Yesterday we returned from a 4000+ mile trip and had a few quirks along the way - each occurred on separate occasions on engine start after gas stops.

The first was a complete loss of audio system presets for both FM and XM but no other user memory settings. I shut off the engine, restarted and everything was restored correctly and had normal operation again.

The second was a complete loss of the Nav system address book and previous destination info including the current route. Again I shut off the engine, restarted and everything was restored correctly and had normal operation again.

The last was a shudder in the brakes on the first application of the brakes after leaving in the morning from the motel. This happened twice on two separate occasions and then never again. It almost felt like the discs were rusty or the pads were slipping. We had been through a lot of heavy rain the night before each occurance.

I had an oil service while we were gone as the oil life had dropped to 15% and the service message came on. I did not let them do any software updates since I have not experienced any of the problems reported here. Until these three incidents, my car was perfect. I guess maybe it is time to go see my dealer except now all is well and I know I will get the old "No problems found" response from them.

Frank

 

First, you should always install whatever software updates are available. Just because you haven't had any problems yet, it doesn't mean that you will get away with faulty software.

You'll have to go the dealer as you said. I don't think you have anything to worry about the brakes.

 

On the complete memory losses, I thought this happened to me once until I realized that the car had switched to driver 2. I had unlocked the car with the driver 2 fob, left it unlocked, then started the car with the driver 1 fob. Since I didn't unlock the car with my (driver 1) fob, it stayed on driver 2 settings which had no memories for radio or nav.

 

Unfortunately, only one fob was involved.

Also I forgot to mention another quirk and that involved the turn off of the passenger air bag. This happened to us several times as my wife shifted her weight in the passenger seat to prevent a numb backside on the long drive. Each time we got a air bag shutoff message and had to go through the procedure of responding to the message and then stopping and re-starting the engine so that the air bag could be re-activated. Most annoying!!!

It would be really nice to have an timed-out option that would allow one the capability to choose to ignore the message and reset the air bag without having to start and stop the engine. If this option was not responded to in say 30 secs then the normal message and procedure would be followed. She also commented that not being able to raise and lower the passenger seat made it harder to find comfortable positions on long trips.

Frank

 

As a long time software and hardware developer I will respectfully disagree because I have experienced too many examples where the so-called software update or fix created more problems than it fixed. I firmly believe that if you are not having problems then one should not have updates or at least wait until enough time has passed to show that the updates are reliable.

This really was especially true with our Volvo XC90 as we had the sw updates installed when suggested by the dealer and went from a relatively trouble free vehicle to one with many glitches - and we were unable to go back to the factory installed sw to help fix the problems.

Frank

 

I have a lot of experience with this one. My son is just light enough (85 lbs.) to trip this intermittently. First of all, if you go into setup and set the option that does not automatically read the message to you, you can delete it more quickly. Secondly, the airbag will reenable itself without cycling the key.

 

[QUOTE=

...The last was a shudder in the brakes on the first application of the brakes after leaving in the morning from the motel. This happened twice on two separate occasions and then never again. It almost felt like the discs were rusty or the pads were slipping. We had been through a lot of heavy rain the night before each occurance...


Well Frank, I suspect that a few RLs were sent out with bad rotors. My first experience was one month after I took posession of the car, after a short trip to Northeastern Canada in December, where the temperature never rose above zero dgrees F. The electronics, incl. traffic info, the sexy door handle that peeps and locks/unlocksXm, HFL, the noise cancellation and other features simply crapped out.

But the most interesting thing was that after 1600 miles, my 2005 RL developed a noticeably wobbly sound when brakes were applied at speeds of 35-60 MPH. By the time I arrived at the dealership, it was also causing major shimmying, this after 4 weeks of driving, mostly in subzero weather.

Well, they replaced the two front rotors and pads because there was deep rust (not surface rust) on the front rotors. The cars subsequently drove like a dream.

Last week I was driving to the dealership for the 4-part product update. And on my way there, the brakes started doing the wobbly fandango once again. And again, there was serious deep rust on the brakes, not of the surface variety.

I think Honda ran into a batch of crappy rotors. Someboy on the Honda end suggested this should not be covered, since I lived so close to the ocean. I suggested that in this century, the only car with this kind of proble was Honda's flagship -- not two CR-V's, a Huyndai, another Acura and a lowly Lexus, after a couple of years' ownership, and shoud they refuse coverage, they might as well get ready for an intersting arbitration hearing.vSo they decided to fix it. And the car again drives oike a dream.

But two major brake jobs in four months of ownership give pause for thought. This car may be a tad shy of the Acura excellence we've grown accustomed to.

I wish you beter luck than mine.

 

Thanks for the hint and I have done just that. And I hope you are right about the air bag reenabling when the correct weight is reapplied. What made me supicious is that the warning message did not go away when she sat back down.

Frank

 

[QUOTE=mungoac][QUOTE=

...The last was a shudder in the brakes on the first application of the brakes after leaving in the morning from the motel. This happened twice on two separate occasions and then never again. It almost felt like the discs were rusty or the pads were slipping. We had been through a lot of heavy rain the night before each occurance...


I think Honda ran into a batch of crappy rotors. Someboy on the Honda end suggested this should not be covered, since I lived so close to the ocean. I suggested that in this century, the only car with this kind of proble was Honda's flagship -- not two CR-V's, a Huyndai, another Acura and a lowly Lexus, after a couple of years' ownership, and shoud they refuse coverage, they might as well get ready for an intersting arbitration hearing.vSo they decided to fix it. And the car again drives oike a dream.

[/QUOTE]

I don't think my experience was quite the same as yours as there was no evidence of any shimmy such as what one would experience with warped rotors. Rather it was more of a "grabby" feeling like there was some foreign material on the rotors - perhaps rust??? And this has not happened again since we have come back home.

Frank

 

From what I remember, the "shudder" is a known problem and addressed by the 4-part TSB.

Pete

 

Yes, I just read about it. It is described in Service Bulletin 05-007.

Thanks for all the responses and help on these issues.

Frank