my 2005 RL 183K miles gave out this morning
accelerating on to freeway and something blew - sounded like timing belt

had that service at 105K plus all normal maintenance

will find out later today what it is

 

interested in what the dealership finds, granted you took it to the dealership.

im betting spark plug ejection!

 

Good luck, man.

 

they say something in exhaust - do not know details yet

 

:whew, wipes sweat from brow:
sounds a lot less menacing than timing belt.


wishing you luck it isnt the TB.

 

o.o this is the first ever reported problem ive come across since researching if I should get an RL or not. good luck, I'll be following your thread buddy.

 

The problem w/ getakey's RL shouldn't deter you from an RL. There are plenty of RLs that have made it over 200k.

I hope it's nothing to major getakey, hopefully you'll be back on the road soon.

 

thanks guys - should have heard by now, but no call yet

 

agreed.

it could be anything. it will be a fun thread to watch for interest sake, but not a good thread to base your decision on

 

This is the best car I've ever owned and the only reason I have kept it this long.
Only other non-warranty problems until now:
passenger side radiator fan
driver side inside door pull handle broke off (I glued it back on )
rips in center arm rest pleather

 

Something in the exhaust? Did it cripple the vehicle? I could see something going wrong upstream from an O2 sensor which could pull a CEL and put it into limp mode. Otherwise, if it was a full failure of "something in the exhaust" that literally crippled the car, it could be an exhaust valve. Hopefully that is not the case as valve damage is usually accompanied with other issues.

 

nah, I'd never base my decision upon one thread or one RL having one problem lol.

If anything this thread, along with my reasearch is a huge complement to the car. I've read over 600 reviews of the RL, so far (all from real-world owners) and I've not heard of a single mechanical problem. This is the first reported mechanical issue I've come across, which is outstanding! Any other car in this segment from any auto maker out there usually ends with $$$$ worth of repair costs because of some defect, common, or electrical problem. I am quite impressed with the RL's reliability and I don't even own one yet!

Sorry, didn't mean to thread jack, but I just wanted to say thanks. Good luck man. I hope it's something minor. =x

 

Sorry to hear, getakey.

Hopefully not the timing belt. But if it was, should the replacement you had at the 105K service be warranted still?

Perhaps it was an exhaust / manifold seal failure and the pressure loss caused the engine issues? Difficult to determine from your description.

Nonetheless, awaiting the diagnosis.

 

thanks Tampa
They did not get a chance to look in detail yet. On the plus side, I'll be picking up a loaner RLX later today

Upon acceleration if felt like something broke and then noise like hole in exhaust, but also clicking noise. I immediately put in neutral and pulled over. Car was idling, but I shut it off. It seemed to lose power, but then again I may have just released throttle upon the event. More I think about it, more I'm sure it is not timing belt although can't explain clicking sound?

 

That sounds like an exhaust issue. Perhaps the manifold. Or maybe a popped plug a previous poster mentioned. The acceleration followed by a pressure loss and an exhaust leak often has a click or ticking sound.

The two times I experienced a failed timing belt (fortunately neither was my car), the engine shut down.

If you were idling. I would not expect it to be the timing belt. Curious to the diagnosis and your thoughts on the RLX (you should request one).

 

I dropped by Dealer to get some stuff I had left in the car. Have to go back to get loaner, but already know it is an RLX

A sales guy was hanging around so I asked if he knew pricing on the hybrid RLX. He claimed no and I said Dealers are supposed to know now. He said I'd have to talk to Sales Mgr. Then I asked when they were getting some. Again did not know but expected in a "month or so". Typical uninformed sales guy.

 

my quick review of the loaner RLX. I'll put it here and in the RLX section. This was after about 30 minutes of drive time in the car, mostly city streets.

First impression versus my RL

The good
Quieter - in fact much quieter. Virtually no road noise and the quietest car I've ever been in.
Bigger - everything visual about it feels bigger, view out the windshield, the width across the interior and the back seat. However, driving does not feel bigger. In fact feels more nimble.
Quicker - notably quicker, but did not have a chance yet to go fast

This had the ELS stereo and its clearly better than the RL Bose.

Overall, I felt like this was a very nice car. I did not really notice the lack of wood until I got home. The interior seemed very well finished and attractive.

The bad
I think Acura clearly missed the boat on the UI with the 2 screens. I'm in the software biz and UI is important. Today, I believe it is important to make things intuitive so that you do not have to read the manual. Acura fails here.
Now, reading the manual may sort out all my issues, but there were several items I could not figure out and I kept expecting the menu and settings display to come up on the lower screen not the upper.

If I have the Nav on the upper display, why does pushing the Audio settings replace the Nav rather than showing on the lower screen? Same with Info, phone, etc. Seems counterintuitive.

I could not figure out how to display Artist/Song in lower display at all. I could get it into the upper display, but then the Nav was gone. So I have detailed audio in upper display with many of the settings duplicated in lower display. There must be a way to display artist/song in lower, but in my limited time (and I was driving), I could not figure it out.

The thumb wheels on the steering wheel also seemed out of place. The buttons on the steering wheel also seemed easier to accidentally push than in the RL config. I must have brushed the Source button and all of sudden had no idea what happened in terms of the stereo settings. Probably get over this with more experience in the car.

Tons of settings! Good/bad probably matter of opinion and I guess many of the settings are a 1-time set and be done.
In my case, I do not like "heads up" display for the Nav and that's how it was when I picked it up. I'm a Ns/EW visual person. The setting to change from heads up to north up was buried in the Nav settings.

 

Do the steering button issues have anything to do with the three spoke design? I was disappointed to see that in the RLX versus the RL's 4 spoke.

 

wondering why you cannot stay in 1st gear in manual/sport or manual/drive mode?

there's a short street leading to my house that is steep. I've always used 1st gear in my RL to go up and down. When down, I don't have to use brakes as the engine braking in 1st gear is just right. In the RLX, it shifts to 2nd gear. Have tried in both sport and regular. In 2nd gear, I have to apply brakes going down the hill.

 

That's how all of the new Acura's are. We had a 2013 TL SH-AWD loaner recently that did the same thing. Such a huge disappointment. It automatically shifts out of 1st way too early and will not let you shift back into 1st unless you are going REALLY slow.

 

its almost like 1st is worthless

 

Why would you rather put the stress on the motor mounts over the brakes?

 

is going down a hill in 1st is going to put more stress on the mounts than fast acceleration?

 

well it is the end!
whoever said spark plug ejection was correct. Blew out and took cylinder head threads with it. Need new head and random other items that got damaged in the ejection.

Dealer wants $5800 to fix. I'm going to ask my local mechanic for another quote, but does not make much sense to put this money in with 182K miles

 

Getakey - was there ANY indication before the spark plug blew through? Was it idling rough or anything like that on first start?

I'm really sorry to hear about this... nobody likes losing a car unexpectedly.

 

usually, there is a slight ticking before the spark plug ejects.

I recommend EVERY one to check the torque on all spark plugs.

Firewall
456
123
Radiator

It's usually cylinder #2 that goes.

this problems is common on All j-series engines. from accords to pilots to TL's to anything that has a J-series engine.

 

and you're one of the unlucky ones, getakey....
most of the time, helicoil or retap the aluminum head and good to go.

 

Acceleration by gravity and low resistance (2nd gear) is going to put force on the entire car. Using the transmission/engine to counter the weight of the car is going to put the force difference on the mounts.


This is a sad day for your RL, getakey. I will be reading more on the issue now that I am aware. A new (used) engine will cost considerably less than a repair I would think. the most expensive one on eBay is $1.2k.

I would hope that you have comprehensive insurance, and that this would be covered. But in the case that it isn't and you don't repair, do you have any idea what car would be next?

EDIT: just read most policies don't cover engine mechanical failure, but I would check your policy.

 

When they changed your timing belt, did they change the plugs too? Who did the service?

He didn't say that wasn't an option. He quoted the dealer which is going to go for bust.

OP, look into these options. http://www.timesert.com/index.html

 

^great follow up questions.

 

going to check with other repair place for cheaper fix
Dealer did the timing belt and plugs at just under 105k miles

It was plug #5 (front middle), broke ignition coil and engine cover


In the meantime, they said they have great deal on RLX
Quoted me:
Tech package $44.5
Advance $49.3

 

No electric motors, no care.

 

I hear you - was holding out until the hybrid arrived, but have to do something now
getting quote on helicoil repair to make drivable, but not sure I want to drive it with that repair for long

 

helicoils are used on airplanes with a whole lot more force than a car. 2cents.

 

gotcha, but I was thinking more on the lines that one going might be an indication of more following

local shop will do it for $790 all in

 

From what I read, the issue is due to improperly (read: under) torqued plugs. That's the reason I asked who did it. The person who installed the plugs when they did your timing belt didn't torque them correctly, and they are to blame, not the RL engineers.


Are they going to remove the head? If not, ask them how they propose to keep metal shards out of the cylinder. It can be done, but it should be done right.

 

Thanks, I'll ask them about the shards

Interesting on the possible cause - not sue what recourse I would have with the Dealer unless I can prove it somehow

 

Dealer will do the helicoil repair for $675.

Cheaper than the local guy and I don't have to have it towed from one place to the other

 

I dont want to stir the pot on this one because a helicoil is a solid solution.

But, I would put the fire to the last place that put plugs in... that being said I would also negotiate at the bare minimum pulling all of the plugs to check for damage.

 

awesome. the helicoil will serve its purpose and will hold up.
the other plugs will need to be checked and re-torqed to spec.

also, do you know what cylinder/plug it is?

firewall
456
123
radiator.

if its #2 like I suspect it is.....