hand-filer

One of the stages is fully locked. This stage is activated on sharp bumps.

Spirited Driver

Those are just your thoughts, correct?

hand-filer

That was just sarcasm.

AmberB

Fixed with red text to indicate sarcasm...

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

If your new shocks fixed your issue then the "suspension is not flawed"....the shocks may be weak, poorly made or whatever....but, if the suspension was flawed then "your fix" would not have cured the issue you "had." Right????
IMO...the RDX handles very well, rides great, etc. Overall it sounds like the shocks contracted to be made in Mexico may not be quite the quality they should be. For my dealer to find 2....1 each on 2 different '13 RDX's to be leaking badly is "not normal" for a new vehicle with fairly low miles. I've checked mine and they are not leaking. I just don't think they are calibrated...and or just not made by the co. in Mexico to the highest standards. If another manufacturer comes out with a quality "comparable" designed shock to exactly replace the "fit" of the current one...I will buy them. Better that way than having Acura warranty them and putting the same ones on. Maybe something will happen soon with a TSB from Acura.

Let's keep one another informed about this.

hawkeye62

Thanks for making some sense on this "issue".

Regards, Jim

hand-filer

I respectfully disagree. The shocks are a critical component of the suspension system. The original shocks were noisy, the dealer installed OEM replacements were noisy, the compression and rebound dampening calibration sucks! With a bit of research and a lot of luck I chose an aftermarket shock that happens to work better than the OEM shock. The system remains flawed only less so now.
Your post is somewhat contradictory because you say that your RDX rides and handles great, but that the shock calibration might not be right and that you wouldn't want Acura to install the same ones again.
I'm beginning to doubt that a recall will ever happen but an eventual redesign and TSB might.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

OK...then help us understand your situation. You earlier had bragged about how well your RDX felt after your shock replacement....so what is the problem now? Just curious.
Yes...I figured someone would think my statement was contradictory. For the first 6 mos. approx. I was very pleased with the suspension system. Then the rear shock issue started getting my attention. So, with quality shocks I'm pleased with the rest of the system. Apparently you are not....but, again, we don't know why.

And, of course, I would not want the same factory shocks installed if I feel they are flawed. I wouldn't let them waste my time or theirs to do that. As I said before, I'd rather buy quality replacements when they are available. Now if mine were to start leaking...then I'd have a decision to make IF aftermarket shocks were not available.

hand-filer

Being subjective isn't bragging. Go back and read my posts again. I think you will realize that any complaints I made were about the performance of the OEM shocks, not the current shocks.
Although it's entirely possible, it's still rather presumptuous of you to assume that no one else understood my point of view.
Here's the situation stripped down to the bare essentials:
Factory shocks - not so good.
Replacement Honda Odyssey shocks - much better.
Factory engineered solution - best possible scenario.

Are you good with that?

ovation

I am on Day 3 as a new owner of my 2013 RDX, and I am disgusted that Acura screwed up the rear shock and suspension design. My log:

DAY 1:

Picked up my new new red RDX. Beautiful inside and out. Drove 25 miles home on the highway. All good so far. Smooth highway, no potholes. That evening, took it to run an errand over a secondary road with some dips and rough spots. BANG! BANG! from the rear on this road. Sounded like the spare was bouncing around. Did some testing. Removed the spare cover, confirmed that the spare was tightened down (it was), drove around my neighborhood and found a sunken spot. Pipe under the street, sunk at the surface about 1-2 feet wide, about 1-2 inches deep. Nice smooth dip with no hard edge. BANG! Very pronounced. CRAP!

It seems sunken manhole covers and such things as this dip in my road are perfect to produce the BANG. Seems the tire needs to go down first, and then on the up, the shock is a stiff mode which results in the BANG. I do not notice it as much over a speed bump.

Note that this is all with the outside temp in the teens (F).

DAY 2:

Called the dealership (one of the largest in Mass, and the country I imagine), and brought it right in. Took the tech for a ride, he heard it too. Picked up my ILX loaner and drove away.

Service dept reported that they had been in contact with the Acura Tech Group, and that new shocks were being overnighted, along with instructions to test the new shocks first with extension, the compression, etc, on the bench.

DAY 3: (today, as I write this)

Service department called, said the tests on the new shock were fine, then they installed them but it has not fixed the problem. Acura Tech group instructed the service Dept to try another 2013. Result: the other 2013 had the same problem over the same rode course. Then they told me THIS IS THE NORMAL OPERATING CONDITION OF THE VEHICLE. Now I am PISSED. Are you kidding me, a $40k vehicle that goes BANG like that?

Note again, outside temp was in the low teens (F)

My next call was to the GM of the dealership. I give him credit for jumping in the way he did, but I do NOT accept the premise that this is the normal condition for this vehicle. That is BS. I have a 10 year old MDX with 140k miles, and it does not have such a problem. I did not by a Kia or something here.

Next up: The Acura Tech group could not reproduce the problem, and they are going to try other things tomorrow. I wonder where they are located, and if they have the low temps that we now have here in Boston.

Also: The Acura dealer rep is now involved and taking some action.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

And oh, one more thing: I drove my ILX loaner, also a new 2013 model, which has the same or similar shocks as the 2013 RDX, over that dip in the road new my house. And it has a BANG from the rear shocks also. Not as bad as the RDX, but it is there.

Acura has a problem, and they had better get a fix for this!

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Actually no. And there is no need for you to be pissy over a question based on your own words.

You had earlier said "the system remains flawed only less so." So, once you stop being so sensitive and follow my thinking...BASED on YOUR writings. All I was asking...AFTER you put the new shocks on...what is still not right???
Is that more clear...and are you good with that...the question???
I did reread your earlier writings. THAT's why I asked the question....and maybe others didn't understand what you were getting at either.

Is it too much trouble for you to answer that basic question....which you still have not done? Relax...take a deep breath. We are all on here to learn what we can from one another. Not to bitch at each other. I won't....waste of my time.

Spirited Driver

Very nice write-up. I and many others are experiencing the same noise in the ILX. Since the temperature has dropped, it has become more and more pronounced. I am fed up with this as well. Been havin suspension noise in the ILX since day 1.

Please call Acura relations to report the issue and have them open up a ticket# so that Acura corporate is aware of this and not just on the dealership level. Please mention that the ILX is experiencing the same noise since the new shocks have been redesigned for both the ILX and RDX. Thank You.

(800-382-2238)

hand-filer

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us.
It's as if you were describing my exact situation right down to the loaner ILX. Freaky!
My dealer has been cooperative and are in agreement with the defective shock theory.
The Dealer can only do so much. Write a letter to Acura Customer Relations and let them know that their tier 2 luxury product sounds like a a clapped out Hyundai Pony when driven over rough roads.

ovation

Day 4 (as the owner of a new 2013 RDX):

Today I returned my loaner to the dealer, and they gave me a ride home in their shuttle. No fix today. Tomorrow I leave for the Caribbean for a week, where my biggest worry will be what type of frozen drink will be on the menu for happy hour.

The plan is to leave my RDX with them for a week while they wait for Acura Techline in Torrence, CA to work on this. They have not been able to reproduce the problem out there, but from what I am told, they are working on this. They obviously don't have the temps that we have now in Boston. We shall see just how good their Tech group is over the next few days.

I did print out a log of this entire discussion thread, circling all entries from hand-filer. They thought that was quite good. They got a laugh out of how Acura might feel about popping in some Monroes. We all agree that a factory engineered solution is the only way to go.

The dealer and their Acura dealer rep have offered some things to me, and out of respect for how great they are treating me, I don't think it's right that I detail that to this forum right now. I will say that the dealer has done everything that I have asked of them, and more. Enough can't be said of their handling the situation.

They'll be emailing me updates, and I'll keep posting as news comes in.

dc5k20z1

<insert standing ovation here>

Rocket_man

It is surprising to me that Acura's testing didn't find this. It seems to be clearly temperature related and having lived only a few miles from the Torrance Acura facility I can see why they don't this is problem there. But they supposedly do cold weather testing. Maybe they skimped on this on both the LX and RDX. I wonder what else they missed.

I'm making my own decision to hold out for the TLX or move on to another brand. I'm not sure I can trust Acura if they tell their customers that clunking is a normal behavior. Who the heck would believe that? And if that is normal for an Acura vehicle who would want to buy one? Not me.

Don't be stupid Acura and don't think your customers are either.

dc5k20z1

I received one of the JD Power and Associates surveys for the RDX which basically asks about the quality, craftsmanship, and overall satisfaction of the car. I mentioned the clunking of the rear suspension and also printed out the threads from the ILX forum and the RDX forum. Not every single page... just the first page and mailed it off. I plan on writing to Acura corporate and client relations whenever I get around to it

vicpai

...it appears to be a "quality" issue. Didn't you guys say the shocks were made in Mexico? That is enough for me to write off the shocks. So the solution may be to just replace with aftermarket ones made in the US, as hand-filer has done (of course, Japanese made ones would be the best).

I'm afraid this whole thing is going to eventually lead to a downward spiral in overall quality for these products (maybe not now, but in the future). It all began with getting terrible low quality garbage from China (the absolute worst stuff you can ever imagine), and now a similar trend to get equally low quality stuff from Mexico.

I know this is a bit off topic, but FYI, I would no longer touch the Honda Fit with a ten foot pole, even if they gave it to me free (it is supposedly going to be manufactured in Mexico)...shudder, shudder, shudder It will be interesting to see that model go from one of the ABOLUTE HIGHEST quality (it is currently made in Japan!!!) to absolute low quality trash. I will be closely monitoring Consumer Reports

Anybody who wants a Fit and has any sense in their head will pick up a used low-mileage MADE-IN-JAPAN current model over the made-in-Mexico garbage. The used ones may even command a higher price.

AmberB

Just because something is made in Mexico, doesn't mean it is automatically trash. My tequila and some of the beer I prefer is made in Mexico and it all works just fine.

Check the link and consider adjusting your attitude.
http://www.drtomorrow.com/lessons/lessons3/31.html

California research group, J.D. Power & Associates, in their annual report on such developments rated Ramos Arizpe Numero Uno among G.M. plants, which averages 86 glitches per 100 cars. The current industry average in the entire U.S. auto industry is 140 glitches, down dramatically from a few years ago.

hand-filer

My 2008 Saturn Vue was built there. I found 14 fasteners in the vehicle that were not attached to it.
3 under the hood, 9 between the carpet and the floor and 2 that fell out of the dash while I was driving it.
It began falling apart the day I drove it out of the showroom.
You have an opinion, vicpai has an opinion and I have an opinion. No one's forcing there opinion upon you. It's an open forum and a free country last I heard,

AmberB

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with a GM designed car.
Reminds me of the 1992 Jeep Wrangler I owned that was built in (gasp) Canada. There were more quality issues with that truck than any I have owned previously or since. Apparently, no country that manufactures cars or car parts is immune from quality problems.

If you check my post again, and follow the link to read the story, it becomes clear that Mexico can produce a better quality product than the USA. To automatically write a whole country's manufacturing off may be narrow minded. Yes, maybe these shocks are poor quality. Maybe they are of reasonable quality and of poor design, but the broad generalization that an entire country has inferior product is a reach.

I agree, everybody has an opinion. His opinion was expressed in this way "Didn't you guys say the shocks were made in Mexico? That is enough for me to write off the shocks." A previous bad experience with a product or manufacturer does not mean an entire country produces inferior product. It's not known what information he used to come to his conclusion, but it's likely insufficient to be judged a sound decision based in fact. If it was absolutely true that the country of Mexico made universally bad product all manufacturing would be forced to move because of market pressures. Instead, many companies with global markets are moving manufacturing to Mexico (and Central America and South America) due to the logistical benefits with no negative impacts found on quality. Who can blame them? Their engineers design products and send the plans to the factory. The factory then builds the product to the engineer's spec. If the product fails who is at fault, the design team or the build team?
So while nobody is forcing an opinion on anybody, I am suggesting (and it's only a suggestion) that maybe conclusions have been made that weren't well thought out or blame laid at the wrong doorstep.

weather

I agree with this statement.....I think we always have to at the global picture (no pun intended here). There are many reasons why things can go bad in a hurry...

1. Poor design
2. Poor skill set - work force (training etc)
3. Cost cutting measure using inferior grade material
4. etc...

The bottom line is that it appears that with Mexico and other countries such as China and such, companies have focused on the design aspect and never spent enough to ensure that the rest of the manufacturing link also got the proper attention it deserved. Its all about money it appears and how to maximize profit, and Honda who have done a good job at sheltering their customers from unreliable parts are maybe becoming a bit lax in that department. They should be very careful because as we all know, Honda has been somewhat lack luster in their design language recently (last few models are making progress such as the Accord etc) and their technology is a bit behind the competitor but their saving grace has been their reliability and great reputation....If they let that slide, this will be more costly than the money they would ever spend on selecting top notch material for their car manufacturing. If Honda/Acura are browsing these forums....PLEASE TAKE NOTE!! DON'T LET QUALITY SLIDE....You CAN'T afford it!

Busy Livin'

Just trying to keep things in perspective here. Noisy shocks happen. They won't catch fire and your car won't explode. They will make noise.

Any time you purchase the first model year of a design, you are opening yourself to experiencing these sorts of issues. We are essentially the beta testers for the second generation RDXs. It takes a while for these sorts of issues to be discovered as more and more miles are driven by more and more drivers. Of course they test them pre-production but not every glitch is going to be caught, especially if components or manufacturers of components are changed before or during production.

I had a similar issue with my 2010 Outback, which was the first model year of the fourth generation. There was a vibration in the steering wheel at high speeds unrelated to wheel balance. It took Subaru several TSB attempts and quite a few months to figure it out, but once they did, they fixed the cars with the issue and implemented the fix in the production line. No more issue...but man, you should have heard the howling in the mean time. You would have thought that Subaru was the IRS and out to screw everyone. Really, they were just a car company trying to figure out 1) if there really was an issue and 2) if so, how to address it. It took them a while but they did.

I guess all I am trying to say is to be patient and work with Acura. They didn't do this on purpose. It happens, in $20k cars, $40k cars and $100k cars. Just be polite and persistent...you will get farther that way than ranting and raving. If enough people open cases with Acura Coporate, it will get their attention. The dealers really do know nothing in these situations and they won't have a fix until Acura supplies it to them. So don't take it out on the dealers, even when they say it is a characteristic of the vehicle or "normal". If the other RDXs on the lot do it too, it really is normal and will be until Acura comes up with a fix. When there is an inherent engineering or design flaw in a component, the dealer isn't going to be able to do anything except put a new flawed component on the car. It may solve the problem for a while until it breaks down as well. These sorts of issues are only resolved at the corporate/engineering level, not at dealership service facilities. So in the mean time, be realistic in your expectations with the dealers when addressing this issue. It's going to take some time before a fix is found. You may not initially make much progress with the factory rep either. This is more frustrating. But this person doesn't have the fix until corporate supplies it to them either. Again, patience and persistence.

One of the cool things about buying a new design is all of the looks and compliments you get. It catches people's eyes and turns their heads when a 3rd or 4th year of a design no longer does. What you are NOT buying is tried and true technology for which all of the bugs have been worked out. You sacrificed that when you opted for the new design. Unfortunately, it's difficult to have both. In the mean time, work with Acura to identify and eliminate the bugs. And try to enjoy the many cool and perfectly functioning aspects of your new car.

Spirited Driver

Any more people experiencing noise coming from schocks/struts?

rdxm

Just for the record, I hear the clunking from the rear too when I go over sunk manholes or similar holes. I hope Acura reads these forums and issue a TSB soon. I didn't bother going to the dealership yet, I'm pretty sure they will not hear it...

Dutchml

Did I read somewhere that the newer RDXs have had the shocks/struts changed? I have an 18xxx vin RDX and I haven't heard any thumping/clunking coming from the rear.

Spirited Driver

Where did you read that and do you have a link?

Dutchml

I knew that was coming.....

Unfortunately I've no idea where I may have read that. But if I run across it again, I'll post up a link.

weather

^^^ There has been a few cases where some rear shocks were replaced because they were leaking, some quite badly. Acura has not issued a TSB or acknowledged a defect with their rear suspension. Until they do, we are subject to hearing a large "thud" when hitting some road imperfections. I heard it yesterday and that particular event almost made it sound as it the sound was coming from the rear passenger door panel. I didn't get a chance to recreate it as I do everything to avoid bumps on the road

Bbmura

Nothing here yet, but I've only had mine for about a month now, and I live in Florida where we've had literally no winter at all.

I'll be listening for it, though.

Now, I'm really glad I joined this site. What great information this thread alone has offered.

hand-filer

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...2#post14308522

xcitin

I had the same issue...took it to a dealer and it was the strut - they replaced it. I also have been hearing a squeaky noise when I break and after arguing with the dealer, they replaced my rotors.

I had an MDX for a loaner...like it better, but MPG is not that great.

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Just to clarify for some folks who may not know. On the rear....you have separate springs and shocks. The shocks are what's been giving some of us grief.

The front suspension does have "struts." These combine the spring and the shock system into one component.

So, in the rear suspension, they use regular...but "special" shock absorbers. They are not struts. Much cheaper to replace once the aftermarket starts making them for the '13 RDX and if anyone is so inclined to replace them.....if Acura doesn't come up with a better shock.

The CRV has struts at all 4 corners. So, it doesn't use the exact same suspension set up in the rear....but, they do share the AWD system.
Looked at all of them up on the racks at my Honda dealer today. Nice to be able to have the run of the shop.

danmangto

True... Most first year designs in later years are pretty decent. The advantage of buying a first year car is that you have a new car for the next 3 to 6 years. You hear of the people that buy the last year of a generation getting great deals, but then their car is instantly like a 6 yr old car. The depreciation is greater.

AmberB

Well, I'm picking mine up from the dealer today. No problem found. No noises heard. Great.

Mr Marco

remove coke whore from trunk.

hand-filer

Don't quit your day job.

GarrettinSF

Very strange ... I hadn't experienced the clunking sound until after a trip to the mountains. After a few days in below freezing weather, we heard it. Since coming back from vacation, we've continued to notice it. I guess we need to take it in and have it checked out. As a note, our VIN is in the 9000s.

weather

^^^ Only when I started driving it in the cold weather than I did hear it too...

probmxstyle

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am experiencing this issue on my 2012 TL w/sh-awd. There is a noticable clunk coming from the right rear suspension. The TL uses "dual-stage hydraulic "blow-off" suspension dampers". Not sure if its the same tech in the RDX. I ordered a new OEM strut and will see if it fixes the issue.