| Transmission Replacement 2002 22,000 Miles
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| 1JB |
| Had the recall service done to check for heat damage on my 2002 MDX. Indication was no damage, added oil spray system or whatever they were supposed to do as part of the recall. 2 days and about 30 miles later the orange light that looks like an engine comes on. Acura says it's most likely the fuel cap not being put back on tightly and should go away in 3-5 days. Week later and still on. Can't get an appointment for 3 more weeks but it's ok to drive it according to Acura. Several 600 mile round trips later we take it in today. Acura says it's an internal transmission failure and we need a new one. "Had we noticed any slippage when shifting?" Hmmm, that should be in our records from our last 3 visits over the past 6 months when they told us it was normal, part of the adaptive transmission, particularly the slippage when going down hill or around 40 mph but it's not. I believe I even have some posts here about it and the dealer told me to put in fuel injector cleaner since it may be due to a lot of around town driving. Granted we just moved between 2 different states but we told the dealer about the sensation in the transmission when we had the recall done at our new location and you'd hope that the old dealer would have entered it into the service records on a computer. Well they've got it for 2 weeks, are paying for a rental and the "new" transmission will have the same warranty. I'm still glad I got the 7 year 100,000 mile extended warranty though. At this rate I've got a few more transmissions coming. Now if Acura had just done a visual inspection of the transmission 2 days earlier you have to wonder how predictive they are of a problem. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by 1JB
Now if Acura had just done a visual inspection of the transmission 2 days earlier you have to wonder how predictive they are of a problem.
The visual inspection is only 'predictive'of one type of problem. And unfortunately, not a common one. |
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| 1JB |
| After having my MDX for almost 3 weeks the dealer says it is supposed to be done tomorrow. The "new" rebuilt transmission came in last week but they are working on quite a few so it took another 10 days for them to get to it. The Trailblazer rental they gave me in the interim is a real piece of junk. According to the rental car company when they gave us the rental the dealer had already rented 20 cars for people having the transmissions on their "L's" and MDXs replaced. It will be interesting to see how this transmission compares to the minor "searching and slipping" of the other one that they kept telling me was normal after many miles with the "adaptive" transmission. It will also be interesting to see what the mpg is. After having the transmission recall done and after the engine light came on our mileage was 28 mpg on the highway, way above our normal of 22 according to the computer. It had to be a glitch with the computer don't you think? I don't know how a faulty transmission could increase mileage. |
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| gawdfatha |
Last month, I noticed a small ATF leak on my late 2002 MDX, along the front of the transmission housing. Also, I had noticed some sporadic slippage / surging in 2d gear but was not 100% positive. The ATF was not discolored and did not smell burned. Took it in for the recall service yesterday. The dealer says the 2d gear was not discolored, nor did the tech experience any slippage on road test.
But, the dealer called to say that Acura is going to install a rebuilt transmission anyway. He says that the leaking AT case seals cannot be replaced by themselves :confused: So, I am to believe that SOLELY due to the minor ATF leak, and for no other reasons whatsoever, Acura is springing for a rebuild. Anyway, from what I have read about leaks from some poorly installed "oil jet" kits, I'd rather have a rebuilt AT without one. Dealer says that transmissions are on back order for 1 - 2 weeks, so I am in a rental.
How are the rebuilt transmissions holding up? I see that some owners have had problems with them too, so I am now inclined to sell my MDX before the std. warranty expires. I didn't gamble on the extended warranty (based on great experience with '89 and '93 Acura Legends).
gawdfatha
2002 MDX Touring
1998 M-B Wagon |
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| 1JB |
| I've only had mine back for about a week now. It drives a lot better, no slippage at all. With the rebuilt transmission installed I now realize that the original one was slipping under more circumstances than I realized. I used to have some hesitation and to push on the gas harder going up the hill of our driveway when I started out; now it moves up right away. As others have noted my gas mileage has apparently fallen off as well. I'm now getting about 15mpg around town and 19 on the highway according to the computer but I don't seem to be going through gas any faster so maybe it's a reset issue. On the other hand as I noted before, when the old transmission was failing my mileage shot up by about 5mpg so maybe there was some feature of the old transmissions designed to improve mileage that is linked to the failures? Who knows. I still love the MDX but am glad I got the extended warranty. Once that warranty is up however I'm trading it in since I'm not confident this problem won't resurface after 100k miles. |
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| gawdfatha |
Hope the luck with the new AT holds out. I have read that American Honda has formally extended the AT warranty on the Pilots and Odysseys to 100,000 miles. If those are the same Honda AT's that are in the MDX, then Acura (as the luxury "flagship" for Honda) needs to at LEAST match that warranty extension. And the extension should cover both the original AT's that have not failed as well as the rebuilt ones they have installed. I will start a letter campaign to Acura and see how they react.
gawdfatha
2002 MDX Touring
1998 M-B Wagon |
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| gawdfatha |
I picked up my MDX on Wednesday and it does seem to be driving a little better with the rebuilt AT. Have not noticed any slippage so far. My dealer handled the whole thing well, and I'm glad that they rebuilt it before it failed either out in the middle of nowhere (or worse, in the post-warranty period).
The trip computer now says I'm getting lower gas mileage -- about 13 mpg in stop and go driving and 24 on the highway. I will have to check these figures when I fill up next time.
When I asked my dealer about warranty on the rebuilt AT, he said that it stayed within the factory 4 YR / 50K, with no extension. He did state that if the rebuild fails in the post-warranty period, American Honda will generally do something to resolve the problem.
I found the American Honda press release on extended AT warranty for 2000 - 2001 Odysseys and the 2002 TL/CL for 100,000 miles. See
[URL=http://www.hondacorporate.com/press/index.html?s=american&y=2002&r=886]
My dealer assured me that these transmissions are completely different from the one used in the MDX. No one has suggested that a warranty extension will be given for the MDX or Pilots. If not, how much will the resale value of our used MDX's drop once the AT issues become widely known ... ?
gawdfatha
2002 MDX Touring
1998 M-B Wagon |
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| 1JB |
| Well after about a month with the new transmission the mpg is back up to around 18 overall. That's what it was before the new transmission so unless there's a "break in" issue affecting mileage my low mileage after the replacement transmission must have been related to the trip computer. |
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| wckitty1 |
I am tyaking a poll of all the people who have had Acura transmission Slipage? Car Model, Year, Milage? Can anyone tell my why "Slippage" Happens to so many Acura's?
I have an Acura MDX 2001 (At 54,000 miles, I had slippage and total failure, and my transmission was replaced) |
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