Acura MDX Maintenance and Repair

upstatedoc

Special part?. You mean like a new RES? The service techs explanations puzzle me sometimes. I wonder if your gas mileage will improve after installation of the new part. :P

mickyvas

I have a 2004 MDX with 74K miles when should I change the Timing Belt? How much should it cost? Thanks.

sprite1

I would like to respond to the second half of your e-mail in regards to the "thumping noise" on my 2008 ACURA MDX tech package - in my case it is a noise created by some rotating member which i described to the service manager as a "wobbling noise" which occurs under the same scenario as described by other forum members as well (during cold start under 20 mph and occurs mostly once). The service manager's answer to this issue - it is the VSA modulator control unit checking the pump motor operation one time after completing initial diagnosis when the vehicle is driven over 10 mph and at 19 mph.

Now during the service check up he gave me a loaner 2008 ACURA MDX w/o tech package and i did not have this "thumping" or "wobbling noise". Mentioned this to him and he said not all modulators are built the same way and there may be variance with these modulators. My new 2008 MDX had about 980 miles on it and about 2-5 months into ownership. The problem occurred at about 50 miles into owning this vehicle but I decided to wait until it reached 600 - 700 miles like the ACURA manual had advised for the "initial break-in".

There was also one other issue - the passenger door panel was not aligned to the rear door panel but this was resolved successfully after this visit to the dealership.

I just wanted to provide this info to you all and was not expecting such abnormal noises and fit/finish issues - at least not from a $45000 vehicle with CONSUMER REPORTS recommendation as a best buy in the crossover/SUV category.

ck111000

I've also just started having a transmission problem with my 03 MDX. it's at 76K so not under warranty. It also won't shift in the lower gears without revving really high RPM's. The VSA light came on and the check engine light as well as the flashing D5 light. Any ideas or similar experiences would be appreciated before I have her towed to the dealership? Or should I take her to an independent transmission guy?

Thanks

upstatedoc

I think I read a previous post that the transmission warranty has been extended on the earlier MDX's. Probably to avoid lawsuits. Call the dealer.

quality_freak

Sprite1,

Was a little confused about what the final diagnosis is on the "thumping noise". Are you saying that the problem was the VSA modulator, or are you saying it is the rotating member which finally got resolved at 980 miles?

Guess I was confused on your paragraph below...

My new 2008 MDX had about 980 miles on it and about 2-5 months into ownership. The problem occurred at about 50 miles into owning this vehicle but I decided to wait until it reached 600 - 700 miles like the ACURA manual had advised for the "initial break-in".

Any clarification would be great...as I am under the impression the thumping noise is the ABS doing a self check.

sprite1

quality freak,

There is no diagnosis on the "thumping noise" until the VSA modulator unit fails. It is a noise created by some rotating member within the VSA modulator in my case. As I had written in my previous posting please look up the answer provided by the service manager. In any case this does not occur with all the 2008 MDX vehicles which I also mentioned in my previous posting. There appears to be no resolution in regards to this issue until the unit fails or some fault diagnosis code comes up in the information display area some time down the road. I guess we were just the unlucky ones who got these bad VSA modulator units.

Hope this clarifies whatever info. you have been looking for in regards to "thumping noise" issue on the 2008 MDX.

seaclusion

I have an 04 that developed a howl in the trans. The dealer replaced with a reman. Im not positive but their may be an extended warranty on the trans. I had an extended warranty on the car so im not sure who covered it but it was a no charge. Lots of bad vibes on Honda Trans

sprite1

An addendum to my posting on jan 13, 2008...

The reason i provided the mileage and about the "break-in" info. was because initially i was not certain where the abnormal noise was coming from other than the fact that it was from the front - was guessing anywhere from propeller shaft being loose, engine rocking on the cradle and interfering with some other component (when reversed form driveway and then to drive) to tire noise etc. Also the loaner vehicle had similar miles on it and did not produce such abnormal noise from the front.

Hope this helps everyone complaining about the front abnormal "thumping noise" fo r2008 MDX.

upstatedoc

Just got the '07 back from the dealer, they replaced the door, window and mirror seals on the drivers side. The "opened window noise" is definitely gone but this vehicle still has excessive wind noise IMO even compared to my '04. Easily corrected though with a twist of the volume knob.

vaughn4

Lemon Law worked; they repaired the front suspension FINALLY! Acura replaced the front lower control arms, compliance bushings, and compliance arm brackets on my 07 MDX! The so called "normal cracking, clicking, clunking, etc.. sounds" are totally gone and the vehicle drives and handles even better than when new. It's sad it took the lemon law to get them to move on my concern but at least it is now fixed.

Good luck to all with this problem! You have to be persistent and firm but also courteous. You'll be taken more serious.

parkway

My 04 MDX requires a tran fluid change @ 50,000 miles. Is this necessary? Most vehicles don't recommend this untill 90 plus miles.

EK

vaughn4

Change the fluid. Acura transmissions are known for failing prematurely. We also have an 05 MDX with 46K and I changed the fluid around 25K and will continue to change at around 25-30K intervals. Don't neglect changing the AWD fluid either.

un_sidiq

Just wanted to post the link to this site, where once signed up, it will tell you what maintainence needs to be done when the maintainence minder light comes up.

https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?logout=1

seaclusion

I reccomend every 15000. However our 04 with 55k required a new trans due to an excessive howl.

barb36jack31

Can any of you fine gear heads tell me where the light sensor for the automatic headlights is located? I want to cover it with a piece of electrical tape so it will think is is dark all the time. That way i have "lights on" every time I start the car. I thought it was the small eye on the dashboard up near the windhield, but covering it up did not work. I also took it to the Acura dealer and the tech there said he didn,t have any idea where it might be. That response did not do much for my confidence level regarding the service dept.

I have used this method of "fooling" the light sensor on several cars and it has worked fine, but the sensor was always on the dash with those autos.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Jack H.

dave210

Do you have a 2007 or 2008 MDX?

On my 2006, the light sensor is located smack dab in the middle of the dashboard (the top part of the dashboard). I actually put a film negative over it to make it more sensitive.

Strange that it's not located there on the newer models.

barb36jack31

I have a 2007 MDX. I too am surprised that the location has been changed. I think I will ask the dealer to see the shop manual. I can figure it out from there. Thanks for your response.

Jack H.

wilsont

Hello,

My 07' MDX already is already 6 months old out of dealship lot, so want to have 1st time service on it. Appreciate persons with service experience on bay area dealership or good mechanical places to share their story.

Thank you.

Wilson

stever

Dealer Ratings and Reviews has reviews of service departments.

It's pretty new, so if all you lurkers would take a minute to rate your local dealer, that'll help increase the number of ratings in the system. Thanks!

upstatedoc

The auto-headlight sensor for the '07-'08 MDX is dead center of the top of the dash board. Easily visible with the naked eye. I did an experiment by putting a tie over the sensor and the lights came on. :shades:

jfk444

Seems like this is a problem with a lot of owners, I have had my 08 MDX Sport for about 2 weeks now and about 1500 miles in. I noticed the wobble nosie from the front end about 100 miles into ownership. Appears during all cold starts and last only a few seconds after pulling away from from a stoped position. I have noticed it on a few other occasions also after the car is warmed up while leaving from a stoped position. Other issue that appears to be seperate from the one above is a grinding noise like gears sliping when slowing down at low speeds, has happen twice and only last a few seconds.

My previous car was a Saab 97X which was a lemon, had the same issues but with the rear end. They replace the rear diff. 4 times and then finally agreed to buy back the car. So I took the money and put it on what I was hopeing is a more reliable car. MAYBE...

bobv5

At what mileage should I replace the timing belt? have 86,000 miles on my 2001 MDX now.

velcro999

jatpat,
Did you ever figure this thing out with the slight click noise I have the exact same problem & it is driving me nuts?????

bill124

I know how to reset the trip tracker itself but what do I need to do to reset average MPG? I looked at the book and though I was doing what it required but the MPG doesn't go to 0 like the mileage counter. Should it?

jonran73

I have the same thumping noise front drivers side and gas pedal vibration at 20 mph after every ignition on my 07 MDX. I brought it to the dealer 3x already but they cant fix it, they didnt tell me its an ABS check. Can this prob be grouds for a lemon? Im planning to put 20 or 22 inch rims on my MDX, is it ok to put stagger rims on an all wheel drive? please help...

johnmiller

The gas pedal vibration in my 08 is still there. Dealer cannot fix it. I think this issue is widespread amongst MDX but I'm not sure if Acura has been officially informed. The vibration in my car does not stop at 20mph. Accelerate to 80mph and you still feel the vibration. Is this a lemon? Not sure, but I'm pretty sure this is my first and last Acura. As for the rims, not sure how it will look. Mine has the sport and it looks ok to me.

jfk444

Update: Took the car in to service for the thumping noise, yes it is a known problem with the MDX I was told and they have a fix for it. They replaced control arm bushings... got it back and it still does the samething just not as bad. looks like it will go in again.

kaligirl

I have the same problem with my MDX 2001 as well. It makes vibrating noises through the gas pedal and I was thinking of getting it look at. Anyone else have the same problem and how was the problem fix? Help!!!

kaligirl

kaligirl

My MDX 2001's engine light and 4WD lights comes on after gas is put in the car. Has happened to me several times now. Told to drive it around and it'll go away. It does go away but will come back again next time. Should I be worry? It has about 56,000 mi. on it. Maybe it's time to go so the engine doctor????

Help!

Kaligirl

jonran73

Hi. I went to acura the other day, they said they cant fix the vibration on my 07 mdx. Accdng to the mechanic, theres no current bulletin or any recall for that problem. I guess they're telling me that it is normal but its really very annoying. I noticed this problem since the first day I got my car from the dealer. I brought it back to them 3x already but thers no solution.

timbo4

The MDX has a "fly-by-wire" throttle. The accelerator pedal operates through a throttle position sensor at the gas pedal. My guess is that this position sensor is a simple solenoid that can vibrate. Has your service advisor had this component changed out? It looks like a 10 min. job which requires the disconnection of a wire harness & the removal of 2 nuts. That would be the first component that I would change.

xman21

I just bought a 2008 MDX and the first day I noticed the same problem. When I first start driving around 15-20 mph there is a noise and a "pop" somewhere under the gas pedal, and this is always followed by a series of 3-5 quick clicks and vibration....then it stops. It will not do it again unless the car is turned of and restarted. I was thinking it had something to do with the AWD system??? It is very frustrating and I know the service department is going to give me the run around and probably never fix it right! It isnt what I would expect from a 46K dollar vehicle!!! I think this will be my last Acura.

jonran73

Same with my problem. I brought the car back to the dealer several times, they say its "normal". Other forums I read, they say its an ABS check, but nobody is really sure about it. Dealership told me they cant fix it coz they dont have any notice or bulletin from Acura about this problem, or there are no safety issues or recall about it. Do you think this can be a lemon?

ranger521

By your Jeep then tells us the first time you have to replace the rear end in it

ranger521

You are probably hearing the VSA modulator going thru its test mode, it does this on cold starts and will do it until you reach avg speed of approx (not exactly for those who take number literally) 12 mph. It is a normal function of the vehicle. Could it have been designed better, possibly, but so could everything. The good news is it is working.

sisu1996

I found the battery on my MDX dead March 5, jumped start the car and replaced it on the next day. This Saturday (March 8), I again found the battery dead so the car is now in the dealership again - I told them to take as much time as they need to find the real problem. I don't think I am so "lucky" to have two bad batteries in a row, unless the dealer didn't replace the battery in the first place (I did leave a mark on the second battery). With that said, the main, and more plausible root cause should be some electronic function was draining the power overnight (I am a day worker). I don't recall clearly but I might have not locked down the car in the garage, but again this shouldn't be a problem as I have done that many times before without problem.

Hate to mention that my battery died and got replaced first about a year ago.

Can I still claim lemon law with a car 1.5 years old with less than 13K miles - assuming I have the problem ago sometime soon?

In case I buy a used car (Acura or some other brand), if the owner service the car at the only designated deadlership, is there a way that I pull all the service record in addition to the owner telling me in person?

Thanks!

bimmerguy288

I bought my 08 MDX on Feb. 5. The battery was dead the following day after I played around with the electronics and settings for about an hour. I took it to the dealer and they scanned the battery and said it was fine, It became dead because I played with the stuff for too long without running the engine.

The battery died again the next day after 30 minutes of programming the garage door opener and other stuff. The message on the screen said the battery's voltage was not normal and the airbags may not deploy. Took the MDX to the dealer again. This time they did a more thorough test, they said the battery had a bad cell, replaced the battery. Wondering why they didn't do the same test the first time.

bloomy63

Our MDX is a 2007 w/ tech package and has 22,600 miles on it. The vibration started around 14,000 miles.
While driving our MDX we get steering wheel vibrations @ around 40 mph and then again @ 70-80 mph. This vibration is felt throughout the entire car . It's been to the dealer for this issue 5 times so far.
1st time balanced tires & said it fixed the problem, vibration still there.
2nd time dealer said rear tires had flat spots on them so they replaced all 4 tires, vibration still there.
3rd time dealer "road force" balanced and rechecked new tires said 1 rear tire was out of spec and replaced that tire, vibration still there.
4th time dealer said that differential fluid may be the cause of the problem (i changed the differential fluid @ approx 15,000 mi) so they changed the fluid and said it fixed the problem, vibration still there.
5th time dealer then said that they wanted to replace differential fluid again to flush out any remaining old fluid and did so 3 days later, and the vibration is still there.
Dealer took 2 other MDX's from there lot for a ride and said these cars did the same thing and it may be a normal characteristic for this vehicle. Our car did not do this when we bought it.

Clunking in the front & rear suspension
This issue started around 6900 miles. Dealer stated that the trim on the rear hatch door was not installed properly. They reinstalled the trim properly and the clunking was still there.

2nd time dealer diagnosed problem was coming from right front lower control arm bushing and they contacted acura tech and acura said there is no repair action available and acura is already aware of this issue and it is under investigation.

Programmable seats
Our car has been to the dealer to have the programmable seats fixed because it does not return to the presets locations. The car has been to dealer 4 times to fix this issue and so far they have replaced the transmitters module and replaced the MSC unit, then replaced the control unit and limit switch and still the seats do not return to the preset locations.

Any suggestions what to do to have these problems corrected?

angmo27

MY 2003 MDX TAILGATE BECOMES STUCK OCCASSIONALLY.
IS THERE AN INSIDE RELEASE ?
THANKS.

bill124

I posted about battery several weeks ago. Ours was a defect right out of factory. The DVD player was not shutting off and was draining battery. Took multiple visits from jumping service and 2 trips to dealer to fix but seems okay now. Other thing that I heard about being problem was door locks sticking and draining. Dealer should be able to fix but will take some time.

crowncity

I have the exact same problems! I took my '07 MDX in and they changed the rotors. Problem didn't go away. Then they balanced the tires. No change. I took it to another dealer that had it for more than a week. They changed the bushings and said it was fixed. Not a surprise, but they never took it on the highway to test drive it. The problem is still there. The car shakes (especially the steering wheel) when braking at high speeds. It used to happen at 40mph, too, until they changed the rotors. At times I can almost not control the car when braking. Is this a problem?!

Mr_Shiftright

I'd have a precision front end alignment done, presuming the rotors are in fact, in spec and have been measured to be "true". Yes you definitely have a problem that needs immediate attention.

visiting host

bloomy63

Braking does not cause the vibration. It does it whenever the car hits approx. 70mph.

un_sidiq

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced any problems with the CD player, i have a 08 MDX, i recently tried to use the CD player for the first time and seems like there is already a CD i there and i beleive it's the one that was put in by the dealer when we bought the car. The CD does not come out and the player doesn't even switch to CD mode when i press the "6 DISC" button.
Anyone else experienced something similar ?
Thanks

dms9

My battery died too. One of the cells was going bad, on and off. It took a while, but they finally "confirmed" what I had been telling them. They replaced the battery and it seems to work now. Maybe Acura should get a new battery supplier.

dms9

Okay, I understand that every product has a few that aren't as good as others. BUT, my MDX has been just a little too "special" in the 8 months I have owned it:

- Rear Rattle - fixed
- Rear clunk - repaired twice, they got it now
- Large gap in the dashboard, not installed correctly
- Panel on each side of the dash (at the door) not installed correctly
- Panel above the driver's feet fell down
- The thresholds at each door were not installed correctly, needed to be removed and reinstalled
- Rubber molding at the passenger door was installed incorrectly
- Rear electric (sport model) strut failed- replaced
- Windshield was distorted, causing a blur and needed to be replaced
- Muffler had an internal broken baffle and needed to be replaced
- Battery had a cell that failed and the car wouldn't start at times
- Radio completely stopped working
- Bluetooth stopped working
- Voice feature of the NAV stopped working
- HVAC has an intermittent problem
- Drivers memory seat works intermittently

My dealer has been fantastic, but I read how everyone has had so few problems with their MDX. Am I alone with these constant and repeated problems? I absolutely love the way this vehicle drives. For a SUV, it truly drives like a sports car. I bought this because of Honda legendary reliability. However, if I continue to own this beyond the extended warranty that I bought, I may not be able to afford much else.

Has anyone had any dealings directly with Acura? If so, have they been good? What have they done for you? What should I ask for? The problems do not appear to qualify under the lemon law of my state.

Thanks.

vdoshi

I had the steering wheel vibration problem soon after I bought the car in Nov 06.

After road-forced balancing did not do the job, I logged a complaint with Honda North America and got a case opened. By doing this and dealer service manager now being aware of the escalation, they replaced all 4 rims and tires from another new car. This solved the problem and I have 15K on this car now and no issues.

I believe that if the case was not opened with Honda NA the process would have taken longer from the dealer.

jmpage2

My wife and I just took possession of our 2008 MDX on Thursday night and by Friday noticed that there are gashes on one of the 2nd row seats. We suspect our small dog caused the damage, but he's ridden in numerous cars with leather (including her Infiniti and my Audi) and never caused anything like this before.

When you inspect the damage area it appears as though the leather there is extremely thin and almost brittle.

This seems somewhat unaccepteable on what is supposed to be a high end automobile... has anyone had any luck pursuing getting something like this handled direct through the Acura warranty?

hemorse

Does anyone know of a source that can retrofit the 2008 MDX with electronic folding mirrors? My garage door opening is extremely tight, and this would be a good fix. Any help would be appreciated.