2021 Acura RDX: sudden loss of power

Filed Oct 29, 2026 · Engine · AZ

My 2021 Acura RDX A-Spec AWD had approximately 89,000 miles when this incident occurred on [October 23rd] on I-10 in Tempe Arizona]. My wife was driving when the vehicle displayed emissions and brake-system warnings, lost power and slowed unexpectedly. She was unable to restart it at that time. The unexpected loss of power in freeway traffic created a safety concern. I was subsequently able to drive the vehicle to the dealership. Acura of Tempe inspected the vehicle. Its written diagnosis reported an “ENGINE TEMP HIGH” warning, misfires after the vehicle had been sitting, an empty coolant reservoir and low radiator coolant. The dealer diagnosed a head gasket leaking coolant into a cylinder and recommended head gasket replacement, with further inspection for cylinder-head damage. The dealer provided an approximately $4,000 repair estimate, with potential additional costs depending on the cylinder-head findings. I am reporting the unexpected loss of power and the diagnosed coolant intrusion as a potential safety defect. I can provide the dealership’s written diagnosis and estimate. Approximate speed at the time: 65 MPH. Crash, injuries or fire: [None. Current repair status: [not repaired ].

Filed Jul 30, 2026 · Transmission · IL

I own an Acura RDX that experienced a sudden failure of the transfer case. Prior to the failure, there was little or no warning that a major drivetrain component was about to fail. When the transfer case failed, the vehicle lost its normal all-wheel-drive operation and required expensive repairs. I believe this is a safety defect because the transfer case is a critical drivetrain component. A sudden failure can reduce traction and vehicle control, especially when driving at highway speeds or on wet, snowy, or icy roads. Drivers may not expect the loss of power to the rear wheels, which could increase the risk of skidding, loss of stability, or being unable to safely accelerate into traffic or avoid a hazard. In addition, there are numerous reports from other Acura RDX owners describing similar transfer case failures, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident but a recurring problem. A critical drivetrain component should not fail prematurely under normal use without adequate warning. I believe this issue warrants investigation because it has the potential to affect vehicle safety and place drivers and passengers at unnecessary risk.

Filed Jul 30, 2026 · Transmission · IL

I own an Acura RDX that experienced a sudden failure of the transfer case. Prior to the failure, there was little or no warning that a major drivetrain component was about to fail. When the transfer case failed, the vehicle lost its normal all-wheel-drive operation and required expensive repairs. I believe this is a safety defect because the transfer case is a critical drivetrain component. A sudden failure can reduce traction and vehicle control, especially when driving at highway speeds or on wet, snowy, or icy roads. Drivers may not expect the loss of power to the rear wheels, which could increase the risk of skidding, loss of stability, or being unable to safely accelerate into traffic or avoid a hazard. In addition, there are numerous reports from other Acura RDX owners describing similar transfer case failures, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident but a recurring problem. A critical drivetrain component should not fail prematurely under normal use without adequate warning. I believe this issue warrants investigation because it has the potential to affect vehicle safety and place drivers and passengers at unnecessary risk.

Filed Jul 30, 2026 · Transmission · IL

I own an Acura RDX that experienced a sudden failure of the transfer case. Prior to the failure, there was little or no warning that a major drivetrain component was about to fail. When the transfer case failed, the vehicle lost its normal all-wheel-drive operation and required expensive repairs. I believe this is a safety defect because the transfer case is a critical drivetrain component. A sudden failure can reduce traction and vehicle control, especially when driving at highway speeds or on wet, snowy, or icy roads. Drivers may not expect the loss of power to the rear wheels, which could increase the risk of skidding, loss of stability, or being unable to safely accelerate into traffic or avoid a hazard. In addition, there are numerous reports from other Acura RDX owners describing similar transfer case failures, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident but a recurring problem. A critical drivetrain component should not fail prematurely under normal use without adequate warning. I believe this issue warrants investigation because it has the potential to affect vehicle safety and place drivers and passengers at unnecessary risk.

Filed Jul 30, 2026 · Transmission · IL

I own an Acura RDX that experienced a sudden failure of the transfer case. Prior to the failure, there was little or no warning that a major drivetrain component was about to fail. When the transfer case failed, the vehicle lost its normal all-wheel-drive operation and required expensive repairs. I believe this is a safety defect because the transfer case is a critical drivetrain component. A sudden failure can reduce traction and vehicle control, especially when driving at highway speeds or on wet, snowy, or icy roads. Drivers may not expect the loss of power to the rear wheels, which could increase the risk of skidding, loss of stability, or being unable to safely accelerate into traffic or avoid a hazard. In addition, there are numerous reports from other Acura RDX owners describing similar transfer case failures, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident but a recurring problem. A critical drivetrain component should not fail prematurely under normal use without adequate warning. I believe this issue warrants investigation because it has the potential to affect vehicle safety and place drivers and passengers at unnecessary risk.

Filed Mar 5, 2024 · Acceleration, Engine · TN

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.

Filed Dec 29, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · PA

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.

Filed Jun 27, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · PA

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.

Filed Apr 5, 2022 · Engine · NY

during acceleration on highway to pass a vehicle the Acura RDX lost power and decelerated. Check engine light came on....engine lost power to accelerate/maintain highway speed almost causing an accident.

Filed Aug 20, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · NJ

Driving at night in rain on interstate 81N in southern Virginia. I pressed accelerator all the way to pass and the car downshifted and then lost power. The engine light was flashing. I did not have enough power to maintain adequate highway speed while in the midst of a passing maneuver. While car was decelerating (with foot on accel pedal with no apparent response) I activated hazard lights and made my way across traffic to the shoulder. 70mph speed limit. I dropped to 50mph or so rather quickly amid traffic that put me and the traffic around me in a dangerous situation. Once stopped on shoulder (again in a dangerous situation that I'd prefer to avoid), i turned ignition off for 10 seconds and then restarted car. Situation seems to have cleared up; no engine light flashing and full? power. It did not happen again when I pressed accelerator to floor to recreate situation. This vehicle has 3800 miles on it.

Filed Jun 11, 2021 · Engine · MD

I was driving in the rain, accelerated to pass a vehicle and the engine lost power. The check engine light came on and the car went into "limp" mode. The car would barely go 40 mph on a highway and the speed seemed to be continuing to decrease. Luckily I was able to pull over and shut the car off. Restarted, the problem appeared to go away. This is a very dangerous situation and I have read other people reporting similar incidents.

Filed May 24, 2021 · Engine · OR

2021 RDX A-spec 7322 miles northbound Hwy 95 Nevada to Oregon, raining. Attempted to pass semi, car behind me also passing semi, sudden loss of power, almost hit from behind, risk of on-coming traffic, able to move to right behind semi. Feeble response to any attempt to accelerate, barely limping along, moved to right shoulder and then to pullout, blinking check engine light, no other warning indicators. Idled engine for several minutes, continued to run rough, would not rev, check engine light cycled off, then back on (blinking), then off over period of several minutes. Turned engine off, waited 10 min or so, restarted ok, finished rest of 600 mile journey scared to pass lawnmower. Life-threatening event for my wife and I, several moments of sheer panic. First time this has happened.