I just wanted to pass this along in case you see this so you know that you probably are not about to get stranded.

Yesterday when I started off to work, the infotainment display started going Bright/Dim/Bright/Dim like it was flipping between day and night mode. The display behind the steering wheel stayed in day mode and the headlights seemed to be staying on. A message then started popping up on the infotainment display that read "Drive Mode Change Unavailable" or something to that affect. It kept doing this during the 20 minute drive to work and again on my way to the shop. I went into the diagnostic screens and found one with a block diagram of the systems. There was one on the right that was labelled gateway and it was changing from green to red and back again about once every five seconds. In addition, two of the subsystems connected to the gateway, chassis and HVAC, were doing the same. I took it to the shop since I couldn't tell if it was an intermittent failure that could go hard at any moment or just a glitch.

The service rep called over the service supervisor, they looked at it and then he looked at me and said "well, that's a first."

Got the car back at the end of the day, they said it was just a software issue that would be fixed next pushed out update and that they had made "some adjustments to the settings" to fix it for now.

Of course the service ticket reads like it was only me saying there was a problem that they couldn't reproduce... I so love my dealership repair department. not

 

i had pretty much the exact same experience at my stealership...which now is ironically and conveniently out of business....

 

Thank you for posting, there are many of us who have experienced this same issue. It does appear to be a software bug and less likely to happen when you don't have the navigation on the main screen.

 

I have had it also. I did not do anything and it did correct itself the next time I started the car up.

DavidH

 

Happened a few times with mine. Turning the car off and back on didn't fix it. However it corrected itself after sitting overnight.

 

That was the same for me. Shutting Off and On again did not work. But shutting it off and letting it rest for a few hours did work.

DavidH

 

Same here: Appeared a couple of times, both times when away when turned of - back on the car. I Could change drive mode, despite what the message was saying.

 

I have seen this several times. Half of them it would also toggle the display between day and night mode every few seconds.
Despite the message, drive mode toggle does work, as it shows up on the instrument cluster. It just isn’t reflected on the infotainment display.

 

I had this exact same thing happen. Here's a video of it happening: https://streamable.com/31nnh.

 

I’ve had the same issue. A quick reboot didn’t fix it but letting the car sit overnight did.

 

This has happened to me a couple of times this month too. Note that changing drive modes still works - you just don't get the fancy splash screen. You can tell by the sound (ex in sport+ you get a different sound when turning the drive mode knob clockwise), or of course just looking at the bottom of the driver side display.

Flip flopping day night cycles is pretty annoying though. Seems to fix itself after a couple hours.

 

This happened to me the other day. Sitting at a stop light. The rev limiter started fluctuating around in the low 100-200's for some reason for a couple seconds, then Drive Mode Unavailable came up. Restarting the car nor a system reset fixes the issue, only a long overnight rest. And yes, the drive mode selector does still work, it's just the splash screen that broke.

 

Today I got same message Drive Mode Unavailable. Turned an engine off- on. Did not help. Hope tomorrow morning problem will go away. I can only guess that a hot weather effects on this issue since problem go away next day. I could be wrong.
More important that Acura must do something to eliminate this issue. Is this a recall situation or it is not enough complaints?

 

Same thing happened to me as well

 

Got the "drive mode change unavailable" while I was driving and I wanted to switch. The drive mode did change at the gauge/odometer area. Of course restarting the car fixed that.


Btw, I notice sports+ won't stay on after the car has been turn off. I goes to another driving mode. Is that by design?

 

Yes, revert to sport. As snow is reverting to comfort AFAIK.

 

We purchased our '19 A-Spec last week, picked it up yesterday and had this exact thing happen as we were driving away. Had it for 5 minutes, turned around and took it back. They said it probably just needed to be updated or something, and have us a different 2019 rdx courtesy vehicle in the mean time. I figured we would get a call later yesterday, or at the very least today that it was all good and we could come pick up our new vehicle.. But no call yet. I sure hope we haven't got ourselves a lemon and this is the last and only problem.

Alot of people are saying it "fixes itself" when you leave it overnight. But what is acura going to do about this? Surely that isnt their "fix" as it's clearly a common thing.

 

We are all waiting for a software update...
Or, you can join the class action lawsuit.

 

...and STILL wait!

 

I've had this issue occur every 2-3 weeks for no apparent reason, and each time it goes away after leaving the car parked for a couple of hours - the same way others have reported above. I've also noticed a few glitches with the SiriusXM system - the buffering system doesn't work occasionally, or when I scan all my favorites, it only has songs from an old favorite station that I deleted a while back. Today I noticed that this same problem occurred the next time I started the car after the "Drive Mode Unavailable" issue (when it no longer gave that message), and after turning the car off and parking for a little while for a second time, the systems all seemed to be working as normal.

I wonder if this need to reboot/park the system twice is related to the need to do a 3-button reboot of the infotainment system when other issues occur (which have happened to me less often, but probably 2-3 times over the past 6 months).

 

Same thing happened to us today. Took a video of it, restarted the car several times to no avail. Dealing with it for now, I guess. Honda/Acura, hire some real software engineers. Thanks.

 

Have you tried disabling turn-by-turn guidance in meter setup? The occurrence of the issue definitely decreases on my car without turn-by-turn guidance.

 

Turn off the car and exit, wait about 20 min and then come back to turn it on. This worked for me.

 

For mine, just don't put navigation on the large screen.

 

I'd like to start off stating that my number one gripe about this issue is the sadly disappointing silence from Acura: We are all seeing the same problems/set-of-symptoms, which would seem to confirm the existence of a general problem! Yet Acura has left us hanging, and it is up to us, as owners, to dig for any answers/updates.

Along those lines, what follows is some information -- several items -- that may, or may NOT be helpful?

Most important: After submitting my third inquiry to Acura over the course of about 8 months through the AcuraLink mobile App (each of which elicited an automated response with a promise that I would be hearing from Acura within 2 days) I FINALLY did get a call (adding to my frustration: my first two inquiries had gone unanswered/ignored). The guy from Acura Client Relations DID provide one tidbit that I would like to get other owners to confirm: He claimed "they" are aware of The Problem and have determined the "Drive mode change unavailable" message and the infotainment system flashing day/night mode are specifically related to the use of Apple CarPlay, and that if you do not connect an iPhone via CarPlay that the problem will not happen.

I'd really like to get confirmation from the Forum here: Can anyone confirm or deny if this is the case? Has anyone suffered The Problem withOUT an iPhone being connected to CarPlay?

If there IS any correlation, it certainly brings into question Acura's implementation of CarPlay, which in my case has been notoriously unreliable (reluctance to connect, a propensity to DIS-connect when in use, etc.). However: If anyone can confirm they have had The Problem withOUT CarPlay connected it calls into question Acura's alleged understanding of root cause of The Problem...

Separately: In June I took an extended vacation in Europe and I rented a car -- a Citroen Cactus. I discovered it had CarPlay on the second day, and I even happened to have the very cable I (try to) use in my RDX Advance. I connected it and it worked like a champ, rock solid, and did so for the remainder of my 3-1/2 week vacation! I used it heavily -- much MORE intensely than I do in my RDX, using the same cable, the same phone, same iOS version, etc. and it never EVER hiccuped, glitched, misbehaved at all -- not once (in a FRENCH car!! ;-) ). I will not accept any response from Acura that this is somehow an Apple problem, and I would advise the same to everyone.

In my case CarPlay was already unreliable prior to the OTA update in December, 2018, and if anything things have gotten worse since the update (of course I was promised that 'everything would be better' with that update, so you might expect my cynicism wrt the next update, if ever...). I have kept my iPhone updated, I factory-reset the infotainment system, etc.

Again: My primary frustration has been Acura's contemptible silence on these issues and their reprehensible lack of proactive communication. Am I expecting too much?

 

I have had it happen two times over my first year of ownership. I DID NOT have my iPhone connected using Car Play either of those times.

So I am suspicious of what you have been told by Acura.

DavidH

 

Thank you! I'm sorry to say that I am not surprised...

 

I had it happen once in 9,000+ miles, and I don't even own any Apple products.

 

Acura apparently finally today released an OTA (Over The Air) software update for the infotainment system. I have not been able to ascertain yet if this fix solves/improves The Intermittent Problem (“Drive mode change unavailable” message flashing and flipping between day/night modes on the screen), but I CAN confirm my iPhone still apparently does not want to reliably connect to CarPlay if connected when the car is started — I have yet to determine if General CarPlay connectivity is improved...

Note: When my car was exhibiting The Problem I brought it in to the dealer so they could witness it ‘caught in the aft’. When I was there the service advisor told me the Service Manager had a ‘19 RDX and was suffering the same intermittent problem (“Drive mode change unavailable”...) on HIS RDX.(!!)

 

I can say that I have done the update that came out just a few days ago. Prior to this update, I hadn't had this error message in months. Post-update, it is non-stop. Screen flickers between dim and bright and Drive Mode Change Unavailable pops up repeatedly. The touchpad is unresponsive when this is happening. So, no luck after the update 2 days ago.

 

Like others, I installed this latest update asap.

If you look at the following:
https://owners.acura.com/Documentum/ota/2019_RDX.pdf (the documentation for the update...)
...you will see they list "The new software contains the following enhancements and rare bug fixes." and what follows is a considerable list of changes.
(love the assertion that the problems are "rare"...)

HOWEVER...:
Conspicuously missing is ANY mention of the "Drive mode change unavailable" OR the flashing between day/night display-mode problem(s) -- hence it should not surprise us that the problem has evidently not been solved (and in the case of waldoatticus, it is even worse...).
There are a couple mentions about improvements to CarPlay connectivity on system bootup, yet, as I reported earlier, it my case it is now worse: My RDX is now absolutely refusing to connect to CarPlay on bootup (I have to wait for the system to fully start up before I connect my iPhone).

I have not been able to determine if there are any relevant changes/improvements to my other issues (losing CarPlay connectivity...)

Again, what is most irritating to me is Acura's silence on the matter(s). Given that they assert the problems they DID allege to fix in this OTA were "rare", I am speculating that Acura has adopted a position where they think it is in their best interest to refuse to acknowledge they even HAVE a problem...(?)

 

For what its worth, as the OP, I will note that I have never had an iPhone, so it wasn't part of my issue either. It has not cropped up for me since I started this thread, though. Even with the new software.

I think Acura can argue through rose colored glasses that as far as they know, these problems are rare. I am guessing that they sell a whole bunch of RDXes and probably only get 100 people complaining about a given issue (except maybe the Infotainment Issues that prevent actually using the system). It only takes a bit of marketing savvy to turn that into the pleasant sounding "rare."

Once you notice it though, it pops right into your face with every change log.

 

Thank you
If true, their 'rose-colored' perception certainly leaves a bad taste, no?

 

Just thought the crowd here might 'appreciate' some updated "information":

I finally received a call from Acura as a manner of 'follow-up' from a call I'd placed.

My call to them was to let them know that the 'information' they had eventually provided to me:
--- In a call I finally received after the THIRD ticket I'd opened via the Acura Mobile App they'd asserted that the annoying intermittent Day/Night mode flashing and the accompanying "Drive mode change unavailable" error were related to the use of CarPlay and instructing me that I should stop using CarPlay ---
...was incorrect: CarPlay had nothing to do with the "Drive mode" problem.

In our original conversation (when they'd erroneously implicated CarPlay...) they had informed me an OTA update was expected in September that would address 'the problem" (bear in mind the ticket I'd opened was primarily wrt the Day/Night mode/"Drive mode change unavailable" issue, with a footnote that I was also having CarPlay connectivity problems).

Anyway...: I got an unprompted call from Acura to let me know that the September OTA update was now delayed, and that it should be available in October.

The annoying part of the call?
The Rep let me know that the (now-October...) OTA update would solve my issue. I asked for clarification: Which issue? (there were two...). He declared the CarPlay connectivity/reliability problem (which was barely a footnote on the tickets I'd opened). I asked him what about the "Drive mode..." issue (which, again, was the primary point of the tickets -- plural -- I'd opened)? He put me on hold to 'go look', and when he returned he told me THAT issue (the "Drive mode..." problem) was still under investigation and he had no ETA.

Just FYI...

 

I have had the 1.1.4 since late Aug and I have not seen the "drive mode not available" (screen brights/dims on its own).
I did do a factory reset from the menu on the screen (not the 3-button salute) after the firmware update from 1.1.2 to 1.1.4.

Also note that I got the RDX in early October 2018 and did not see the "drive mode not available" until the Christmas weekend in the same year with the Navigation on the main screen (with software version 1.1.2).

 

Unfortunately, like some others, I have seen this message with 1.1.4. Only once but the symptom is similar to those I had with 1.1.2, where I can see in the self-diagnosis screen, there is some issue with the gateway(hub) that collects info from body/frame/AC.

 

I just had this happen to me as well. I'm on the latest version of firmware. Perhaps a moderator can merge my post in here.
https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...itches-983335/

 

I installed the update (D.1.2.1) Monday — Now we wait and see if it addresses this issue (the “Drive mode change unavailable” and day/night mode screen-flashing)...

The Acura release-notes for D.1.2.1 make no mention of anything related to the “Drive mode...” problem, however. Indeed: Any communication from Acura has always referred to CarPlay issues but never any mention of the “Drive mode...” issue (has ANYone heard anything from Acura specifically relating to this issue??).

I can confirm that last week (on the then-current firmware) I had the “Drive mode...” problem. However: Prior to that incident mine had gone a long time without incident, but this is after my dealer had done a full ‘battery-disconnect reset’ (which even cleared my average fuel-economy data, etc...), because my unreliable CarPlay had stopped working completely (the battery-disconnect brought it back, because pulling the fuse for the infotainment system for 1/2-hour — a suggested troubleshooting step — had done nothing to resurrect CarPlay).

I speculate that the battery-disconnect reset cleared something that temporarily improved the “Drive mode...” problem/situation(?), as well as bringing CarPlay back (albeit still unreliably). In a call from Acura about a month ago the rep did mention a theory that the USB port (the one for CarPlay/Android Auto) was somehow implicated in some number of issues they were seeing — not just CarPlay issues...

So we wait and see...

Meanwhile (and separately?): I can confirm that D.1.2.1 has at least improved CarPlay connectivity/reliability — Given history, however, I am not ready to declare THAT fixed ... yet.

 

Saw the drive mode not available message with screen brights/dims since the update for the first time. This is with FM radio on main screen and navigation on the side screen.
Also, last week, when starting the car with USB drive connected and playing, got "initializing" and does not play USB music, unplug/replug did not solve the problem. Turning off the car and restarting it fixed the issue.
I am going to do a factory reset and go from there.

 

The drive mode unavailable error with the day to night screen switching started for me after the latest update along with the random car play disconnects. Talked with my dealer and there’s nothing they can do to fix it. Opened a case with Acura and it’s just the same old excuses of send us your mileage, address, and any service reports from the dealer concerning the issue. Now they want the name of the dealer. Now it’s time to wait for the next software update. Oh well.