2003 MDX Tranny is going.....

[smoothlude]

Yeah, my tranny just exploded tonight. Earlier on the highway experienced slippage and the motor would just rev free...things got worse when I tried to drive home it just gave out spilling all the tranny fluid. I have a 2003 with 120k miles and had the timing belt, water pump, tranny/diff fluid replaced last year. I most recently went to the dealership for an oil change about 500 miles ago. Well, it's been towed to the dealership for now. Is this a known problem with the MDX? Is there some sort of bulletin out from acura regarding this issue? I read in an earlier post that the acura dealership agreed to pay for part of the repair?

[phins2rt]

Probably not your transmission. It's probably the radiator. Hopefully you didn't get any coolant in your transmission. Keep us posted.

[smoothlude]

Originally Posted by phins2rt

Probably not your transmission. It's probably the radiator. Hopefully you didn't get any coolant in your transmission. Keep us posted.

They haven't looked at it yet, but speaking to the service manager he believes the radiator leaked coolant into the tranny causing it to slip and finally fail. They want to replace the radiator and the tranny for $6500. I'm thinking about getting a remanufactured tranny to put in...thoughts?

[richkuan]

Sorry to hear ur situation. If the trans spills out fluid, that could be very bad. Probably ur trans housing cracked.

Did u race the engine when it slipped? And did the trans finally engage while the engine is revving at high rpm? Do u mind giving us more details?

Acura decides the coverage case by case. U can give it a try. But it really depends on what caused the problem. Dealers normally charge the highest price. U may want to talk to some indy shops. They may be willing to tow ur car for free to their shop.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[smoothlude]

I wasn't racing at all, simply commuting on the highway around 70mph when it started to slip. It just happened suddenly. Anyway, the dealership wants to replace the radiator/hosing, flush out the cooling system twice and flush the transmission. They told me there's a 50/50 shot that the transmission is still good. They initially quoted me 1300, but gave me a discount down to 992 (since i service there often). For the transmission they quoted me 5300 (3500 for a remanufactured tranny) including 1200 for labor. I have seen prices online for RM transmissions for less than 2000. I feel these are stealership prices so if I need a new tranny will prolly head down to the local mom/pop shop.

[matt03acura]

Originally Posted by smoothlude

I wasn't racing at all, simply commuting on the highway around 70mph when it started to slip. It just happened suddenly. Anyway, the dealership wants to replace the radiator/hosing, flush out the cooling system twice and flush the transmission. They told me there's a 50/50 shot that the transmission is still good. They initially quoted me 1300, but gave me a discount down to 992 (since i service there often). For the transmission they quoted me 5300 (3500 for a remanufactured tranny) including 1200 for labor. I have seen prices online for RM transmissions for less than 2000. I feel these are stealership prices so if I need a new tranny will prolly head down to the local mom/pop shop.

Hi Smoothlude, I have a 2003 and at @110,000 miles I had the same thing happen although I wasn't driving but parking the car and splat...out came all the radiator fluid and no mixing into the tranny. There may be a chance that you will only need to replace the radiator and all fluids and hoses... I had this done at my local indy shop at a price a bit higher than you are getting at the dealer so I would go with that for starters. The real problem IMHO is that the radiator fluid needs replacing a little more often than suggested and the hose gets corroded and BAM....
There may be some other underlying issues but my 2003 has been running fine since then...and that was in 2010....

[woof]

Yikes, these are some pretty ugly situations that no one ought to have to experience. My 2003 is still going strong...knock on wood. Has anyone performed preventive maintenance by replacing radiator hoses at certain mileage intervals? I typically just visual inspect items like belts, hoses, fittings, etc. to best of my capability, not to mention have my trusted mechanic take an overall look at things when the car is in there for any sort of service work.

[phins2rt]

If it was me, woof, I would go ahead and change out the radiator. This seems to be a fairly common pattern now. Mine went out at 117K. The price difference between a new radiator and a new transmission makes it a no brainer, especially if you can do it yourself.

[proman]

If the tranny fluid leaks thru a cracked radiator, then the tranny should still be good. The slippage is due to low tranny fluid. Don't think you need a new tranny.

[matt03acura]

Originally Posted by phins2rt

If it was me, woof, I would go ahead and change out the radiator. This seems to be a fairly common pattern now. Mine went out at 117K. The price difference between a new radiator and a new transmission makes it a no brainer, especially if you can do it yourself.

When you say your radiator "went out"...in what way? Same as I described and others here?

[matt03acura]

proman, how is your situation?

[phins2rt]

Originally Posted by matt03acura

When you say your radiator "went out"...in what way? Same as I described and others here?

Yep. Same problem as others have had.

[smoothlude]

Originally Posted by proman

If the tranny fluid leaks thru a cracked radiator, then the tranny should still be good. The slippage is due to low tranny fluid. Don't think you need a new tranny.

That's good news if it bears out that way... would really be a shame if the coolant destroyed the transmission and a pretty faulty design at that. When I google this issue i found many mdx owners with the same or similar problem with the radiator and/or transmission. I'm not sure how many people we need to get a class action going because acura is really not owning up to this widespread issue with a recall. BTW, the car is still at the dealership, it's been 4 days now and still no word as to what's going on.

[JL_SS]

Originally Posted by smoothlude

That's good news if it bears out that way... would really be a shame if the coolant destroyed the transmission and a pretty faulty design at that. When I google this issue i found many mdx owners with the same or similar problem with the radiator and/or transmission. I'm not sure how many people we need to get a class action going because acura is really not owning up to this widespread issue with a recall. BTW, the car is still at the dealership, it's been 4 days now and still no word as to what's going on.

If you are outside of the warranty period, there is little chance of a class action suit - you bought the vehicle knowing it's warranty period.

[smoothlude]

Originally Posted by JL_SS

If you are outside of the warranty period, there is little chance of a class action suit - you bought the vehicle knowing it's warranty period.

I'm not a lawyer but if this issue doesn't have Honda's attention, how can the consumer protect themselves from a potentially dangerous defect? I just heard on the news today that Dodge issued a recall on 2003 Vipers for an electrical issue, why would they do that if they didn't fear class action?