2019 Acura Rdx

A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, ONAPRIL 19TH, MY WIFE AND I WERE DRIVING THROUGHCOLUMBUS, GA. IT WAS AROUND 7:00 AM AND RAINING. WE HAD BEEN DRIVING ABOUT 1 1/2 HOURS ANDWE WERE ONLY GOING AROUND30 MPH WHEN I ACCELERATED TO PASS A DUMP TRUCK. THE 2019 RDX (6000 MILES) STARTED ACCELERATING AND THEN LOST ALL POWER. I WAS ABLE TO LIMP OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT GETTING RUN OVER BY THE DUMP TRUCK BUT IT A WAS VERY SCARY COUPLE OF MINUTES. ITURNED THE RDX OFF FOR A MINUTE, RESTATED AND THEN CONTINUED OUR TRIP. I TOOK THE RDX TO THE ACURA DEALER IN MACON THE FOLLOWING DAY AND EVEN THOUGH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON NO CODES WERE STORED. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DID A HARD RESET OF THE SYSTEM HOPING TO FIX THE PROBLEM. THEY SEEM TO THINK THAT ACURA IS COMING OUT WITH A SOFTWARE FIX SOON BUT THAT ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE THE STANDARD ANSWER. I'M NOW AFRAID TO LET MY WIFE DRIVE THE RDX. ACURA NEEDS TO FIX THIS PROBLEM ASAP BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED.

I AM SUBMITTING THIS TICKET TO DOCUMENT A HAZARDOUS SCENARIO THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED TWO TIMES SINCE PURCHASING MY BRAND NEW 2019 ACURA RDX. INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING IN OHIO AND PENNSYLVANIA ON COOL DAYS (AMBIENT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN 30 AND 50 DEG FAHRENHEIT), WITH AND WITHOUT RAINFALL. THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS WERE TRUE FOR BOTH OCCURRENCES. WHILE DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WITH ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL [WITH LOW SPEED FOLLOW] AND LANE-KEEPING SYSTEMS ENABLED, I DECIDE TO OVERTAKE A SLOWER VEHICLE AHEAD OF ME. I DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WITHOUT DISABLING THE CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTIONS AND CHANGE LANES TO THE FASTER LANE. JUST AS I EXECUTE THIS MANEUVER, THE ENGINE SIMULTANEOUSLY GOES INTO LIMP MODE -- THE MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT DECREASES DRAMATICALLY AND THE MALFUNCTION INDICATION LAMP (CEL) IS BLINKING. AT THIS POINT I HAVE TO GET ACROSS ALL LANES OF THE HIGHWAY TO PULL ONTO THE SHOULDER, AND I HAVE TO DO THIS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS SLOWING DOWN. REFERENCING MY OWNER'S GUIDE, I SEE THAT THE BLINKING CEL INDICATES A MISFIRE IN THE ENGINE'S CYLINDERS IS DETECTED, AND AS INSTRUCTED I TURN OFF THE ENGINE IN A "SAFE" PLACE AND WAIT FOR THE ENGINE TO COOL DOWN. WHEN I RESTART THE ENGINE, THE CEL IS CLEARED AND THE VEHICLE RESUMES NORMAL FUNCTION. I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR ITS FIRST SERVICE APPOINTMENT YESTERDAY. I PROVIDED THIS ANECDOTE TO MY SERVICE ADVISOR, AND ASKED THAT WE CHECK ERROR CODE LOGS AND INSPECT COMPONENT SYSTEMS FOR DAMAGE. I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WERE NO ERROR CODES LOGGED, AND THAT THERE SHOULD BE SUCH A LOG IF, IN FACT, THE CEL WAS INDICATING. ALL COMPONENT SYSTEMS PASSED INSPECTION/DIAGNOSIS. I AM ATTACHING A PDF CONTAINING THE FULL DESCRIPTION TEXT OF THE TICKET SUBMISSION THAT I HAVE MADE TO ACURA CLIENT SERVICES.

WHEN DRIVING ABOVE 65 MPH AND PASSING, MY ENGINE HAS STALLED ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. ONCE AT 1200 MILES AND THE OTHER TWICE IN ONE DAY AT 4,000 MILES. THE CAR OBVIOUSLY LOSES ALL POWER CAUSING ME TO HAVE TO MERGE RIGHT IN TRAFFIC TO THE SHOULDER TO RESTART THE CAR. EACH TIME IS WAS UNDER FULL ACCELERATION AND IN HIGH TRAFFIC CONDITIONS.

TRAVELING ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, HIT THE GAS TO GET PAST ANOTHER CAR, AND CAR LOST POWER AND THE ENGINE LIGHT STARTED BLINKING. PULLED OVER TO SHOULDER, SHUT IT DOWN, RESTARTED, AND IT WAS FINE AFTER THAT. WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE VERY HUMID. FORTUNATELY WAS NOT REAR-ENDED BUT WAS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. TOOK CAR TO DEALER, NO CODES WERE FOUND. OTHER OWNERS HAVE REPORTED SIMILAR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS VEHICLE AT SIMILAR SPEEDS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS.

AFTER DRIVING 100 MILES BETWEEN 70 AND 75 MILES AN HOUR IN LEFT LANE OF 3 LANE FREEWAY, THE ENGINE QUITS AND GOES INTO LIMP MODE PRODUCING ALMOST NO ENGINE POWER. IN LIMP MODE THE ENGINE RAN, BUT ONLY PRODUCED ENOUGH POWER TO FOR CAR TO DO 20 MPH. TURNED OF ENGINE, CHECKED OIL AND COOLANT, BOTH FINE. RE-STARTED CAR, RAN NORMALLY, DROVE REMAINING 60 MILES HOME AT 60 MPH WITH NO FURTHER ISSUES. DEALER HAD SUV 19 DAYS AND CANNOT FIND A PROBLEM. VERY LUCKY NOT TO HAVE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT AS HAD TO CUT ACROSS 3 LANES OF TRAFFIC TO GET TO SHOULDER WITH NO ENGINE POWER.

MY RDX WENT INTO 'LIMP MODE' (30 MPH MAX) WHILE ON I-75 SOUTHBOUND IN MODERATE TRAFFIC NEAR MACON GA AT 10 AM TRYING TO ACCELERATE TO SPEED LIMIT (70 MPH) FROM 50 MPH AFTER BEING CUT OFF BY AN INATTENTIVE DRIVER. ENGINE MALFUNCTION LIGHT WAS BLINKING. GOT TO RIGHT SHOULDER SAFELY AND TURNED ENGINE OFF. RESTARTED ENGINE AND COMPLETED ANOTHER 400 MILES AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS WITHOUT INCIDENT. ACURA DEALERSHIP COULD NOT REPLICATE PROBLEM, NOR WERE ANY CODES STORED ON OBD. I WAS TOLD BY ACURA SERVICE WRITER TO MONITOR ENGINE PERFORMANCE AND REPORT ANY REOCCURRENCES. SEVERAL ACURA RDX OWNERS ARE REPORTING SAME PROBLEM ON A POPULAR ACURA ONLINE FORUM. ONE MEMBER STATED THE HONDA CIVIC TYPE R IS EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS ENGINE AND/OR ENGINE MANAGEMENT DESIGN PROBLEM NECESSITATING AN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION AND RECALL, IN MY OPINION. RIGHT NOW I FEEL MY RDX IS UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED WITH THE POTENTIAL OF CAUSING SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.