2003 Acura Rsx

THE MECHANICS AT ACURA FOUND GALLING ON ONE OR MORE CAM SHAFT LOBES IN MY ENGINE. THE SYMPTOMS OF THIS PROBLEM ARE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND A NOTICEABLE, LOUDER THAN NORMAL, CLICKING/TAPPING NOISE FROM THE VALVE COVER AREA. THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE THAT HAS CAUSED ME GREAT CONCERN. GALLING IS A CONDITION WHEREBY EXCESSIVE FRICTION BETWEEN HIGH SPOTS RESULTS IN LOCALIZED WELDING WITH SUBSEQUENT SPLITTING AND A FURTHER ROUGHENING OF RUBBING SURFACES OF ONE OR BOTH OF TWO MATING PARTS. WITH RESPECT TO MY CAMSHAFT, IT SHOULD HAVE A MIRROR-LIKE SURFACE TO PREVENT FRICTION DURING NORMAL OPERATION, BUT INSTEAD IT APPEARS PITTED AND IS SUBSEQUENTLY AFFECTING MY CAR'S PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY. ADDITIONALLY, DUE TO THE LOCATION OF THIS PROBLEM AND ITS SUBTLE SYMPTOMS, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE/FIND WITHOUT PHYSICALLY REMOVING THE ENGINE'S VALVE COVER AND INSPECTING THE CAMSHAFT LOBES; IT COULD VERY WELL EXIST FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MILES UNDETECTED. IN MY COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH SEVERAL HONDA DEDICATED ENTHUSIAST WEBSITES, I HAVE FOUND THAT MANY OTHER PEOPLE WORLDWIDE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE EARLY K-SERIES ENGINES. I HAVE HEARD/READ RUMORS THAT THIS IS A RESULT OF POOR CASTING AND IMPROPER HEAT TREATING IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THE MECHANIC AT ACURA EVEN STATED COULD BE DUE TO IMPROPER HEAT TREATMENT, WHICH LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, YET IT GOES UNDETECTED AND UNANNOUNCED AT OUR EXPENSE. OBVIOUSLY, I AM CONCERNED FOR MY SAFETY AS WELL AS THE SAFETY OF MY PASSENGERS. I TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN MY CAR AS WELL AS THE HONDA/ACURA NAME WRITTEN UPON IT AND I WOULD NOT BE VERY HELPFUL IF I DID NOT BRING THIS ISSUE TO YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 ACURA RSX WITH A 4-CYLINDER, 2.0 LITER ENGINE. WHILE DRIVING AT SPEEDS OF 65 MPH, THERE WAS A TAPPING NOISE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE VEHICLE THEN STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AND SHORTLY AFTER, HE WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED, THE VEHICLE ABNORMALLY ACCELERATED AND INCREASED IN ENGINE RPMS OF 9,000. HE WAS ABLE TO PUT THE VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL AND MANEUVER OFF THE HIGHWAY. THE ENGINE THEN BLEW ITSELF AND MADE A LOUD POPPING NOISE. HE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AT THAT POINT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THEY PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC AND DETERMINED THE FAILURE TO BE DRIVER ERROR. THE ENGINE WAS REPLACED AT THE OWNER'S EXPENSE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE APPROXIMATELY 86,000.

I BOUGHT MY CAR FROM A DEALER IN AUGUST 2006, IN JANUARY OF 07 I NOTICED MY 2003 ACURA RSX ENGINE MAKING A TICKING SOUND AND THE ENGINE REVVING REALLY HIGH. I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC WHO SAID THE VALVES NEEDED REPLACING AS DO THE CAMSHAFTS. AFTER MANY SEARCHES ONLINE REGARDING THIS PROBLEM, AND FINDING SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS EXPERIENCING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE I AM SHOCKED ACURA HAS NOT ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS. *JB

FOG LIGHT CRACKED THEY BLAMED IT ON ME REPLACED IT AND IT CRACKED AGAIN 1 WEEK LATER AND THEY FIXED IT AGAIN BLAMING IT ON ROAD VIBRATION. IT TOOK ACURA 3 TIMES TO FIX MY STICKING MAP LIGHTS. MY CAR WAS AT ACURA FOR 1 1/2 WEEKS FOR A BUZZING SOUND FROM THE ENGINE THEY FOUND A BUZZING WIRE AFTER ALL THAT TIME. TRANSMISSION WAS ALSO GRINDING AND THEY NEVER FIXED IT. MY CAR'S OIL HAS BEEN DISAPPEARING SINCE I BOUGHT IT. MY LOW OIL LIGHT COMES ON AFTER 800 MILES AFTER TOPPING OFF. AT 13949 THEY STARTED AN OIL TEST "THEY WERE TIRING TO TELL ME IT WAS NORMAL TO LOOSE 1QT EVERY 500 MILES. THEY ALSO BLAMED IT ON MY OIL MOBILE 1. SO I PAID $75.00 FOR ACURA TO CHANGE IT. THEY INSISTED THAT TO DO ANY WORK ON MY CAR THEY NEED ME TO COME BACK TO ACURA EVERY 500 MILES FOR "ACURA" OIL WHICH I DID FOR 3 TIMES UNTIL I NOTICED OIL COMING FROM THE BACK OF MY ENGINE 23396 MILES THEY REPLACED HEAD GASKET. BROUGHT CAR HOME AND IT WAS LEAKING EVEN MORE. BROUGHT BACK AND THEY SAID NOW THAT THE TIMING COVER WAS DISTORTED AT THE RATE OF THE LEAK THERE WAS NO WAY TO DRIVE THE CAR SO IT WAS LEFT AT THE DEALER FOR A WEEK TILL THE PARTS CAME IN. THEY REPLACED TIMING COVER. CAR IS STILL LOOSING OIL AND MY TRANSMISSION IS NOW GRINDING WORSE THAN IT EVER HAS. WHICH IS A COMMON PROBLEM AMONG RSX MODEL CARS NOW THEY SAY THE OIL IS BURNING? STILL NOT FIXED. *JB