Here's the issue;

Cold weather, car sitting outside all day. Get in, foot on brake, start car. Engine revs a bit higher due to cold weather, which is normal. Shift into reverse to back out of parking spot, slightly let off brake and the RDX lurches back immediately, I slam on brake so I don't take off at 30mph backwards.

This really startled my wife and I the first few times it has happened. It almost feels that wont be able to stop the car. This reminds me of the Audi situation many years ago with sudden acceleration and people driving through the front of their garages, just backwards.

Anyone else experience this?

 

After just one month of driving I have never experienced this. It would scare me silly. Get it checked out.

 

I predict your prediction will be incorrect.

Here's a thought. Rather than putting the car in reverse while it is in high idle (which is hard on the transmission by itself) either let the car warm up sufficiently so that it kicks into regular idle or blip the accelerator to goose it into regular idle. If the car is cold, you should really let it warm up, if only for a few seconds. That is better for the car and getting it out of high idle should help resolve your reverse lurch situation.

 

I will agree with the OP, that when you first start the 13 RDX on a cold morning and go to put it in gear, even 5 to 10 seconds after starting, the car does lurch forward, and it can be unsettling at first. Two other 13 RDX I tested did the same thing. My wife's 2011 Oddyssey Touring van with the same engine and 6spd automatic doesn't do this at all. I do agree with you, that you just wait slightly longer till the idle drops. However I had an Infiniti EX35 prior that was the opposite, that when you first started it on a cold morning and put it in Drive it would almost stall out.. sometimes it rarely would. Dealer could never duplicate it, LOL!

 

I have experienced this too. It only occurs on high idle during cold starts. Have any of you got your cars looked at by the dealer?

 

i thought this was normal with all cars? I mean if the car has been shut off for 6+ hours over night, it just seems natural to let the car warm up a little

 

Yes, it`s normal for the revs to be high on idle, but pay attention to it next time when it`s cold enough. You may notice that the car lurches forward quite unexpectedly when going from Park to Drive, and releasing the brakes.

 

ive experienced the issue, but im sure its because the vehicle wasnt warmed up enough

 

My car does the same thing when the idle is high in cold weather. Even my old 07 RDX used to do it. I think it's normal.

 

Please don't let your car idle more than a minute or so as you will cause unnecessary pollution. Key is to release brake slowly and drive gently... Here's an article explaining why it doesn't make a difference... http://www.cartalk.com/content/do-ca...inter-mornings

 

I think you're missing the point. When cold, if you don't warm up the car to the point that the idle speed drops you stand the chance of shifting into gear and having the vehicle lurch as though you are stomping on the gas.
I'd sooner warm up my car by letting it idle a bit, pollution be damned, than risk my car zooming away and causing property damage or injury.

 

it is not going to make a difference. Your car lurching and speeding away beyond your control are two different things. The only thing that will make a difference is warming the engine before starting, so you can start it at all. If your vehicle behaves oddly, you absolutely have to get it checked out at the dealer...

 

Again missing the point.
If one starts their RDX and lets it warm up a few minutes until the high idle speed goes down it won't lurch when shifted to gear. It pisses off the environmentalists, but warming up the car by running the engine with the vehicle stationary does make a difference relative to this complaint. As such, if I were to experience what the OP has experienced, I wouldn't hesitate to run my engine for five full minutes and warm it up rather than risk property damage or injury.

 

Mine does it as well. I put my foot on the brake when putting it into the gear cold. I always have my two dogs in the car with me in the morning and our female only has three legs and she's almost fallen over a few times. By putting my foot on the brake and putting it into gear it cannot lurch forward. I then release the brake slowly.

 

What fleuger said. Keep your foot firmly on the brake and put the vehicle into gear. You will hear the engine surge but the revs will drop in a couple of seconds. Then proceed by easing off the brake.

 

Everyone...turn to page 243 in your Owner's Manual which talks about 2 issues concerning the auto trans. First one is titled "Creeping"....it gives you the reasons this will happen and it is normal under the situations described.
For clarification...if the air cond. system is on when you first start up it will cause the engine to idle faster to compensate for the "pull down" the compressor causes.
Bottom line for these issues.. have your foot on the brake...to keep from having the "creeping" and pulling forward.

 

I have experienced the same issue. It does appear to happen only when cold outside. Now that is warmer, I haven’t experienced this in a while. And only happens on a “cold start”…if restarting car after having driven it with in the last few minutes/hours, issue does not occur.

I always start the car, and never shift out of park for at least 15 seconds. Doesn’t matter if going from park to reverse or park to drive, car will lunge forward/backward very strongly. So strong that everyone is always startled. Even with your foot on the break, the lunge is strong enough to move the car anyway and when the foot comes off the break, a big lunge still occurs.

I informed the Acura dealer in Tulsa, OK about this issue (and many others, including the vibration issue, the rough idle issue, the lunging when shifting in low-gears at low speeds issue, etc.). For this, they informed this is normal and is caused because the hydrolic fluid is needing to flow through the necessary valves/parts, since it’s a cold start.

It’s hard to argue as I do not know more than them, but the huge “lunge” that occurs is anything from “normal”. Even if everything is ok, something needs to be changed because I could see where this could be really dangerous…I never worry about anything but the “lunge” really is that bad.

 

The 1st recall results are in! While not exact, my prediction was pretty close....

For my second recall prediction, I nominate the rear shocks......!


http://www.hondanews.com/channels/co...2013-acura-rdx

 

This car needs a defined "idle down" at the end of a 10 to 15 second period. Right now it seems to take forever to get down to the 7000 RPM regular idle when cold. I understand the need for the warm up 10 seconds or so and I don't put my car into gear during this period but this car slooowwly idles down and just takes too long. Appointment at the dealer to see if they can adjust this (and radio/bluetooth reception issues). I'll report back if there is any resolution

 

JFK-USAF, I know you meant 700 rpm ;-) and yes one definitely needs to keep the foot on the brake when you put her into gear!

 

So, this is STILL an issue? Nissan hasn't come up with a "flash" to the engine controlling software? Has anyone noticed a difference if the A/C is on or off when cold starting?

 

It's not an issue if you know how to drive a car.
Here's what you do:
-Start the car and let it run for 30 seconds.
-Apply the brake and move the gear selector into gear.
-Wait for a couple of seconds and release the brake.
-Proceed in the direction of the gear you selected.
If you are releasing the brake before the car has finished transitioning into gear it will lurch forward or backwards depending on what gear you selected.
If this is happening to you consider yourself a candidate for basic driver ed.
And to you BobBass,
Go and test drive an RDX extensively and then come back with your thoughts and opinions. Until then you have 0 credibility.

 

Hand-filer,

What did I ever do to you to illicit such a harsh response?

I did not start this thread. I test drove an RDX two times but neither involved a cold start. The very fact that someone is concerned enough about it to create a post about it in the first place gives it credibility.

It seems to me - FROM READING THE POSTS FROM OTHER ACURAZINE MEMBERS HERE - that cold starting on the RDX results in an "abnormally high" RPM and the engine mgt. system is "slow" to bring the revs down. If this is a characteristic of this powertrain, so be it. I think it's "right" for people to question it and was just wondering if Honda did anything to remedy it since February.

My '09 Vette engine ROARS to life on cold starts - actually bothers me wondering about the high revs before the oil has a chance to get around - but backs down fairly quickly. Plus, it'a a six-speed manual, so there is no chance of any "lurching."

I've been reading message boards about various products ever since they started becoming popular in the 90s. If an oft-mentioned issue crops up about something I ask about whether it's been resolved or not like I did here.

The other thing is that this will be my wife's vehicle and she tends to be on the impatient side. I doubt that she'll be enthralled with this new cold-starting procedure that she hasn't had to deal with in forty years of driving innumerable cars.

Gee, maybe we should just get a Murano. I better check with that board to see if there is any LURCHING on cold-start takeoffs.

 

I just noticed I typed NISSAN instead of HONDA in my original comment. Must have been a Freudian slip.

 

Here's a similar thread on the Murano board showing someone questioning a similar thing...and then I shall cease and desist on this topic since I have 0 credibility:

http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/8...e-startup.html

 

I have never experienced this lurch.

I dunno about you guys but I shift the car into drive/reverse with foot planted on brake first, then look around, THEN slowly release brake to move.

 

Same here. Live in Chicago area and gets pretty cold. The RDX may idle a little higher when first started but nothing to be concerned about. It's a way to get the engine warmed quicker to increase mpg. That's the same reason we can feel the slight shift when the VCM works. That's the reason the steering is a little light and feels a little different. MPG! All new cars are starting to feel a little different from the way we used to remember them and it's all due to the strive for better MPG. Nothing really wrong with the cars, just a little different. I think we need to get used them and realize that every single little difference is not not necessarily a problem to be addressed. If it is way out of line and a safety hazard then have the dealer fix it because if it's that bad it's not normal. There are thousands of RDX's on the road and only a few may be experiencing a "real" problem and they need to be fixed.

To those that come on these forums and see three or four people that have a high idle problem and then start asking "do they have a fix for this yet", I say chill out. It is not a wide spread problem that I can tell. I have two friends/relatives that also own new RDX's. One in Michigan and the other in the Chicago area and none of us had a problem with high idles last winter.

 

 

Technically we already have the Takata Airbag Recall.