| DeaninAustin |
I have a 2002 MDX (116k). I can not recall ever having a car I have spent so much money on getting fixed constantly. I take it to the dealer and have everything done there. The service there has been excellent. A number of times they have waived or reduced the numerous repairs we have had: rebuilt transmission, engine mounts, EGR valves, ABS sensor, rear AC etc. I have spent thousands over the last 3 years on this car. It is absolutley amazing for me to believe this is a Honda product, but it is.
The latest is the engine is dying on us randomly while we are driving. The lights will come on and the engine will die. The Acura service dept thought it was the after market electrical box added for the DVD player, so they removed it. Two weeks later the same thing happened again. Now they have had it for 3 days and still are not sure what is wrong.
Has anyone heard of this latest issue? |
|
|
| maguffin |
Electrical portion of ignition switch? EFI main relay? Clogged fuel pump sock or filter?
No MIL on? |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
"Electrical portion of ignition switch? EFI main relay? Clogged fuel pump sock or filter?"
I asked the service department about all of the above and they have tesated them all and do not think any of these are issues. They have now actually experienced this themselves twice, but still do not know what the issue is. The local service dept is working with the National help line, but apparently there have not been any other reports on something like this.
I am not sure what MIL is, so I did not ask.
I appreciate anyt ideas on this. |
|
|
| ocuriel |
| Any trouble codes? |
|
|
| maguffin |
With all due repsect, they sound incompetent. They need to hook up their PGM tester and go for a drive. Record the data stream when it stalls and look for any items out of the norm.
Honda/Acura tech 101.:confused: |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
| Allegedly they have hooked up their test equipment and taken it for a drive and have not gotten any error codes. So I'm not sure what's up, but I have a high dollar piece of machinery that is basically worthless because it is unreliable. |
|
|
| maguffin |
Need more details:
When does it stall? Idling at lights? When cruising down the highway? Does it re-start immediately? When engine is cold or hot?
Just trying to help... |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
First time it stalled we were driving down the highway in Louisiana at about 75 miles /hr in the rain at night in September. The engine died, all of the lights on the dash board blinked on and off about 3 times and then the engine came back on. This happened twice within about 3 mins of each other.
The second time it happened was about 3 weeks later in traffic in Austin, TX in the middle of the day. The engine also came on again by itself.
Then about one week later it happened three times. This time it happened in the parking lot where my wife had stopped for about 30 mins. Then after the parking lot it happened a few mintues later out side the parking lot twoce as she was dirving home. The next day it happened twice on her way in to the shop. In all instances the engine came back on by iteself.
She took it in to the shop, they diagnosed it as an electrical issue caused by an aftermarket power box for the DVD player which had been in the MDX with no issues for about 4 years. The box was removed and then there were no issues for about two weeks. The dealer was not able to replicate the issue, but guessed what the issue was.
Then 2 wks later the MDX started having trouble again. My wife was driving again in the day time. The engine died and came back on again. The next day my wife was in the turn lane and the car started dying....gas gauge went to zero, it felt like it lost power, then it died and it did not start. She had to start it up again. She did not notice if the lights came on as they did previously.
Then we brought it to the Acura dealer again. This time the Acura dealer said they have seen it happen to them twice.
I hope this helps. |
|
|
| phins2rt |
| I had a Dodge minivan that stalled on me a couple of times while just doing normal driving. They ended up replacing the main computer unit on the car. |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
| I am praying it is not the computer since I am sure it would cost a fortune. |
|
|
| maguffin |
| Sounds like a bad electrical portion of the ignition switch. Should be a $50 part with minimal labor. |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
| You actually hit it on the head. They were able to confirm this error. I think they are going to charge me a bunch of labor just for the diagnosis. They ordered the part since they did not have it in stock. |
|
|
| maguffin |
quote:
Originally posted by DeaninAustin
You actually hit it on the head. They were able to confirm this error. I think they are going to charge me a bunch of labor just for the diagnosis. They ordered the part since they did not have it in stock.
At least it will be like new again. Hope they go easy on you, it should have been a fairly straight forward diagnosis given your symptons. If you take the cover off the ign. switch, you can see if it is burned. Quite often you can clean the switch and it good for a few more years. |
|
|
| BrianV |
quote:
Originally posted by DeaninAustin
You actually hit it on the head. They were able to confirm this error. I think they are going to charge me a bunch of labor just for the diagnosis. They ordered the part since they did not have it in stock.
What dealer did you have it at? David McDavid? If so, they love charging diagnostic fees don't they.... |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
| Yes, it was David McDavid Acura and I think there was $400 in diagnostic fees. However, they had it three times for a total of over one month. We got a free retal furing that time, so not bad. I would actually say overall their service department has been very nice and fair. They were willing to work with me a good bit on items that were no longer in warranty. |
|
|
| BrianV |
quote:
Originally posted by DeaninAustin
Yes, it was David McDavid Acura and I think there was $400 in diagnostic fees. However, they had it three times for a total of over one month. We got a free retal furing that time, so not bad. I would actually say overall their service department has been very nice and fair. They were willing to work with me a good bit on items that were no longer in warranty.
Yeah I think they're a "good" dealer, but they are pricey. Like mentioned previously, I think they shouldn't charge you more than one diagnostic fee since it was the same problem and it was clearly a problem (not some made up story). They should've refunded the fees when they found the problem.
If I recall correctly, they are supposed to put the diag fee towards any work done. It's really there to prevent them from taking in a car for diagnostics and having some come back and pick there car up and have it fixed somewhere else. |
|
|
| DeaninAustin |
| They credited previous charged diagnostic fees. It still added up. It cost about $450 to diagnose and fix. |
|
|
|
