20RDX15

Sorry I have not updated. They ended replacing the drive shaft per tsb for 2013-14 models. It has helped quite a bit, but vibration is still there from vcm. I am thankful we leased ours, only 34 months left. How sad is that?

sumoto

Thanks for the feedback, That's not good to hear. So the TSB is only for 13-14's? It sounds as if the driveshaft is a different design and should already be on 15's. While this is good, if there's still an inherent issue, This may very well be a problem.

On another note, When we test drove the RDX, I noticed no height adjustments on the passenger seat which left me feeling like I was sitting on a bucket. I checked into this and there doesn't appear to be a option to add this feature and the Tech package(Something I don't need) doesn't appear to add it either.

While I understand 16's will offer this feature although only if you add the Tech package at much greater $$ expense. We drive our vehicles a lot(121K in 4.7 years) and the omission of this feature on the basic RDX basically removes me from the RDX purchase pool unless it can be added via dealer installment.

I'm going to look at and drive the Lexus RX350 next, hopefully this will offer what I'm looking for.
Motoretro

20RDX15

Well after tsb 14-001 being performed on our 2015 RDX awd at 457 miles and 1500 miles more on the odometer our severe vibration at 50-65 mph is back. Have another appointment on Monday for the problem. Lovely since that is why I bought a new car. 33 more months. 33 more months..

sumoto

Good luck with the issue. With the manufacturing capabilities today, It really doesn't seem like these vehicles should experiencing problems like this.
Sumoto

brocksolid

Just noticed this vibration on my '14 this morning. I am going to call the dealer to address this TSB while I still have bumper 2 bumper warranty.

brocksolid

propeller shaft is being replaced under bumper 2 bumper warranty.
Hoping this fixes it.

mindanalyzer

With this replacement the vehicle will certainly improve but it will always have the VCM subtle vibration as a faithful companion [nature of the beast at 3 cylinders]

hovbuild

We have a 14 with 18000 miles on it. Today was a good day to see if I had this problem, 20 degrees. I ran down the highway varying speeds and getting the vcm to engage and disengage at different speeds. No vibrations whatsoever so far.

dirleton

You can tell when the VCM is engaging/disengaging?

hovbuild

Look at your milage indicator if you can't feel it. It kicks in when you go down hill and when you go up a hill it usually disengages. You can do the same lightly playing with the throttle.

snorf

I feel the VCM engaging/disengaging all the time. In town driving at 38-39 mph it is a constant off and on, but I feel it at plenty of other times, as well.

thephantom

Everyone, do me a favor. When the engine is still fairly "cold" within 10 minutes of driving in cold weather, please try accelerating fully, especially on an incline (uphill) and see if the vibration is present. I noticed that a few times in my RDX and I've already replaced the propeller shaft. I think there may be a engine mount issue or vibration produced by the engine under full acceleration.

I'd love to hear your findings.

inmydream316

my 2016 RDX AWD seems like having VCM vibration as well but i feel it when i am reaching to 80 mph on highway. i dont feel vibration at local speed up to 60 mph.
my mileage is now reading 14xxx. i will just see how it goes til spring comes if weather relate.

any 2016 owners have this issue as well?

Danny Boy

I have 3K km on my 2016. Other than shifting in and out gears I don't notice any vibration. The gear shifting happens when I slow down to traffic lights or during a slight up hill. The shifting is very smooth though. I am not sure if that is caused by VCM .

I have driven it on highways for short distance and have not noticed anything.

inmydream316

sorry about late update.
i stopped by dealership and they found out my front driver side wheel is slightly bent!! they ordered new wheel and they put that wheel to rear and vibration is reduced. i guess i gotta be careful with pot hole!!!

andysinnh

I've tried to pay attention over the last week to whether I feel any vibrations under any of the circumstances you've described - both when cold and after being warmed up - and I feel nothing. Smooth all the time. Mine was a '15 that was built in Feb 2015 - one of the last months of 2015 production before they started building the '16's. So not sure if that means anything or not...

andy

Alex Bartlett

Big thanks to this forum and all of these posts.

I just bought a used 2013 RDX and noticed the vibration right away.

It felt like a standard transmission car that was being shifted at too low of an rpm...all the time.

Very annoying.
Have not had the car for two weeks yet but since there is still a warranty in place and because of what I found on this forum I brought it into Downtown Acura Toronto and they kept the car, tested overnight and
replaced the propeller/driveshaft.

Before doing the work they said it was the VCM and that I should not expect too much of a change.
They called afterwards and said that the difference was remarkable and it is.

Thanks again. Car feels entirely normal now.
The comments and information that I found here were extremely helpful.

mindanalyzer

It always bugged me that in my limited ownership of the 13 RDX w/ tech (19 months), when I complained of the vibrations (at least 4 times, that I remember), the foreman would confirm it with a test drive every single time; they would 'check' the vehicle and attribute it to out of balance tires, performing a road force balance -> also resetting the VCM. After the 3rd time I was like "what is wrong with this? I have never owned a vehicle whose tires get out of balance so easily ...!!!"
A month or so down the line the vibration would return again with vengeance ... So basically they never owned the situation and never admitted that the design was flawed. I decided that I did not want to keep a vehicle whose makers behave like an ostrich; On a second thought, I don't really blame the service dept staff, there is no much they can do apart from following the BS protocol that comes from Acura HQ

Thermos

Looks like my '13 RDX with 49K miles is joining the VCM-related judder club. It just started happening within the last thousand miles. More pronounced with the colder temperatures. I did the test of disconnecting the 'rear rocker arm oil pressure switch connector' in the engine bay, which disabled VCM. The judder had gone away ..

Now I'm finding myself looking into S-VCM Controller and VCMuzzler II solutions to disable the damn feature (Safely). What a shame that something that's supposed to beneficial in a way is causing other failures down the road and these will likely cost way more to repair than the fuel savings.

Tech

Do you have a pic of where that is located or is it that obvious?

It would have been simpler if Acura has a switch on the dash that would enable or disable the VCM system. At the moment, my engine is running ultra smooth so I can't tell if it is engaged or not.

Brown13

Service Bulletin 14-001 shows the location.Running with this unplugged for about 10 miles, will throw a CEL . http://www.urvi.net/forumfiles/SB/B14-001.PDF

E.G.P.

Hi everyone,
I bought in January AKURA RDX AWD Tech 2017m.y. (do not be surprised - we have this model with a 3.0 liter engine and 249 horsepower, all other options - are maximum)
Now the mileage is 1750 km. It's frosty outside. And I've already caught this vibration twice.
At the same time, the car loses power and is very poorly accelerated.
I'll be with the dealer next Thursday. I think it will not be easy for me to talk to them - we have very small number of RDX on the roads((

But I hope to solve the problem! The result I will inform you.

E.G.P.

Acc20yrs

There is a disabling tool called S-VCM. I just ordered mine. I've had the vibration since I took delivery of the vehicle four years ago. Always bugged me but I didn't want to deal with the service department at Acura. We'll see how it works...