***Ultimate Transmission Solution Thread***

[JL_SS]

Originally Posted by Peixinho

I have a 2002 acura mdx for those who want to know. I am having zero tranny problems and this thread was not about knowing who has tranny problems and who does not have transmission problems.

Also i agree that there are 1000's of threads arguing the point of if there is a tranny problem or not... most of those threads start out with..."having tranny problems please help". And then someone gets on there and says "you should have done your research, everyone knows they have tranny problems". Then they ususally go on talking about how much it is going to cost. There are literally thousands of threads about that.

Some of the threads talk about a few solutions which i have listed in my first thread, but then people usually just bash on them and tell them its not going to work. I am hoping to create a thread to help people who want to buy the car reguardless of the claims against the transmission. I just wanted to get all to info in one complete thread as to avoid searching through 1000's of threads of people compaining about there bad tranny's, miracle goops to keep them going, and freaking out about how much the transmission is going to cost.

Thanks,

For those of us around for the tranny problem evolution. There were a few trends that were apparent as well as limited published data.

Consumer Reports repoted that the 2001 Acura CL had the highest reported tranny failure rate at 25%. The 2001 CL used the same tranny as the 01/02 MDX. That is where the 25% failure rate commonly quoted came from. That does mean that 75% of the 01/02 would not experience tranny failures.

Another trend was that if a replacement tranny was needed, it was likely to require multiple replacements. If you were part of that 25%, it was going to be very painful.

The problem is that Honda/Acura owners tend to keep their vehicles until they junk them. Owners with multiple tranny problems were likely to sell/trade them. That meant that the used car market for the 01/02 was filled with problem MDX's and the chance of getting a problem one was much higher than the original 25%.

The oil jet kit addressed a very rare problem that was not a significant reason for failures. It made no difference in the failure rate of the 01/02s. Transmission coolers also made no difference in the 01/02 failure rates.

The real fix was the transmission redesign for the 03 Model year.

Another anomoly was the fact that the 01/02 MDX tranny was used in the 03-05 Honda Pilot. The transmission did not fail in the Pilot.

[Invictis]

Originally Posted by JL_SS

For those of us around for the tranny problem evolution. There were a few trends that were apparent as well as limited published data.

Consumer Reports repoted that the 2001 Acura CL had the highest reported tranny failure rate at 25%. The 2001 CL used the same tranny as the 01/02 MDX. That is where the 25% failure rate commonly quoted came from. That does mean that 75% of the 01/02 would not experience tranny failures.

Another trend was that if a replacement tranny was needed, it was likely to require multiple replacements. If you were part of that 25%, it was going to be very painful.

The problem is that Honda/Acura owners tend to keep their vehicles until they junk them. Owners with multiple tranny problems were likely to sell/trade them. That meant that the used car market for the 01/02 was filled with problem MDX's and the chance of getting a problem one was much higher than the original 25%.

The oil jet kit addressed a very rare problem that was not a significant reason for failures. It made no difference in the failure rate of the 01/02s. Transmission coolers also made no difference in the 01/02 failure rates.

The real fix was the transmission redesign for the 03 Model year.

Another anomoly was the fact that the 01/02 MDX tranny was used in the 03-05 Honda Pilot. The transmission did not fail in the Pilot.

I don't have an 01/02, but just outta curiosity, why might the 03-05 Pilot trannys not have failed at the same rate if they were the same as the MDX version?

[las4444]

Originally Posted by Peixinho

how can i tell if this has been done or not?

Can i do it myself?

There are two ways to find out. First, if you go to the Acura web site and enter your vin, it will let you know if Acura did the mod under warranty.

Second, in place of the fill plug, there will be a hose assembly that leads into the top of the transmission. In the photo, that large plug bolt(large flanged bolt) near the center is the fill plug. If the mod has been done, you will see a hose assembly leading into that hole.

[oilchange]

Consumer Reports repoted that the 2001 Acura CL had the highest reported tranny failure rate at 25%. The 2001 CL used the same tranny as the 01/02 MDX. That is where the 25% failure rate commonly quoted came from. That does mean that 75% of the 01/02 would not experience tranny failures.

This does not mean that 75% of 01/02 Acura CL do not have transmission failure over several years and 25% have failures. It is much worse than that.

Actually, the failure rate is much higher than 25% for Acura CL. The Consumer Reports questionaire asks for things that the owner perceived to be a problem IN THE PAST YEAR. Some years ago, CL owners had reported 25% failures IN THE PAST YEAR so the total number of problems is much more than 25% over years.
The 5 spd AT also appeared in some years Odyssey, Accord also with many failures.

Another trend was that if a replacement tranny was needed, it was likely to require multiple replacements. If you were part of that 25%, it was going to be very painful.

True.

The problem is that Honda/Acura owners tend to keep their vehicles until they junk them. Owners with multiple tranny problems were likely to sell/trade them.

The problem is not that an owner keeps a vehicle for whatever reason. The problem is the bad transmission. That is why people buy cars with reputation for reliability. Sorry that Honda Acura transmissions had many failures.

That meant that the used car market for the 01/02 was filled with problem MDX's and the chance of getting a problem one was much higher than the original 25%.

Many owners or not, a failed transmission is still a failed transmission.

The oil jet kit addressed a very rare problem that was not a significant reason for failures. It made no difference in the failure rate of the 01/02s.

True.

Transmission coolers also made no difference in the 01/02 failure rates.

Unclear. Not enough data.

[trench]

Originally Posted by JL_SS

The real fix was the transmission redesign for the 03 Model year.

Interesting it was fixed in 2003 design.
I wonder if possible to bolt on 2003 or later tranmission in a 2001-2002 ?
Cant be that much of a differnce in mounting - can it?