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A.) Engage the rear drive coupling upon any level of low speed acceleration, distribute the engine drive torque over more than just the front wheels.
B.) When turning, turning tightly, turning under acceleration, turning tightly under acceleration.
These new F/awd systems make no note/adjustment for roadbed traction conditions so a HIGH level of pre-emptive engine drive coupling may result, and often does result, on a serious level of drive line windup and/or tire scrubbing unless the traction surface has a lot of "give", slipperiness.
"...Has this issue been resolved in the 2010 model..?"
Apparently not.
According to the 2011 MDX owners manual there is a temperature sensor in the rear differential that is used to WARN the driver of a marginal operating condition. The driver is instructed to pull off the road, shift into neutral and let the engine idle until the indication goes out.
And what if the driver doesn't heed those instructions..?
In Ford's case, the Escape F/awd, they simply disabled the F/awd system if the rear coupling continued its upward temperature climb. But that didn't seem to help overall as the PTO (apparently the weakest link in the Ford Escape's F/awd system) began to "fail-over" left and right. The new 2011 F/awd Ford Explorer has now added engine coolant flow to abate the PTO failures.
Personally I would recommend removing the SH-AWD fuse except at times when the need for the SH-AWD system is predicted, predictable.
No inadvertent driveline stress and/or tire scrubbing on tractive surfaces = no "weakest" link failures, Ford PTO, MDX torque converter (most likely the TC's lock-up clutch).
http://www.ehow.com/about_5597120_acura-mdx-transmission-problems.html
First of all you need to find out if it is a transmission problem. If it is then read this forum which has all the info you need to make and present your case, that is exactly what i did.
Your torque converter's lockup clutch is failing.
While you'll likely have to have the TC replaced you can avoid future failures by disabling the SH-AWD system except when you have expectation or suspecion that it will be needed.
The SH-AWD system, in effect, LOCKS the "virtual" center diff'l even on highly tractive surfaces, a serious NO-NO for an actual 4WD. Worse yet, it LOCKS that diff'l EVEN when turning and/or turning while accelerating. Having the SH-AWD system's rear drive capability engaged on a tractive surface along with the front drive will ALWAYS result in some level of drive line windup and/or tire scrubbing. Engaging both front and rear drive when turning tightly or accelerating into a turn, PURE STUPIDITY(***)...!!
Apparently the lockup clutch in the TC just happens to be the weakest link in the MDX drive train.
*** Actually the really stupid part is the engineers trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear, converting a base FWD vehicle, PATENTLY UNSAFE FWD, into a F/awd compromise.
I wondered if anyone else has this problem. I own a 2001 mdx with 88,000 miles. For 2 yrs now, everytime I shift from park to reverse there is a loud banging noise. I have had it checked by the acura mechanic several times. once they replaced a "block" that held the transmission(sorry, I am car illiterate). The problem continues and now they say it is a "normal" banging. Where is this Banging coming from when I shift from park to reverse? Should I be concerned or is it normal as they say? I might add that I have owned the car since 2001, have NEVER missed a recommended service, and besides the loud bang, the car runs very well. thanks for any suggestions.
And my guess is that is due to the overstressing, HEATING, of the drive train components due to driveline windup and/or tire scrubbing resulting from the inappropriate engagement of the rear drive on tractive surfaces.
You can extend the life of your transaxle by disabling the SH-AWD system except at times of need or suspected need.
It is very likely that a more "adequate" cooler may be if no help as there is likely a thermostat involved in limiting or regulating the flow to the external cooler in order to:
1) Allow the ATF temperature to rise as quickly as possible such that OD can/will be used.
2) Prevent the ATF temperature from falling below operational, 200F, temperature.
Most modern day transaxles have a temperature sensor within the transaxle so the driver can/will be forewarned if the ATF temperature begins to rise too high.
Your ATF is overheating due to some sort of LOCALIZED internal component STRESS. In this case there is now reason to suspect that to be the TC lockup clutch.
Also, due to the fairly recent major change to transaxle designs, real-time control of ATF line pressure, the long term failures may be due to the inability to support two gear changes in quick succession. One of the early fixes, circa RX330 introduction, for that design flaw was to use DBW to prevent the onset of rising engine torque until the downshift clutches can be fully and firmly engaged.
In the negotiations, I said:
-the transmission was flawed from the factory
-Acura knew this
-Acura had paid for others out-of-warranty
-I had been in touch with class action lawyers
I hope this helps somebody else.
Thanks for your help!
I have brought these problems to the attention of the manager in the service department and because it's an intermittent problem, they could not replicate it. So, nothing could be done.
Recently both problems have become more frequent. I took it back to the Acura dealer's service department. They drove it and said I needed a tork converter. They informed me they do not replace these, but only replace the transmission at a cost of $4,100. When I informed them of my past complaints, they said they had no record of my complaints and that I should realize that having a transmission go out at 200,000 miles is not uncommon. One of the managers also said he checked and Acura had no recalls with 2003 MDX transmissions. Obviously I have found this site and have determined there have been a lot of problems with Honda/Acura transmissions.
I hope that you have hard copies of the prior service complaints.
On the otehr hand, were it me, at 200K I would probably go ahead and put in a complete rebuilt transaxle.
And then I would remove the rear drive fuses throughout the summer months.
Remove the fuses for the rear drive coupling and see if the shudder is still there.
If it isn't then it is likely you can extend the life of the transaxle components by having someone install a switch so you can manually disable the rear drive coupling except at times of need.
Thanks,
Colt
What Acura needs to do is disable the rear driveline coupling capability unless the driver manually enables it, in which case it should automatically switch off after 10-15 minutes of no F/R wheel slippage.
In the meantime you can dramatically improve you chances of avoiding these failure by removing the fuse(s) except at times of need.
*** Engagement of L/R rear drive coupling clutches.
When I found this website, I realized I am not alone...I thought my car was annoying and noisy to drive but now I believe it's dangerous. I've read where others have had their car die in traffic or they need to pull over because the car will not accelerate. I sincerely hope no one is injured or killed as a result of one of these bad transmissions.
SO MANY MDX owners have the SAME problem...why has there not been a recall? I"m scared to drive my car,,,I don't know when annoying will change to dangerous. I am going to www.NHTSA.gov to complete a "Report a Vehicle Defect ~ Complaint Form" (even though I have not had an "accident", I do feel the car is unsafe). If you also feel your car is dangerous, will you PLEASE do the same? Maybe that will get someone's attention. Thanks!
Transaxles FAIL every day for one reason or another and it is generally pure happenstance, situational, as to weither the failure is/becomes a matter of safety.
On the other hand if the design defect were to exhibit itself in a way that directly threatened your safety, sudden drive wheel lockup, say, that would be another matter.
Design defect, yes, ABSOLUTELY..!!
I suspect that if you could find a way to permanently and fully disable the lockup clutch function you might be able to drive the MDX for the normal period, slight loss of FE. But on the other hand the torque converter may not be robust enough for full time use.
I won an 2006 Acura RL and my wife owns a 2006 Honda Pilot. I have had initial issues with the software, which was remedied ala warranty. My wife's Pilot has had nothing go wrong except factory recalls sent to us from Honda.
Neither my wife or myself have had tranny issues and I hope we do not in the future.
Having owned since 1995 Honda exls and/or acuras I have had few problems. I am sorry to see so many issues being presented and I hope all of you readers/posters have few issues and get 200 k miles on your vehicle.
Oh, I have not connection/work for any entity/party in the auto industry. Good luck to all of you and I hope all of us have a peaceful and excellent Xmas season.
jensad
I was unaware of all of these MDX tranny issues until now. Any comments? Thanks, Steve
Maybe you haven't noticed until now...?
Brake application at any speed REQUIRES that the lockup clutch be released, as does a FULL stop.
I see lots of transmission issues, but compared against the number of total MDX's on the road today, I don't see much of a high percentage of affected users? From the end of the year 2000 to the year 2006, a total of 322,760 MDX's have been sold. There are 476 messages in this forum, approximating to maybe 450 incidents.
This represents .13 % of the total cars sold. This percentage is not high enough to be able to state that the MDX's transmission has a design flaw.
Rather, I'd still say that this percentage represents those MDX's that are affected by the recalls for the transmissions, and torque converters.
I don't know what you guys would say, but this is my conclusion? Because many people are saying their MDX's are needing tranny replacements multiple times, and premature torque converter replacements.
But many of my friends and I own MDX's from varying model years, and none of us have any problems of the sort? One of my friends actually owns a 2001 MDX with 183k miles, and he has not stated any problems!
So I think this issue is something that affects some MDX owners, but it is definitely not some issue that is inevitable in ALL MDX's because of a design flaw.
For this, I think the affected people should boldy present the recall information. If the dealers don't accept, I think class action would be decent option, because there are nearly 450 different unique cases, which should be enough.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
tpulak