Questions and Answers

Acura RSX Hit Its Limits Q. Hi Vincent, Have a question regarding rev limiters for you, particularly on Acura/Honda engines. I thought the answer would be fairly straightforward, but after doing some searches on Acura forums, I still see some differences of opinion. Thought maybe you could provide a more definitive answer.

Here's the specs first:
2002 Acura RSX (base)
2.0L, 4 cylinder engine
Automatic transmission (with 'manumatic' sport shift)
1200 miles
Fuel injection
ABS
PS, AC, Cruise
Rack and pinion steering

Also some other info, according to the manual, Acura considers the break-in period to be over at 600 miles and the base RSX has a redline of 6800 rpm. Question is, the other day, I was driving my RSX and came to a stop. I was in the sport shift manumatic mode.

Well, I was in a rush and late for an appointment and I took off from the stop sign and forgot I was in sport shift. Before I knew it, I was bouncing off the rev limiter; my revs were somewhere between 6800 and 7200 or around that area based on my panicked glance at the tachometer. The engine was cutting out and I immediately took my foot off the gas and after that all was fine. Wasn't more than a few seconds.

My question is, if rev limiters are placed on cars to help prevent people from blowing their engines by over-revving, is damage, even minor damage, done to the engine by hitting the rev limiter? If so, what type of damage? My car seems to be running just fine, but was a little worried about any potential damage. Let me know!

Thank you!
Chip

A. Well Chip, you know what they say about opinions. Anyway, engineers always build in a very generous safety margin into anything they design. So if they say something, well for example, a tank will blow up at 1000 psi. That means it will take 1500 psi before it blows.

So it is with the rev limiters. The key here is "Cuts out before engine damage can occur". So my opinion is this; the limiter worked as it should, you did it for a very brief time and the engine is new and strong. I don't believe any damage at all was done.