2021 Acura Rdx

On or about XXX, my 2021 Acura RDX, with approximately 121,078 miles, suddenly displayed multiple dashboard warning lights and system-failure messages while I was driving. These included the check-engine light, Road Departure Mitigation System Problem, steering, stability-control, braking-assistance and other driver-assistance warnings. Earlier, the tire-pressure monitoring system had also indicated a malfunction even though the tire pressures were correct. The vehicle initially continued to drive and the conventional brakes appeared to function normally. However, it then began hesitating when I attempted to accelerate. The vehicle would eventually gain speed, but the initial hesitation created a serious safety concern when pulling into traffic or attempting to accelerate. The check-engine light remained solid while the vehicle was stopped but flashed whenever I began driving and accelerating again. No crash, fire or injury occurred. The vehicle had undergone a full diagnostic inspection approximately two weeks earlier, and I was informed that everything checked out properly. There were no known drivability problems before this incident, and the vehicle has been maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommended service schedule. The vehicle was subsequently inspected by Elite Acura, an authorized Acura dealership in [XXX]. The dealership confirmed a head-gasket failure and a problem with the rear differential left-side actuator. The dealer recommended replacing the head gasket, four spark plugs, coolant, oil and filter, as well as replacing the rear differential left-side actuator and changing the differential fluid. The estimated head-gasket repair was $5,391.46, and the estimated rear differential actuator and fluid service was $813.85. The dealer also recommended rear brake pads and rotors. The head-gasket and rear differential actuator problems were confirmed by the authorized Acura dealership. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Drove into parking lot and as I was pulling into the parking spot next to the building, the vehicle started to surge forward as if I had my foot on the gas instead of the brake. The sudden surge caused the vehicle to plow into a brick building causing about $10K damage to the vehicle and $5K to the building. This was not the first time this sudden surging occurred. It happened at least 3 times previously, and one time since. Fortunately, the other occurrences did not lead to any damages, but just some anxious moments. I took the vehicle to the dealership to get checked out after the last occurrence, but they said they couldn't duplicate it. I thought it might be some sort of "unknown" problem, until I started reading on Facebook and other internet websites of other people having the same scary "surging" engine issues. I believe there's more to it now, and an investigation is warranted.

On 2-10-2024 I was driving the 2021 RDX SH-AWD on I-40W in TN with my daughter in the passenger's seat. It was raining. After about 2 hours of driving, at about 3:00 pm, I took a break at a Rest Area near Buffalo Valley. After ~20-min rest, I restarted the car and tried to merge back onto I-40W. I was accelerating towards the speed limit of 70 m/h, but suddenly, at about 65m/h, I felt the car losing power. I could not speed up anymore: the car did not respond to the gas pedal and the speed dropped to about 40m/h. The orange engine light started to flash on the dashboard. A truck nearly piled on me from behind. Cars and trucks from behind had to switch lanes quickly to avoid collision. I was able to pull over to the shoulder and stopped with my emergency light on. I turned off the engine for about 10 minutes, then I restarted the car again and got back on the road. This time, everything seemed normal, but I was so scared and worried the car might suddenly not respond again. Fortunately, I was able to get home eventually without any additional problems.

On 12/22/22, I was driving in a 2021 RDX SH-AWD with my pregnant wife and 2 year old son from Media PA to Pittsburgh PA . It was rainy and 35-40 degrees F the whole drive. Approximately 4 hours into the drive we stopped at a rest stop on the PA turnpike to get gas. While attempting to merge back onto the turnpike from the service road to the right of the turnpike, a truck was coming up behind me in the right hand lane of the turnpike. I was traveling approximately 40mph on the service road, so I went to accelerate to safely complete the merge in front of the truck. Near the end of my acceleration sequence (I estimate I had gotten to approx 65mph) my car went into “limp mode”. I felt an unexpected and immediate loss of power and my check engine light/“MIL” began flashing yellow. I was luckily able to barely avoid a collision with the truck that was approaching. After the light started flashing I was unable to turn the knob to switch drive modes (it was in snow mode at the time this all happened). I was unable to do anything but attempt to drive to safety with severe power loss. I was able to coast my car with minimal accelerator response to the next exit off the turnpike and into a motel parking lot. I shut down the car and then turned it back on. When I turned it back on, the MIL light was no longer flashing and I had normal power restored to the vehicle, but interestingly the auto stop/start feature no longer worked. I was able to drive the remainder of the way to Pittsburgh without any further loss in power, though I was anxious the entire drive considering the major malfunction I had just experienced while attempting a merge at highway speeds. The vehicle only had approx 10,500 miles on it at the time of the incident. The vehicle is currently at the dealership being diagnosed. A case has also been opened directly with Acura/Honda.

My experience is in the attached file. My concern is Honda (Acura, same company) issued a service bulletin with VIN ranges (which my vehicle falls in) and yet there is no diagnostic error code to show it happened to the car, repair persons/dealerships can and have denied fixing anything because they can’t diagnose it and it’s in the owner’s manual directing the owner to take it to the dealer for repair. That’s a big disconnect. Luckily, I was able to dig to find the bulletin and provided it to my dealer with the description of what happened and they’re going to fix it. But that doesn’t help anyone else. You really should put pressure on American Honda Motor to issue a recall and do it right.

One week ago 6-20-22, my car started to ‘chug’ and slow down as I was accelerating up a hill on a highway. It was almost as if my car was losing power. When this happened about 10 warnings signs came up on my dash. I drove it directly to the dealership. They replaced my oil saying the pressure was low. All was well for the day after 6-21 when driving it home from dealership. On 6-22 I went to merge onto a local highway from a stop sign with traffic coming at 55-65 mph. My car would not accelerate over 25 and I was unable to pull of. Thankfully I pulled off onto the next exit. I could have easily been rear ended and hurt. This issue since will go away if I shut off my car and turn it back on, but not every time. It is still chugging and losing power when I drive and all the errors on the dashboard are coming up randomly. I drive A LOT everyday for work and this problem is really scaring me knowing I or others could get hurt.

I own a 2021 Acura RDX that was purchased new in February 2021. In the 11,500 miles I have driven it, there have been zero problems until yesterday. However, yesterday, when driving on an Interstate highway at 70 mph, in the rain, while passing a semi truck, my Acura RDX suddenly went into limp mode and the check engine light began flashing. After pulling over to the berm, and driving in the limp mode to the next exit, I turned the engine off. When I turned the engine back on it functioned normally and the check engine light went out. The engine has functioned normally for the approximately 100 miles I have driven since that time. Since there is no problem now, I have not taken the vehicle to the dealer to be checked since I felt that they would find nothing. When looking up this problem I found that mine is not an isolated case, and this same thing has happened to other Acura RDX owners. For that reason I am reporting the problem. I have also written to Acura to tell them of the problem. This was a very scary situation to have the engine suddenly, and without warning, go into limp mode while on a busy Interstate highway. Fortunately, in this case I was able to safely get to the berm of the road, but that might not always be possible. I have no idea when this might happen again, which is also scary. It is also very strange that by turning the engine off and then back on the problem disappeared. If requested, I would be happy to have Acura look at my vehicle if it would help to find the root cause of this problem. Thank you for your review of this problem.