Cuzz

Has anyone gotten the following message while driving their RDX:
"Transmission Temperature Near Limit. Avoid Heavy Acceleration And High Speed."

It happened to me this weekend while driving up North to NH. After about an hour of cruising between 75-80mph the above warning appeared, and kept appearing each time I tried to dismiss it. I slowed down to about 60 for a while and it cleared itself, but then reappeared when I increased speed back up to 75mph. I slowed to 65 and it cleared itself, and hasn't appeared again. I put about 300+ miles on it continuing to NH, driving around, and then returning home and have not seen the message again. The return trip home was 150 miles with a lot of 75-80mph driving and it never re-appeared.

Just wondering if anyone else has gotten it. I took it to the Acura dealer today, they were very nice, said there was no code in the system, they couldn't reproduce the message, and they checked the transmission fluid and it was ok, didn't appear burnt or anything.

leomio2.0

I can't remember where I saw it, here or on Reddit, but I remember seeing this exact issue on another vehicle with the 10AT. I don't remember if it was on a RDX, TLX or MDX. If memory serves, they brought it in, they couldn't find anything wrong and the message never re-appeared. Folks who do their own fluid changes have found mystery fluid on the bottom of their transmissions/transfer cases. I wonder if this may in fact be transmission fluid leaking causing the transmission to overheat?

Are you able to crawl under the vehicle and remove the transmission side undercover to see if perhaps you're dealing with a similar issue?

How many miles are on the car?

attofarad

Other than driving at a fairly fast pace, did you have anything like a roof carrier box, bike rack or a heavy load?

Cuzz

Vehicle has 63k miles.
No roof carrier or anything else on exterior. Only 2 adults inside, so nothing to put any additional strain/drag on vehicle.

russianDude

you need to take your car to dealership asap.

JDMaccord3.5

I recall there was an overheating issue on the Honda/Acura 9-speed transmission when driving over steep hills, mild off-road for long periods of time.

In your case, did you have a heavy loads during the drive? drove through steep hills or incline roads? do you have SH-AWD?

Cuzz

Lol, my first post reflects that it already went to the dealer and they found nothing wrong.

JB in AZ

Often times, good intended folks on a forum offer an answer before reading the following posts first.

russianDude

yes my bad, but I would be calling Acura corporate also. Video would help. Something is faulty.

Cuzz

I have been guilty of that many times.
I think for now I’m going to just ignore this occurrence and see if it happens again. The issue has been documented with Acura. I have many other things to worry about for now.

I will say, that after 60+ thousand miles I am still loving this car. Very glad I chose it over the other vehicles I was considering.

Cuzz

Just wanted to close the loop on this. The error appeared again, last month, and Acura took it in for further testing and gave me 2021 RDX loaner. Dealership said they were working with "Big Acura" on a resolution. After a week they told me the transmission needed to be replaced. I have an extended warranty, so the repair was covered in full. Got my car back last week. Overall, I am very happy with the dealership, and the fact that they let me have their loaner for the whole month they had my car. They called me regularly with updates as the process played out. Hopefully this transmission lasts longer than the last one.
As nice as the 2021 Tech RDX loaner was, I definitely prefer my 2020 Advance.

attofarad

Doesn't the 2020 RDX have a 70k mile drivetrain warranty?

Did they have any idea what was wrong with the transmission?

Cuzz

You are correct, I didn't realize that, so it would have been covered either way. They did not say what was wrong, they just said that it died during diagnostic testing they were doing as requested by "big acura".

30yearhonda

I got the same message. I was running about 80 in West Texas. 104 plus. I slowed down. Pulled into rest stop. Idled for 10 min or so. Resumed trip. Did not happen again.
I was concerned. Went to dealer. They were not concerned. My engineer mind tells me it’s got to be something. I changed the transmission filter. Draining ATF. Took 6 qts to fill.

russianDude

6qts is too much. Did you follow procedure to adjust your fluid level? It will take 5.1qt at most.

30yearhonda

Of course I followed the process….it took more fluid as I took the cooler off for inspection.

Geohutch

I did not receive overheating message but my 2019 RDX 75k miles after 20 minutes of city driving in mild temperatures felt like it shifted into neutral while accelerating onto highway maybe 50mph. Indicator still said D for drive. RPM’s were over 5,000 and I could rev engine as if in neutral. Slowed down, it engaged, I stopped and tested shifting gears and drove away. It did it again within 5 minutes. First Dealership found no codes. Drove 400 miles home and Second dealership found no codes. Fluid was changed at 60k miles. I’ve driven it another 1,000 miles without reoccurrence. Any ideas or suggestions?

Gate 17

The dealership I use recommends to change the transmission fluid after 60K kilometers 38K miles. This is NOT a flush. I have 74k kilometers on the car and will be getting the fluid changed at the next service.
Also, the rear differential change fluid was already changed.
This might be overkill but my last TSX lasted 15 years and I'd like the RDX to last too.

russianDude

I also changed my ATF at 30k miles, did it myself and will be changing it every 30k. I think MID is about every 45k miles

ddpsrq

Hi - Would you be willing to share the name of the dealer that was able to figure out the issue? My daughter is having similar issues with a 2020 RDX. Thanks so much!

Santurce

Hi and thank you for sharing this information, we recently purchased a used 2021 Acura RDX and while my wife was driving to Miami, FL she got the same transmission over heating warning. She stopped and let the car cool off, but it happens again 2 days after on the way back. We took the car to the dealer, but they were unable to duplicate the issue because they are not allow to drive over 75mph while at work understandably and they are not willing to pay any of their techs the 2 hours to drive the car. We did provided pictures with time stamps, but they are saying that the manufacture will only consider this an issue if the dealer is able to duplicate it. Can you tell me how the dealer was able to duplicate your issue? Or any advised before we go the BBB, social medial route?

russianDude

Did they check fluid level? I wonder if fluid is low and it causes overheating. This is really bad situation, if its not resolved while car still has warranty, I would be looking to sell it