Hi everyone.

So my wife's 2003 MDX needs to go back in for another transmission. Acura replaced the first one at 153K miles and we are at 176K now. The dealership was great the first time with Acura picking up 75% of the cost of the new transmission and torque converter. It came with a 30K mile warranty so I am hoping that everything will be covered this time.

As for symptoms it was making the rumble strip noise again between 45 & 55 MPH and was occasionally slipping on shifts from 2-3 going up hill. Then on Saturday night I went to pass someone doing 45 in a 55 and as I was passing the car would not up-shift out of third, the VTM-4 light came on and the Exclamation indicator for the TCS. Not where you want the car to fail when passing someone and another car came around the corner from the other direction. After pulling off the road I restarted the car and was able to get home normally. I am just glad it happened to me and not my wife with the kids in the car.

Wish me luck. I can't wait to see what I get for a loaner!

 

So just a quick update on the car. After having it in yesterday (and driving a sweet 2012 MDX for the day) they determined that it was low oil pressure preventing VTEC from engaging. This was the code that was pulled from the car. A simple oil change was all that it needed and so far after driving it home I cannot replicate the issue.

I have worked on a 00 Civic that had a JDM GSR swap and when the VTEC was not engaging we could still shift, granted it was a manual vs an auto, but the engine just felt sluggish. When asked why the transmission would not shift up I was told that when VTEC is not engaging the transmission will not upshift.

This is something new to me so if anyone can confirm I would appreciate it. I am still going to keep driving the car for a while just to ensure nothing else is going on. It does make the rumble noise still so that is still a concern.

The warranty on the new tranny is up in about 6K miles.

 

My question would be did they put the newer style transmission back in it or one from 02,03. 04+ trannies supposedly are pretty much problem free. My 05 mdx has 142k on it and its never had transmission issues and havent read anyone with the 04 or newer mdx's having any type of transmission issues.

My question is would they and did they put in the newer transmission.

Also as for the low oil pressure causing vtec to not engage that would put the ecu into sort of a limp mode especially for the transmission as in allowing slip vs not to be easier on the motor.

 

Also, if your running your oil long enough to start having oil pressure problems you might want to consider changing your oil more frequently/on time. I use synthetic oil only on mine and regularly go 6-7k miles between changes. Hell the maintenance light when reset wont come on till just before 7k miles, starts flashing on startups at about 6800 miles, then stays on at around 7k miles between resets. Thats usually when I get it changed. Other times around 5k-6k miles. Never had oil pressure problems. You cant go that long on conventional oil btw. Just because the maintenance light doesnt come on for that long, the manual also recommends the use of synthetic oil.

I hope they warranty anything from this point on being youve come in with low oil pressure problems due to needing a long overdue oil change.

 

Hi ashtons300zx, thank you for the replies.

The transmission was a re-manufactured one as Acura is not making the tranny new anymore. This was according to the dealership and I have been taking the MDX there since we got it with 55K on it and have become friendly with their service department. I was also told that it was built to the new specs. My aunt had a 95 MDX that she needed to have the transmission replaced on, not sure at what mileage but my mom has it now and it has not turned 100K yet. Hopefully your MDX keeps going strong and does not have any tranny issues.

For the oil I had been taking it to either the Acura dealer or the closer Honda dealer when the maint. light started blinking. The last oil change I did when I replaced the front brake pads/rotors in September and the light started blinking after Thanksgiving and went solid around Christmas, so I was over but not that much, maybe 500-1000 miles. From now on I am going to be watching it closer...and I always use Mobil 1 synthetic in all my cars.

Thank you again for the feedback!

 

No problem, I used mobil 1 oil and filter from 55k to 108k, then since ive been overseas ive had my wife take it to the Valvoline lube and used Valvoline VR1 Synthetic in it since. Yeah, i notice that if I go the whole 7k miles that the oil is about a half quart low but nothing major but even the synthetic at that mileage seems to be broken down quite a bit. I notice on startups it takes longer for the oil pressure light to go out vs having fresh oil in there and not so old oil in there. I really like to keep it changed at every 5k miles or so but yeah its gone 7-8k on a couple occasions with no reprocussion.

Everything else has been flawless on it. Not a sign of transmission issues. Just did the 2nd drain and refill on the trans using Honda trans fluid as well as the center diff and rear diff. Car drives great still. Still need to replace the original timing belt, tensioner, idler, seals, and so on. But even at 141k when i pulled the covers, everything still looked great and no sign of anything major to happen anytime soon. Not a single leak on the engine or trans or any component. Again, couldnt be happier with mine.

 

Hey guys, so bad news on the MDX. Was driving home today and noticed white smoke coming from the back of the car, was almost home so I continued going. The transmission started to go and I barely made it into the driveway before it went completely. Pushing the gas pedal in drive only revs the engine as if it was in neutral. ATF fluid was everywhere (that was the white smoke) and from what I could tell was a clean red and not a burnt brown like the transmission itself went. I am thinking it is the torque converter and am hoping it is covered under the warranty from when it was replaced before.

I call Acura tomorrow at 07:30 when they open and am hoping they will come and pick it up as it is not driveable. Keep you posted.

Piast

 

Probably your trans cooler lines where they go into the radiator. Mine did the same thing 2 months ago. lol

I was sitting in a parking lot when it happened, put it in drive and it went nowhere, looked outside and there was 7 qts of trans fluid on the ground. hahaha. cooler line hose broke at the radiator due to plastic getting brittle. Luckily for me the trans fluid didnt go into the coolant. That would have been a completely other mess to clean up.