Hello, I'm new here and I hope to get some advice from experienced 05/06 RL owners. My 06 RL is 1.5 months old and the auto control start function seems to work only intermittently in the last one week. Before, I could turn the starter and let go and the engine would start. Now, I have to turn the starter and hold it for a while ( maybe 3 seconds) to ensure the engine starts properly. If I simply turn the starter and let go, about 50% of the time, the engine starts then dies after 1 second. Dealer service said no fault found, battery is strong and starter is good.

Apart from this, love the way my new RL drives and handles. Like the feel of it now that it is broken in at 1700 miles. Sometimes wish the brakes were beefier though.

Do people think this is a problem ?

Wonder whether the fact that I have my radar detector plugged in and switched on all the time could affect this - did the same thing with my old 2001 Prelude and never had a problem starting though. And this problem only started last week whereas my radar detector was plugged in from day 1 of ownership for the last 1.5 months ...


Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I will almost guarantee the radar detector has nothing to do with it. I have mine hard-wired into the "ACC" socket of the fusebox with no ill effects, and there's no way plugging in your detector is affecting the starter circuit.

If I'm not mistaken, the "auto start" feature is computer controlled, so my guess would be that the computer module is experiencing a little hiccup. But if it's not registering an error code, it's going to be hard to diagnose and/or repair.

Has the dealer actually witnessed it malfunctioning?
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yes its a problem. the car is designed to start like a push putton, this it not a traditional turn key and crank until it catches.
the turn key is to provide the feel of a traditional car, but all you need to do is turn it all the way for 1 sec and release, then the electronics do the rest.

 

The Acura service advisor saw it once but the second time he started it, it started OK. He did however unplug the radar detector. But he's standing by his tech guy's analysis that the battery and starter are OK. Maybe it is a computer hiccup. I certainly have no error messages.

Thanks for your views and any further advice would be appreciated.

 

My 05 RL did the same thing several times. On one occasion it didn't crank the starter at all for about 10 minutes. I was about to call the tow truck when it started. It was about 2 months old. I had the dealer service dept. look at it. They down loaded new computer software and reset computer. Never has happened again. They said original software had been upgraded three times in 05 RL. Apparently there were several computer software bugs with 05 model. I'd assume 06 RL should have all the bugs out by now.

 

Yeah, they attempted to reuse the software from the 3.2l from the TL....any early 2004 TL owners remember the fun we had with software glitches. In this case, there are two things i'm thinking of.....delayed start due to the ECM adjusting the engine, or possible an O2 sensor.

Dumb question, but have they moved to Winter grade fuel in Jersey? Not sure if that may have any impact either...

 

I was a miraculously lucky early 2004 TL owner. The only software issue I had was with HFL, and I was just too bloody lazy to get a new module when they became available later that year.

As to the the ECM....the instruction manual indicates that cranking can take a little longer as befits a car with ULEV rating. There is an adjustment of the ECM to reduce pollution. Same thing in the TL. Sometimes it can take a while (NOT 10 min like with Ernie's car) and a couple of tries to crank the car. Annoying, but it helps the environment.

I think it's incredible that a 3.5 liter engine with as much power as ours is still rated "ULEV". Even the TSX and my wife's Accord are only "LEV"s.

 

Hey everyone,

I appreciate all the advice and thoughts on what could be wrong with my RL's starter. Replies to some of your qns:

Don't know if they've started winter grade fuel in NJ but it was 75 degrees yesterday so it certainly did not feel like winter.

I'll bear in mind the points about the O2 sensor and ECM.

I guess I don't really mind holding the starter for 1 or 2 seconds more than I should as long as the car starts well. It's been fine when I don't let go of the starter knob quickly.

Everything else seems good and I really don't have the time to keep going over to the dealer's. I'll probably let it be for a while and see how things go.

Wonder if my K&N air filter has anything to do with it ... I'll post this question on the K&N filter thread.

 

You might also want to change where you buy your fuel from.....might have gotten a crappy batch.

 

Sorry to bring back this thread from the dead, but I am having this same issue with my 05 RL and the dealer just told me that they can't find a thing wrong with it and are sending me on my way... What was the outcome in your case (op)? Have any solutions been found recently that may remedy this issue?