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Acura RL Maintenance and Repair

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Comments

  • tonycdtonycd Member Posts: 223
    That is a known problem on '05 RL's. Google for it and you'll find discussions elsewhere.
  • tariq745tariq745 Member Posts: 4
    I have 2005 RL with 80k miles. Recently I set up memory seat # 2 for my wife and after that side mirror stop working. They don’t go up or down in reverse. I cannot adjust them even if the car is in Park. I don’t know if it just a co-incident or does mirrors becomes lock after setting up both memories. Any suggestions?
  • ff100ff100 Member Posts: 12
    The switch that allows you to adjust the left or right mirror is in the middle position. Move it to left or right and the corresponding mirror will start tilting down in reverse.
  • brnpabrnpa Member Posts: 7
    I just picked up an '06 RL and had to chuckle at your post from a few years ago. I try to do all the maintenance work on both the RL and my '05 MDX for the very reason you cite. The dealers think they can get away with this because most people don't know about car mechanics and assume these services are necessary. In fact, both of my Acura owners manuals specifically state that oil additives are not necessary and that using a high detergent gas mitigates the need for fuel additives. You should have pointed this out to them. $15.00 for a bottle of $.99 STP gas treatment is way over the top, even for an Acura dealer. You're right: Don't go to the dealer unless it's warranty work.
  • tariq745tariq745 Member Posts: 4
    Yes I already tried adjusting mirror switch left and right but no luck!. I dont know if side mirror went bad. but they do move when i change the memory seat setting from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 1 to pre-adjusted position.
  • gerryjaygerryjay Member Posts: 1
    Looking for information on how to remove the rear passenger door panel to replace the window regulator. Does anyone have a step by step process or can at least let me know where all the screws or fasteners are. I have ordered a regulator and motor and it will get here this Tuesday. Thanks,.
  • happynanahappynana Member Posts: 6
    Just after the warranty expired (of course!) on my 2005 RL, the outside mirrors developed a shimmy. The dealer said that the mirrors needed replacing-at a cost of over $600.00 apiece but the dealer has been wrong about a number of other things so I wonder...The mirrors themselves are firm in the housing and move correctly with the power switch or in reverse but the housings are so loose that every time the car hits a bump the view to the rear changes (dangerous!)and I can even hear a thump.

    Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions?It makes me angry to have this kind of a problem after only 4 years in a $50,000.00 car.
  • jensadjensad Member Posts: 388
    It sounds like a dealer ripoff as I have found them to do many times especially with my wife. When my car acts funny, I have two recommended body shops that do excellent work, and one mechanic shop that takes care of tuneups etc.

    Ask around and get several referrals and then check them out and get a WRITTEN estimate from each.

    Good luck to you and to all others and stay safe.

    jensad
  • scarylbscarylb Member Posts: 1
    My Acura is askin me to enter pin.. it came on after the battery had died and i replaced the battery.. and now when i turn off the lights the trunk pops open.. any sugestions would be wonderful..
  • billluibilllui Member Posts: 3
    I had the same problem when I turned off the lights / engine, and the trunk will popped open. That causes dead batteries a few times. I believe that it was a design oversight.
  • arichmondarichmond Member Posts: 3
    My wife owns a ' 99 Acura RL. Every ten seconds or so the low beam headlights click on and off, even with the car off. The low beams still come on, however they shut off after driving a short time, one at a time, starting with the right headlight. The high beams and fog lights function normally!! We have already change the igniters with no luck. Please help!!!
  • skhazmoskhazmo Member Posts: 1
    Hello,
    I have a 2005 RL with about 90k miles on it right now. The back of passenger seat does not recline. The back goes up but not down when someone wants to sit back and relax. Is this common? Does anyone have a solution for it? Thanks
  • happynanahappynana Member Posts: 6
    I had the same problem about a year ago when the car had about 30,000 miles on it. The dealer changed a switch and the seat has been fine ever since. The warranty on the car was still good at the time so I don't know how much it would have cost.

    Recently, the driver's seat (not the seat back)has stopped going up and down so now I will have to have that fixed at my own expense-very annoying in an allegedly reliable 5 year old car.

    I guess it could be worse; it could be a Toyota.
  • coastdrivecoastdrive Member Posts: 3
    This is a well-known design/factory problem and you can request goodwill consideration to cover the cost. A TSB was issued on June 07, 2008. All car co's have a fund to cover replacement for known defects off warranty. If you ask, you can probably get, because it is an official TSB. Print the TSB and have the service manager request GC from American Honda Zone Office for you.

    08-022 Outside Rearview Mirror Is Loose (2005-2006 RL)
    http://www.in.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/SB/B08-022.pdf

    SYMPTOM
    The driver’s side or passenger’s side outside rearview
    mirror shakes or is loose.
    PROBABLE CAUSE
    The bolts fastening the mirror housing to the mirror
    base were not properly torqued.
    CORRECTIVE ACTION
    Replace the outside rearview mirror(s).

    Also from the TSB:
    Any repair performed after warranty
    expiration may be eligible for goodwill consideration by
    the District Parts and Service Manager or your Zone
    Office. You must request consideration, and get a
    decision, before starting work.

    -TR
    2005 RL
  • secondacurasecondacura Member Posts: 1
    what in particular should I be looking for when I test drive, and what gadgets should I examine the closest? It has 29k, and has a clean CarFax. Thanks.
  • TheWopTheWop Member Posts: 5
  • TheWopTheWop Member Posts: 5
  • badbuybadbuy Member Posts: 12
    Well. Now have about 57K miles on the gas guzzling 2006 RL and an electrical problem creeps up. First the radio & navigation will click on & off.... Sometimes resetting several times. Then for weeks everything is ok. All of a sudden, one morning, at 60 MPH during rush hour on an interstate, the on/off radio problem comes back and then:

    .......EVERYTHING WENT DEAD! Electrical system off, engine dead, no power steering, no power brakes, driver apprehensive! I was able to get to the right lane & about to pull off while still going 50mph downhill when the electrical juice came back on & the car "jump started" itself!

    Dealer seems to think it was a battery problem with a bad cell, but is the WHOLE car subject to a complete shutdown? Has anyone else out there had this problem with an Acura? I'm a first (and definitely a LAST) time owner of an Acura & considering reporting this to the Dept of Transportation, but I sure would like to know if this is something that has occurred before???

    I've owned Dodge, Plymouth, Olds, Ford Lincoln/Merc, Nissan, Toyota, all new like the Acura but never had this kind of problem.

    Thanks. :confuse: :lemon:
  • jim_agnew_2jim_agnew_2 Member Posts: 12
    I have a 2006 RL, however I can't help you with the electrical problem, however your "gas guzzling" is caused by the shift point settings especially for 5th gear. The shift to 5th doesn't happen until about 45 mph. If you are in an area that is generally flat this is just a gas burner. If you manually kick it into 5th early you will see a much lower fuel burn. Acura set the shift points for performance as far as I can tell.

    Jim
  • joesaxjoesax Member Posts: 2
    My 1999 Acura RL (3.5L) recently had a used engine swap and upon reassembly the car developed a gear grinding noise that sort of came and went. It definitely changed with the rotational speed of the car and not the engine RPM. In fact, it even happened when the car was put in neutral when rolling. My 1st exception is I believe that it is unrelated to the engine. Yesterday after only about 75 miles after the repair and this sound coming and going, the car violently came to a stop when it sounded and felt like a set of gears broke apart. The car was still running after that scary stop which confirmed that it wasn’t the engine. It actually was still drivable after that as I nursed it home. The transmission still seemed to shift through all its gears smoothly. So the tranny seems ok.

    The mechanic is attempting to claim innocence as his job was to just swap the engines which he did by dropping the engine and transmission out of the bottom of the car. The only thing that seemed strange to me was that he used the original old splined right side axil instead of using the axil that came with the new used engine. My thinking is that why wouldn’t he use the splined axil shaft that was already “worn in” with the replacement engine drive differential it came with? I’m wondering if the noise I was hearing was the meshing of the two dissimilar gears from two different engines and most likely from two different year cars.

    My concern now is what froze up that caused the car to lock up the front wheels and what needs to be done to rectify the situation. The gearing I am talking about is located in the oil pan of the engine. Is that engine oil or are those gears in a separate compartment that is fed transmission oil? How about any metal filings that may have been created as a result of improper gear mesh? Ouch! I could be way off on my diagnosis what else could it be? Your advice or a post on the Acura forum is welcome.

    Regards,

    JoeSax
  • jeff0603jeff0603 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2005 Acura RL and have been told the passenger door handle has a short which is causing the interior light to stay on draining the battery. The mechanic wants to replace the door handle but it is pricey and wondering if the light activator can be disconnected to prevent the interior light from staying on - any help is appreciated
  • hwmovadohwmovado Member Posts: 9
    What is the avg miles driven before a transmission oil change
  • markhimesmarkhimes Member Posts: 1
    I can't seem to access the TSB, and I'm having a similar problem with my 2005 RL.

    Has the link changed?

    Thanks!
    Mark
  • jhop28jhop28 Member Posts: 2
    Have You had any luck repairing your 06 As our 05 Has started doing exact same thing radio in and out as a prewarning of total momentary power loss 2 secounds and then comes back to life but display has to have code re entered as if lost all battery power ?
  • tarunkalra1tarunkalra1 Member Posts: 10
    Had my RL battery replaced under warranty by local Acura dealer. The battery comes with 100 Month warranty with full coverage for 36 months. After that the cost of replacement is prorated over remaining 64 months.

    Dealers can easily lookup RADIO CODES and can find Navigation codes after opening a few parts of the Navigation system.
  • kinginflkinginfl Member Posts: 1
    Did you ever get an answer as to what was wrong with your car? My 2005 RL is doing the same thing. Radio mysteriously shuts off then a couple minutes later the car completely stalls. Very scary. Please let me know what you found out.
  • jhop28jhop28 Member Posts: 2
    Yes Have the battery replaced and clean cable connections at battery Mine was doing exactly same thing this did fix mine 3 months and no problems
  • michael0137michael0137 Member Posts: 58
    My son has a 2005 RL he bought used in January 2010 with 28K on it. Now has about 45K - is there an age issue with timing belt replacement? It is over 7 years old but nowhere near the 90K mark.
  • michael0137michael0137 Member Posts: 58
    The radio in our 2008 has gone a little nuts - cannot scan or seek XM and change stations from what we have preset. Is there an easy fix? Hate to tear apart the center console just for that.
  • smitty63smitty63 Member Posts: 2
    this just happened to me! What did you find out was wrong with your car?
  • smitty63smitty63 Member Posts: 2
    any help would be much appreciated I cant even drive mine one everything perfect next gone.

    Did you ever find out what the problem was?
  • lensman6lensman6 Member Posts: 2
    I had to replace the battery on my 2005 RL. It was the original so I guess it was due. I re-entered the radio and navi codes and both are working fine.

    I am unable to open the rear windows from the driver's door though and the auto up/down on the rear windows no longer works. Rear windows open when using the local switch but you must hold the button to open or close. Front windows are fine.

    Are there other resets I must perform after battery change?

    Thanks
  • lensman6lensman6 Member Posts: 2
    I resolved this on my own. Followed the window reset procedure I found and that fixed it. Roll window all the way down, hold switch for 5 seconds then roll all the way up and hold for 5 seconds. Resolved the auto up/down problem and re-enabled control from driver-door switch panel.
  • drgkjedrgkje Member Posts: 21
    edited October 2012
    04 rl, nav

    have had this car for several years without any water (from outside) leak in. in the last couple of months when the car was in moderate rain, i noticed water under the glove cmp.

    took the glove comp out, found water underside of the blower.

    took a/c pollen filter out and the filter was wet.

    so it appear rain water is getting into the air intake for the heat-ac system..

    cannot find any obvious breaches of gaskets. the plastic shroud at the lower edge of the windshield and associated rubber parts are intact.

    any clues??

    thanks
  • tarunkalra1tarunkalra1 Member Posts: 10
    Conservative Maintenance Schedule

    Transmission 30K,
    Rear and Front Differential 30K,
    Brake Fluid Every 3 year,
    Power Steeting Fluid 5 years
    Coolant Every 5 Yrs (Part of Timing Belt Change @ 105K)
  • vikingsin2010vikingsin2010 Member Posts: 11
    I took my 07 RL to the dealer to diagnose a persistent rattle which occurs during low speed stop and go driving. The technician said it was a rusted catalytic converter heat shield and the replacement cost would be $600 for parts and labor. This seems very high to me. Any thoughts on this pricing?
  • billyperksiibillyperksii Member Posts: 198
    You actaully dont need the heat shield- you can rip the plates off and you will be fine. My wife's Accord had the same problem- they rusted out and the dealer was looking for a large sum to replace, my mechanic told me to just rip them off.
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