| ELP_JC |
I'm new to the board. Best wishes for the holidays to everybody.
I'm disappointed so far on my first acura, especially when I had a lot of hondas many years ago with ZERO problems. Anyway, after quieting numerous rattles (there're still some there), here's a list of my potential problems and recommendations, so you can comment on them.
1. This is the FIRST car ever that when you select 'D', you feel the creep you always feel in an auto tranny... only to feel a SECOND one a second later, which is the REAL one. If I accelerate after the first creep, which anybody would do, the engine revs up followed by a BAM! when the stupid transmission finally engages. So now I have to wait a second or two until it engages. Doesn't sound normal to me. Didn't notice this in the '03 loaner, but want to hear our opinions.
2. Have the darn droning sound at 2K rpms, present in all gears, but most notable in 3rd and 5th. There's a separate thread on this, so I won't clutter this space. I think it's the converter, by the way.
3. First gear revs to the stratosphere; does anybody know why? I know this is 'normal', because the '03 loaner did the same. That's probably why I'm getting 15.8 mpg; almost like my Navigator, with a 5.4 liter V8 and weighing 3 tons.
4. Talking about the tranny, does this car has a stupid system to check the fluid or what? You have to shut off the engine and IMMEDIATELY check the level, rather than checking it with the enginie running at idle. If you wait even a minute, the level will rise and give you the impression the oil level is fine. By the way, I ran the tranny with the level high, low, and normal, and the droning noise was the same. Why, you may ask? Well, the tranny was overfilled by the factory. Then I sucked too much, then left it perfectly. At the same time I experimented with the noise. The level up and down was one pint. Hardly harmful.
5. A tranny maintenance comment. I agree with not flushing it. Since it only takes 2+ quarts to drain, I'll do it every 10K miles (about once a year for me). It'll cost $10, and ensure a long life. What kills a tranny is bad fluid, and what kills the fluid is heat. Since our tranny doesn't have a cooler, it's important to keep the fluid relatively fresh, and it's a lot cheaper to drain and put in 2-1/2 quarts every 10K, than having to flush the thing every 30K miles. Why they haven't put a cooler after so many failures is beyond me. It's capacity is very marginal as well. My Navigator had 15 QUARTS and an oil cooler; this has 7.5.
That's it for now folks. Good to be here.
JC |
|
|
| RonH |
1) Same here on my 03. I've read about it here in a few places ... seems either common or normal. I've trained myself to wait for the 2nd engagement before taking off. Only problem with it is one that others have mentioned .. backing into a busy street and needing to get gone. Another thing you might noticed is the clunk/clack sound when going from D to R. Again, seems common or normal .. my Ody does the same.
2) Haven't noticed it ... listened for it.
3) It appears 'normal' as well. Both my X and Ody do this .. although I think the X holds 1st a tad little longer.
4) No info ... haven't even looked into it ... have less that 2k on the X. Didn't realize you had to check the tranny on the X with the engine off.
5) I don't think I'll ever pay for a "power-flush", but I plan on doing a double or triple change when I do change it. Just changed the fluid in the Ody and did a triple flush since it was overdue. Each time, the fluid was noticeably redder instead of brownish. As for quality, I only use Honda Z1. |
|
|
| ELP_JC |
Hey Ron, good to hear from you buddy. So you're a rider too? Man, when I heard about the possible frame problems, I sold my '01 GL1800; I'm glad I did. It was enough to deal with the overheating issue here in TX. Are you one of the unlucky ones who need your bike dismantled to re-weld the frame? Hope not buddy.
Back to the MDX, I've read only the '04s have the dreaded drone. Glad to here most of the things are 'normal'. The 'clank' going to P is the darn 'reverse lockout' feature, so that's normal indeed.
Just as a general comment, in the many Lexuses (all V8s), BMWs, and a few americans I've had, there's always something wrong with the cars. What really pisses me off is when you have the SAME issues after many years of production, like our MDX, my new SC430, ex-'03 vette, etc. The Lex is much superior in quality than the acura (especially the interior), but I also have a couple of rattles that haven't been resolved since the stupid car came out (very minor stuff here, really). Same with the vette, but that one was ridiculous; I sold it with 2K miles. I started buying cars that have been in production at least 2 years to minimize the disappointments, but I've had no luck getting a well built car the first time. What worries me about the MDX is the transmission problems; too many for comfort, meaning the darn thing is very marginal at best. Will do oil changes every 10K as I said before; takes a few minutes. And yes, you need to use only Honda brand fluid on these suckers.
Good day Ron, and thanks for replying. Where do you live? If you ever ride around here, shoot me an Email. I live in El Paso, TX, westernmost corner of the state, minutes from NM.
Happy holidays folks.
PS. Hey Ron, how did you change the color in your signature?? |
|
|
| RonH |
So far so good on the Wing's frame .... and that tapping sound you hear is me knocking on my desk. My VIN is ouside the recall range, but both the dealer and I are keeping and eye on it. I've seen some of the post-repair welds ... looks like 10lb of weld added to the frame. :eek:
I live in Central FL ... mid-way between Orlando and Tampa. I've had the Wing to TX a couple times ... but only as far west as Pedernales Falls SP just west of Austin. Normally when we head to TX, it's to Houston .. have family there, and nowadays 95% of our travel requires more that 2 seats, so if the bike goes along, it's in a trailer.
I've gotten over most of my original gripes with the X ... only thing lingering is a minor paint defect in the hood that the dealer is going to fix once I ge time to get it in there. As for the tranny ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The signature is basically like a mini web page ... so just use normal HTML tags ... <FONT COLOR=______> and </FONT> ... replace the ___ with the RRGGBB code for the color if you want a specific color, or you can use the basics ... red, green, etc. |
|
|
| JCMDX |
| I have a similar problem with my 2004 MDX. Very annoying indeed. The tranny does that double shudder before it's actually in a forward gear. Think it'll be fixed with a TSB or a recall? |
|
|
| ELP_JC |
I don't know buddy. At least somebody with an '03 reports the same delayed tranny engagement, which points to a 'normal' conditon. I think all of us need to start raising some hell at dealerships in order for honda to do something about it... if at all.
I'm not terribly demanding on my cars being perfect, but the 'normal' things I've found on this acura (my first) are not really worthy of a $43K 'luxury' car that's in its 4th year of production. Most disturbing is the abnormal (I don't think it's an epidemic, by the way) failure rate of transmissions, and the fact that nothing has been done to improve them. I believe excess maintenance can dramatically reduce the chances of failure, and I'll certainly do that, but we shouldn't have to. They're very marginal for this vehicle, especially with the uprated 265 horse engine.
My wife is happy with it, and we don't plan to dump it or anything, but I'm hoping for some action from Honda to rectify the mechanically related issues we have; namely the transmission delay to shift, and the droning sound.
Is there an 800 number where we all can start raising some hell?? Honda motorcycles don't list such a number, and don't want customers to 'bother' them (issues are only addressed to dealers), so now I buy my bikes from more responsive manufacturers.
Happy holidays to everybody.
JC
PS. Where can we post problems other than transmission ones? There's only a TSB and a 'transmission problem' areas on this forum. |
|
|
| RonH |
quote:
Originally posted by ELP_JC
PS. Where can we post problems other than transmission ones? There's only a TSB and a 'transmission problem' areas on this forum.
Just in the "problems" forum ... one level above the TSB and tranny one.
http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/foru...p?s=&forumid=14 |
|
|
| ELP_JC |
Thanks a lot Ron; couldn't find it form the main menu (hmmmm).
There's a lot more info on the drone issue there, and it's present on '03s as well. After more than a year with this problem, I'm not too hopeful for a solution. We need to make all the noise we can make.
Take care buddy.
JC |
|
|
|
