its cause of load of the vehicle with its massive 3.6 liter engine

Alex Medeiros

When's the last time you got an allignment? Also, does your steering wheel vibrate at all when you hit the brakes? There could also be a dent in one or more of the rims...

tinmaner

i got the alignment and wheel balance and rotation about a cpl weeks ago .. the vibration is there before and after the work ..

yes the steering wheel vibrates ( more like shakes) when braking at high speeds ..


so this is not common ? rdx normally wont vibrate at around 80mph ?

tinmaner

no one with rdx drives over 80 mph ?

Alex Medeiros

If the steering wheel is vibrating when you are braking, that tells me that you might have warped rotors.

DUCRDX

I have no such issue. Why would you think this is a common occurrence on any typical vehicle? The only vehicle that vibrates like crazy beyond a certain speed in my experience has been an M113 armored personnel carrier. Anything over 35mph on that thing and it felt like the tracks were going to fly off. Top speed is about 40 on that thing, max.

How about you move both front tires to the rears and see if it feels the same?

dtownfb

I have a 2017 Acura RDX (Technology/AWD) with 40k miles; bought used about 3 weeks ago. No vibration at 80+ mph; some vibrating when braking from high speeds.

You didn't mention how many miles are on your vehicle and if maintenance is up to date. Also what tires do you have on your vehicle (brand and speed rating)? And what pressure do you keep the tires? How many miles on your tires?

Anytime you have a high speed vibration, you start with the tires especially in a newer car. Tires can go out-of-balance with wear which is why I asked so many questions about your tires.

Being a 2018, I'm assuming you are under 50k miles and still covered under warranty?

NBP04TL4ME

If you had an alignment and tires balanced a couple of weeks back and you still had the vibration - you should have gone back to the shop that did the work as they didn't solve the issue you paid for. Like others said if you are getting a vibration or is worse when braking you may need to have your rotors turned. It may be a combination of tires being out of balance and warped rotors but you need to tackle them one at a time.
I would highly recommend finding someone who has a Hunter Road Force balancer to properly balance your tires.

tinmaner

i drive very less .. owned the vehicle for over 2 years and it has only 10k miles on it .. but as i mentioned this issue has been there from Day 3 .. in the hindsight yes i should have gone to the dealer during first month itself ... but as i go long distances ( around 4+ hour drives) Only few times a year and this didnt seem soo bothersome..
maintenance is all good i take it to the dealer when ever the car asks for it or every 6 - 8 months for oil change.
tires on the car are stock tires Michellin i believe and rated for 130 mph ..

and half the time there is snow on road so wont exceed 80 mph .. its smooth as butter till i hit 80 and then starts vibrating .. not to the point its annoying but its there

side question if it is the warped rotors are they very evident during regular service time and are they covered under warranty.

tinmaner

i got the wheel balance done at firestone and they said they use hunter roadforcing balancing to do wheel balance but only spins it at about 40mph not more ...

well i just setup an appointment with dealer tomm .. would see if it resolves the issue

Clickit02

Few years back I had a car that I purchased CPO and it was driving buttery smooth at any speed. After couple-three years of driving I found the same issue as you have - no smoothness and slight vibration at high speed, and especially while braking at high speed. Not terrible, but annoying enough.
I went trough balancing tires, checking rims (one actually was bent a bit and I had to fix it). Nothing! The whole issue went away after I replaced all rotors and pads. I did not see vibration issue while braking as slower speed, but apparently slight rotor distortion was enough to cause non-smooth ride.

tinmaner

probably had to go thru the same route would have the rotors checked tomm ...
what gets to me is its present on a brand new vehicle when i bought it in 2018 .. should have paid more attention ..
hope it doesnt cause any permanent damage after driving that way for 2+ years ..


i came from a 2.0 Turbo mini cooper and it used to do the same at 90mph but thats cause of its engine limitation or so i thought ..

Clickit02

This issue is hard to detect as most people do not drive at 80mph, at least during a test drive. Also, it is not as pronounced as typical shimmy (out of balance tires that is obvious at 65mph).

dtownfb

Let us know what the dealer reports.

hongthan

My 2017 RDX advance runs super smooth at around 80mph. You might have out of round tires if alignment is ok. it happened to my Toyota sienna goodyear tire (only 10k miles on it). Another possibility is bent control arm (if you hit curb by accident)

tinmaner

nope im the only one that drives the car and been so from when the odo meter is 25 or so miles ..
no hitting any potholes or curbs at all .. only one or twice may have driven over the road cuts ( the patch that drops like a step when doing road work) but nothing more than that

Clickit02

There is one more possibility: one of the tires may have belt shifted or separated. Perhaps balancing on Hunter machine can detect.

Alex Medeiros

Plus on newer cars it's not as common. Before I found my '13 RDX, every FWD Acura that was from 2013 or older that I looked at almost always had serious vibration issues in the front.

tinmaner

well Update --
so i took it to the dealer this morning and had them check everything ( atleast they said they checked it, i hate the service advisors at acura they just say anything that comes to their mind i feel like )
and everything seems to be perfect except a little rust on the rotors cause i dont drive much ( as per them).

then i asked them to do the wheel balance one more time ( last one was done cpl weeks ago at fire stone), acura peeps did find that the wheels are out of balance and added weights again ... charged me )

good news is i was able to hit the speed for only a few seconds on my way home .. but i do feel the issue might be resolved now

will keep this thread posted

Alex Medeiros

Just make sure you drive at those speeds for a bit, so that you can test what they did. The rust that you get on the rotors is perfectly normal. It's just surface rust and will come off after you drive and use your brakes a few times.

NBP04TL4ME

Sounds good and if the vibration is finally gone, it makes the incremental hit to the wallet a little easier to deal with.

+1^

tinmaner

yes i have to hold it at that speed to see if the issue is gone

ohhh about the wallet i have to talk to Firestone ..even if its only a little to get the wheels balanced i hate paying for work they didnt complete properly .. and also they added scuff marks on the rims with the wrench while getting the balance done ..

Alex Medeiros

That stinks. It'd be a good idea to see what they say. I stopped going to my local Firestone after they buchered my allignment last time I went. My steering wheel was like 30 degrees of to the left...

NBP04TL4ME

IMHO - you are much better off with an independent shop or if you can establish a good relationship with the dealer than an outfit like Firestone. Tell me I am wrong, but I see them as "fast food" repair shops and the staff turns over somewhat regularly. Perhaps they aren't as bad as a Jiffy Lube type of place, but I steer clear of them.
I worked for a small business that had a delivery van that developed a lack of power issue. Boss brought it to Firestone and they had it three days and they finally gave up and surrendered It could no longer be started and had to be towed out of the Firestone bay to the local dealer. Dealer fixed it the following day after replacing parts Firestone had damaged. I have horror stories from Jiffy Lube type places as well..............


PS - Alex send me a PM if you want the name of a solid mechanic in the Norwood - SE Mass area. I used him for years before relocating to VA.

Alex Medeiros

I appreciate it. My family has a friend of many years who has been doing work on our cars for years upon years. He's got a shop in Lynn MA and he recently did the rear brakes & calipers in addition to the right rear caliper for under $500. It took him around two hours and we were happy.

tinmaner

completely agree ..
the only reason i use Firestone is their lifetime alignment thing with dicounts i got it for $160 .. for the life of the vehicle ..

wheel balancing i thought may be they could but yes all other stuff including oil change i go to dealer when the vehicle is under warranty and a local mechanic once warranty is done..


any one here from Chicago ?

Clickit02

PM me. I know Acura certified mechanic in Libertyville who opened his onw shop few year ago.

egads

I have heard stories like this. The issue is going back to the same tire store for a balance. It does no good if their machine is broken. Try another store. This exact thing happened to a user on another forum. He kept going back for a rebalance to the same place. Frustrated, while out of town visiting family, he took the car to the same brand store for his lifetime balance. Fixed! It was a bad machine all along.
The tire store with the broken machine probably did not even know. Most of their customers do not drive aggressively or pay much attention. But a Honda/Acura will let the observant know of a tire issue right away. I remember taking off on a Sunday drive in my wife's Odyssey once. Something just did not feel right. Stopped a the first gas station and one of the front tires was a couple of pounds off. I could feel that.

tinmaner

yes i drove long distance yesterday and was able to hold above the problem speed and wow what a difference ..
car is smooth even at such speeds like it doesnt care about the load at all .. cant believe i drove the vehicle with off balance wheels for over 2 years hmmmm ...

the issue seems to be finally resolved .. Acura dealer did an awesome job with the wheel balance i should say ..

meburdick

I bought a 2006 TL new and brought it back to the dealership two or three times for a very slight vibration similar to what you had described felt at highway speeds. They were able to reduce it, but never completely eliminate it. On my final return visit for the same issue, the service department manager asked the service writer about the ticket and then asked "Why are we continuing to try and fix this? Swap his wheels with the take-off's that we have from the other brand new TL and call it done."

Problem never returned. I recount this story simply to show that wheel balancing on these cars has to be about perfect and sometimes the exact combination of a tire and wheel will make it almost impossible to achieve the correct level of road force (I believe the TL required under 8lbs of force? that seems to stick in my mind...) to result is smooth rotation.

Glad you seem to have gotten it sorted.

tinmaner

yes the issue is completely gone .. i am amazed how it stayed for 2 years and now the car feels like a newer car haha ..
i would make sure to make the wheels and tires road force balanced by who ever i buy my next tires from ..

tinmaner

and the vibration is back (shaking my head)

meburdick

Anything in the tire treads? Is the wheel completely clean? Any chance you threw a weight?

NBP04TL4ME

Back to the dealer.............

tinmaner

such a waste of time and they say everything is fine ..

i had them check rotors and tierods and suspension and they say everything looks good ..
vehicle only has 10k miles ..

and this happening only over 80mph is making them say tech cant drive at those speeds due to safety concerns ..

NBP04TL4ME

Some of this is typical from a dealer especially one who isn't vesting in solving the issue and driving > 80 is illegal so hard to fault them for that, but I understand your frustration and perdicament. Have you tried rotating the tires to see if the vibration moves or is more or less noticeable? As mentioned it's possible you have thrown one of the newly placed counterweights or you have a defect in one of your tires? Perhaps the dealer will swap out a set of tires and rims from a similar model they have on the lot???
You mentioned the steering wheel "shakes" when braking from higher speeds - have the rotors been turned? You mentioned the dealer said they look fine but has anyone put a micrometer on them?

Alex Medeiros

You should take one of the employees from the dealership on a test drive to show them the issue. If you can, let them drive and they'll know what you're experiencing.

meburdick

Ask them for the road balance numbers.... And ask them what Acura states is desirable and what is acceptable. Ask if they unmounted the tires, rotated them on the rims, and remounted them. Did they swap any tires from one rim to another. When you're dealing with something that needs very low road force numbers to be smooth, wrong combinations will cause problems.

dtownfb

Since the issue was fixed with balancing, you know it's a tire issue. Yo can keep getting the tires balanced but I have a feeling the same this will continue to happen; smooth drive for a couple days and then back to the vibration. At this point, you have 2 options: 1) get new tires; 2) drive under 80 mph.

Ask the dealer about prorating your tires for new tires. I'm assuming you still have good tread so you should get a good amount for a new set.

Good luck.

tinmaner

yes im thinking the same thing ..
i have 10k miles on them now ..
and i cant even drive over 60 during winter anyways .. so when summer comes next year ill get new tires and. call it a day ..

thanks Buddy