| Warzau |
quote:
Originally posted by afalubi
Just noticed this issue a couple months ago on my '03 MDX with ~ 85k miles on it. Was very happy to find this thread, and reading 14 pages of posts wasn't as bad as it sounds. Checked with my dealer and they are wanting ~ $120 to do the repair since I am long out of warranty. I ordered a few fuses off of digikey and will try the repair over the 100+ degree Texas 4th of July weekend. Best of all, my wife can no longer give me grief over the soldering iron i bought on ebay a few months ago! :)
It should take all of 5-10 mins tops to remove the unit from the MDX and then take it inside a nice cool house to replace the fuse. :4: |
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| afalubi |
| The only part of the procedure that concerns me is taking the carpeted side panel off of the console. Do I just grab it from the bottom and pull? I don't want to damage the tabs that hold it in place... |
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| Warzau |
quote:
Originally posted by afalubi
The only part of the procedure that concerns me is taking the carpeted side panel off of the console. Do I just grab it from the bottom and pull? I don't want to damage the tabs that hold it in place...
Start near the seat and pull the panel outward towards the side of the mdx. When you get to the gas pedal you pull it towards the rear of the mdx. |
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| afalubi |
I'm happy to report that my wife has a newfound respect for me due to the precision repairwork I executed on the transistor assembly. Well, she was surprised anyways...
The repair was fairly straightforward, but I would definitely have benefited from (1) some smaller hands to reach in and pull out the transistor and (b) a better vice to hold the assembly while I soldered and desoldered.
I also noticed that the AC screen was covered in dust/lint so I cleaned it off with a dyson vacuum. Wasn't the best job cleaning it, but it should do for a while I think.
Thanks for this great thread, your support saved me a couple hundred $. |
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| thisispeace |
Why not just short the fuse? Saves the Digikey hastle.
It'd be nice if that put the bottleneck back at the easily-reachable fuse box, but I'm not familiar with the circuitry. |
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| irondog47 |
Thanx for the very exact desription how to fix the problem.
I bought the fuse from Digikey, then I followed your instructions and I had the rear fan working in total of 32 minutes, at a cost of $8.45 ($8 for shipping of the fuse, $0.45 for the termal fuse; I live in Canada, shipping is expensive here, basically everything is expensive here.. Mark Twain has already describbed the problem very accurately quite a few years ago..)
I have an Acura MDX 2002 with 105,000 miles on it, bought last year very cheaply from a Lexus dealer in Miami, FL. |
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| bdadams |
My 01 MDX lost rear air at 87K, Thanks to all the post in here, I spent just under $20 to repair the Rear AC, It was the transistor, bought two just in case...Wife thinks I'm the BOMB for saving $200+ Thanks ACURAMDX.ORG and Thanks DidMoroz....
You guys Rock!
BA |
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| midnightMDX |
| EPIC thread lives on!!! :2: |
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| irondog47 |
quote:
Originally posted by thisispeace
Why not just short the fuse? Saves the Digikey hastle.
......
of course, you can do that.. but then, eventually, you are risking a far more costly repair - either replacing burned fan controller, or burned rear fan motor.. not worth the risk, in my opinion.
i work with industrial electronics... www.deemencoders.com
btw - why do you guys refer to the rear fan controller as a "transistor"???? there is a transistor inside, but it is just one of the components of this device, as the thermal fuse is a single component - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor |
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| A3815 |
THANKS NEO AND mp2924
NEO is a genius!!! - excellent troubleshooting - did you have a manual? - I was able to get the rear fan working for about $4.50 by replacing the heater (fuse)
The fan intake screen on my car was very dirty - i wonder if this contributed to the failure of the overload - dirt may nay reduced air flow.
thanks again for posting and pictures - |
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| midnightMDX |
| Another saved. Yea I think the dirty screen is what causes it to blow. |
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| SonShine |
Another success story - worked like a charm, and the hardest part was figuring out exactly how to take everything out/apart. Once I had it out, the rest was pretty easy.
Thanks to everyone who made this possible - saved a lot of $$! |
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| crvols |
| I don't know what I would have done if I had paid $300 and then found I could fix it for .45 cents, but it would not have been pretty! I had more trouble getting the module out than fixing the thermister, but that is due to fat hands and lousy eyesite. Otherwise it went smoothly and most importantly, the fan now works. I will never let that screen go more than a year without a cleaning. I agree with other posters that whoever first figured this fix out is a genious! |
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| luv2fix |
Thanks to DidMoroz!
Info on rear A/C spot on. The failure sequence makes sense. Metal screen clogs. Reduced airflow lets the transistor overheat. Bing! The thermal fuse goe$$$. Attached is a before pix of my metal screen. |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by luv2fix
Thanks to DidMoroz!
Info on rear A/C spot on. The failure sequence makes sense. Metal screen clogs. Reduced airflow lets the transistor overheat. Bing! The thermal fuse goe$$$. Attached is a before pix of my metal screen.
No Pic. |
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| Wilde Oscar |
| Got the new thermal fuse from Digikey ($2.33 w/ shipping) and preformed the fix tonight. No problems. The screen on the squire cage was blocked up pretty good. I'll add cleaning it to my annual tasks. Thanks for the great instructions. |
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| midnightMDX |
| Thats pretty dirty. How many miles/year? |
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| Wilde Oscar |
| I bought it used this August... It's an '04 with 62K. I now need to service the starter as it's making "that noise”. This is a great forum with lots of useful information. Thanks. |
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| Malibu |
Yes, I have that problem too, among many, many others.
I am taking my MDX in to get the Navigation system repaired ($695.00 to repair navi failure) and I will request a free repair for rear air. I will keep you posted.
I have so many problems with my MDX I don't even bother to mention them anymore to the dealer.
My Recommendation...Sell your MDX before the next major repair bill!
Switch to Lexus. |
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| converted |
| How important is it that you put the insulation back on to the exposed wire of the new thermal fuse? What would ahppen if you didn't? |
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