jcolegrove

Hi everyone... New member with new to us 2013 RDX technology package that is driving my wife crazy. I searched and have found no post similar...

Just purchased with 70,000 mi from original owner who had it religiously at the dealer for all service. No wrecks. Almost brand new Michelin defender tires that I have rotated twice. Had it to the best suspension shop in town and also the Acura dealer to try to address a slight pull to the left on most roads approximately half the time. Both places printed out the alignment which was dead on in all ways. There is no caster adjustment in this car but it was spot on.

It pulls enough that it's noticeable by any driver but does not do it all the time. It pulls the opposite way of most road crowns. My last workaround was to air up the left tires a couple PSI and the right down a couple PSI which had no effect.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas please? Would be greatly appreciated...

jcolegrove

Forgot one detail... Replaced front rotors and pads with Honda parts because of unrelated front brake pulsing. Calipers move freely and are not hanging up.

CJKaz

Betting it’s the tires. As a test rotate left front door with right front, it will likely pull to the right. Been there done that, as they say

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=12

jcolegrove

Yes, I did that... swapped left to right. No difference, but thanks..

drolds72

Just wondering out loud here. I had a 79 vette for a while that had something in the steering rack to balance the hydraulic pressure either way. If it was way off, it would spin the steering wheel all the way. Wonder if the electric system has something similar?

dtownfb

AWD or FWD? Did you check the tires to make sure they are balanced and tread wear is even? What was the rotation pattern of the tires, 'X' pattern or 'front to back'?

jcolegrove

That steering rack assist might be something... there is one thread about Acura 'memory steer' that seems it could possibly be a few different 'sticking' components in the system. While I usually do a 'back cross' rotation, this time I did a left /right swap, as it seemed to be the best way to test a bad tire theory. There was no difference after the swap. Don't think it's tires-- never had a Michelin problem, there is absolutely no wobble or vibration in any of them, etc.

dtownfb

The left/right tire swap is the best way to see if its the tires. Even though Michelin is a great brand, you could have had a bad set of tires.

If you were to disconnect the battery for a short period of time, would that reset the steering?

jcolegrove

Thank you for those thoughts.... I will try disconnecting batt for a while.

Alex Medeiros

Did you end up figuring out what the issue was?

jcolegrove

I have not. My next step is to 'tweak' the toe a bit to just try to offset the pull. meaning, i want to make the left front tie rod one half turn shorter, and point it a bit to the right. if i shorten tire life by 10%, it will be worth it. might lengthen the right tie rod the same amount as well. i know it's a hack, but after learning a bit about alignment, this isn't a drastic step, i don't believe.

alpha2beta

You check the ride height? Make sure one side isn't higher than the other side. You might have a spring that's weaker than others causing the vehicle to sag a bit on one side. Also the best way to check to see if brakes are sticking is to get a inferred temp gauge and check the temp on all four rotors.

jcolegrove

Thank you for that. I finally got around to doing two things. I shouldn't have and should have only done one variable at a time but alas...Disconnected battery for 10 minutes and turned tie rod one half turn to tweak the left tire to the right. After a 15 minute drive it seems completely different and fine but will have to wait until the wife gives her approval as it's her car. And I've swapped tires both left and right and front to back and answer to the above thread. I will check that ride height as well but I'm pretty meticulous on cars and don't notice any difference upon looking. Thank you all...

jcolegrove

Update: after driving a while, we noticed it may be actually worse in pulling to the left- which makes no sense as I pointed the tire to the left. It is VERY dependent on road surface, so I didn't have that opinion on first driving. The wheel was also very slightly off-center when driving straight. The car just does not like to track straight, as it will also sometimes veer slightly right, though it veers predominantly left. So, the next thing I did last night was to point the Right tire to the right only one-half turn of the tie rod. It was noticeably again worse in pulling to the left and the wheel was even more off center. Completely baffled and have checked my wrenching multiple times. (The tie rods are behind the wheel center-line, so to point the Left tire to the right, I lengthened it one-half tie rod turn (pushed the rear of the tire to the left, causing it to point right). To point the Right tire right, I shortened the tie rod, pulling the rear of the tire to the left, causing it to point right.

At this point, I put both tie rods back in their original position and will ruminate some more. On to the next problem of driveline shuddering/vibration at a constant speed...
Should have continued to buy Lexuses....

Alex Medeiros

I have the exact same issue, but my car pulls to the right unlike yours which you're saying is going to the left. I had an allignment done at the end of October and it was nearly dead on. I'm getting a new set of four tires next week since my car is due for them, and I have a funny feeling that my tires are causing the issue for me. All of my brakes are perfectly fine (had them fixed up a couple of weeks ago), so I know it's not them.

Tech

Have you checked that the strut spring mount plate, the one at the top, isn't seized. It is supposed to rotate with the strut.

Tech

The guy is a bit hard to understand. Go to the 3:33 mark in the video. This applies to any car with this type of set-up.

Alex Medeiros

I got my new tires yesterday and the pulling is completely gone on my car. The only I noticed is that the steering wheel is a tad bit off to the left (I think it was like this when I bought the car). It's nice to be able to drive my car normally again.

jcolegrove

Tech, thanks for that idea. I don't have any of the other symptoms like noises, etc., but the car randomly not tracking well may be this. I will look into it. Thanks!

Alex Medeiros

Funny enough today, I was doing a three point turn and felt somethink pop/thunk in the front of the car and now my car drives straight as an arrow. I guess my car fixed itself lol. But on a real note, I hope my front end isn't starting to become worn out.

Tech

Maybe, maybe not. This is one possibility to why it pulls to one side or the other and sometimes rights itself.. Very low tire pressure on one side might do it, worn suspension component, etc.

Front coil springs at either end are not normally "flat". That means they fit into a spring mount that is "stepped" or "keyed" to the mount plate. The bottom of the spring fits into "stepped" mount. That means as you turn the car, the spring turns with it.

Now if the top spring mount which is also "stepped" or "keyed" for the spring does not turn because the top mount is seized, then you are twisting the coil spring and that is what makes the car swing back to whatever position where there is no twist in the spring be it stright ahead or slightly to the left or right. And the condition may not be permanent. If you are on a bumpy road going straight, it might right itself to going back straight again. The next time, it'll pull to the side again.

Alex Medeiros

Considering that my car has 106k miles, I think it's fair to say I'll have to get my suspension replaced at some point next year since it's a bit soft. It's not that bad of a drive so I can survive for a while.

Poolman

Just replaced the front struts on my 2015 edition with KYB struts along with strut mounts. That popping sound you mentioned my be strut mounts going bad as mentioned before. The OEM struts are expensive, the KYB struts are under 100 bucks each and
to my liking. KYB struts in the front and KYB shocks in the back, vehicle ride much better.

jcolegrove

Update on the pulling to the left. Finally gave in and took it to the dealer who diagnosed it with memory steer due to a worn rack and pinion. Only 4400 will fix it. Ridiculous.

Alex Medeiros

Yikesss that's a lot of money...

Tech

One has to wonder if it was properly diagnosed in the first place. As a coworker once told me, "taking vehicles to dealers or shops is like letting a fox loose in the hen house". Likely some truth to that.

jcolegrove

Completely agree.... for info, I have also closely monitored front brake temps w/ infrared- no difference. replaced rotors/pads as part of maint. Also took the advice to check the strut bearing-- checked both sides and it seems to rotate smoothly. Of course I'm not putting $4500 into a rack, though the avg price googled seems to be in the $2300 range. I'll be getting a quote from my preferred shop and also contemplating doing it myself. Only issue being it has to be calibrated apparently by a scan tool.... The hunt goes on... Thanks all.

jcolegrove

Been thinking...IF this is 'memory steer' and 'the wheel doesn't return to zero' as the dealer said, why couldn't I very carefully and judiciously shorten and lengthen the L and R tie rods so that they very slightly point to the Right (as my pull is to the left). IF the wheel/sytem/rack is slightly turned to the left, causing the left pull, wouldn't this permanent slight adjustment to the right counteract that left pull? I'd do maybe one turn of each tie rod and see what happens, marking the orig spot so I can put it back, etc. Thoughts? Thanks...

dtownfb

It could work but everything I've read on memory steering is to check the struts (are yours OEM? or did the previous owner change them?), bearing plate, and ball joints. I would talk to your preferrd shop and explain the dealers diagnosis and let them fix it. I don't think adjusting the tie rods without the proper scanning equipment is the way to go in this case.

One of the reasons I got my 2017 RDX is I have a shop that specializes in Honda and Acura about a mile from my house. I talked to the owner of the shop before I purchased the vehicle. i tgave me confidence that if something went wrong, he can handle it. My guess is your preferred shop will know how to address this without replacing the steering rack.

Good luck. Keep us up to date.

jcolegrove

Good thoughts, thanks. The struts are orig. as I have all maint. records. I did a rudimentary strut bearing check while the wheel was being turned, as it was completely smooth. I need to find a good Acura shop...

jcolegrove

Update here if anyone cares.... so I did VERY carefully shorten and lengthen tie rods equal amounts so that the 2 front tires would point slightly more to the right. I did a half turn each on each tie rod. End result was that most of the pull is gone in most situations. Much better-- with the effect that the steering wheel is slightly turned to the left now, which kind of makes sense, as that's where it should be, given the wheels pointing more to the right; and the fact that the wheel wanted to point left in the first place. It's not 100%, but better. Anything to avoid the ridiculous $4500 rack replacement quote from stealer...