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Vibrating/grinding/shudder when turning steering wheel at no or low speed

112K views 200 replies 74 participants last post by  cutsalot 
#1 ·
I have had a short and bad experience with the MDX. In Jan. bought a 2009 Cert.Tech/Ent.Long story short, the car had a major vibration at highway speeds and pulled to the right. After 4 visits & 3 weeks w/o the car, the dealership unwound the deal and we got our money back. Figuring it was a fluke( against my husband's better judgement) we bought another MDX. A 2010. The next morning when backing out of my garage, I noticed a shudder/ pulsing vibration in steering wheel and throughout the car when I turn the steering wheel. It happens every 2-3 seconds. It happens going forward as well. Once I give it gas, it stops. It also made a loud noise every time it shuddered. Dealership said it is not normal. They put in a new power steering pump. That didn't fix problem. So Acura told them to flush the power steering (resevoir?) fluid and they found metal shavings which indicated to them to replace total rack and pinion steering. It still does it, minus the loud sound. Thoughts?
 
#3 ·
Please report back on the resolution to the issue as I've also experienced shudder/vibration when turning the wheel when parking, specifically when the a/c is on.

My next service is not for a while and was wondering if I should take it in sooner to have this checked out.
 
#5 ·
Just following up.....problem got worse....dealership we bought it at researched all problems and found no resolution....we took car back and they took it back. After strike 2, we were done. Bought a Cadillac SRX and we are in heaven.....what a difference. Good Luck with your issue, hope you can find a resolution. Our local dealership mentioned this is starting to be a major problem with the 2010 and possible/future bulletin/recall. LEt us know how it turns out.....I would take it right in....make sure they check for those metal shavings as that is not normal.
 
#6 ·
It's pretty common to complain about "issues" on this board that are just normal characteristics of the car. <commence flaming> My 04 & 07 both did (do) the same thing with power steering since day one. In my opinion it's the load placed on an idling engine by the power steering pump that causes the noise and so forth. In this thread the poster says the dealer replaced all the major components of the steering system hydraulics and it still did it?....sounds like it's part of the design to me. Power steering fluid is going to have junk in it no matter what (when is the last time you replaced a power steering fluid filter?) and I suspect the dealer told you "metal shavings" to both sooth your concerns and convince themselves that throwing new parts on the car was going to solve the problem.
 
#7 ·
Well........if it was just a "characteristic" of the car then how come the 7 other 2010's I went and drove at various dealerships while investing the problem didn't do it? In addition, we have 2 relatives with the same car and theirs do not do it either. If they all did they same thing, I would be inclined to agree with you, but NONE of them did it. So I think you can't call it normal. In addition, I have owned many cars, new and preowned, and I have never seen that before. Especially in a $ 45,000 car. This wasn't a small little feeling or vibration, it was major where everyone who rode in the car was totally surprised and asked me what was wrong with it. :24:
 
#8 ·
I didn't drive in your car, so I have no idea exactly how yours performed. It's just two interpretations of the issue, no big deal. But I suspect it's the same as mine and I think it's normal (considering you had two that did it). In the big scheme of things, it's hardly worth ditching the brand over.

And please, enough with the "$45k car shouldn't do this or that" or "should come with this or that". Does anyone really think $45k is some elite level of automobile? A loaded Honda Odyssey comes close to that price. Come complaining when you drop at least $65k, now your getting into a level of entitlement. MDX's are a dime a dozen, regular middle class transpo.
 
#9 ·
This is a forum for people to gain information for their vehicle. Nobody has the same experience. Your attitude is rude and condescending. You must not have anything better to do with your time than be rude and insulting to people who seek help and advice. You can add your input in a respectful manner rather than a way to get off and boost your own ego. If you really took the time to actually read my post, my 2 MDX's had very different problems, both acknowledged by Acura techs and service people, to the point they took the car back. I am not a complainng person who invents problems, I just had 2 bad experiences and think most people would be done as well. I no longer own this car and am glad......not one problem with the new Cadillac and it is refreshing. I am removing myself from this forum and don't care to read your ego boosting, self centered responses anymore......you obviously need to get a life.
 
#10 ·
Modern cars don't make "noises". If there are unusual noises, there is something wrong. Fluid systems that have metal shavings, have a pump that is slowly grinding itself up or a bearing is giving itself up. Typical automotive hydraulic systems never have filters. If your car shudders and clicks or bangs, you better find out what is wrong and get it fixed. If you can't afford the bill, don't drive the car. I love my 2007 MDX and my Q5.
 
#11 ·
2011 MDX power steering noise

My 2011 MDx started with steering noise and vibration at approximately 15K miles. Only noticeable when backing out of garage or turning into a parking place at slow speeds. took to dealer three times. First they changed the driver side wheel bearings, no help then the strut passenger side no help. Pressure tested the power steering pump which was normal. still no improvement in the noise or vibration. Seemed worse when car was warm. After third trip to dealer they changed the power steering pump and according to the technician after they flushed the fluid thru the system twice the noise disappeared. They were right. Noise was gone however, now at 25K same noise/vibration is back but with even more vibration feel in the steering wheel. Was told what I felt (before they fixed it the first time) was normal feel for all MDX models...I disagree. Now I have to go back again.. Frustrating.
 
#12 ·
I have the same vibration/noise on my 2010 and after the power steering pump was replaced, the problem is still there. Dealer says its normal, I dont agree and next step is to take it to next level... Sending Acura/Honda Canada correspondence... STAY TUNED!
 
#13 ·
I am very new to the whole Acura thing, but have been driving cars for quite a while now. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
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A couple things that struck me when reading this thread. One: dealers are eager to call something “normal” for this car or that car. I would like to meet the engineer who designed this vibration into the car. I doubt he would have told the powers-that-be that he expects his design to shudder and make noise. Ever.<o:p></o:p>
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The second thing is whether I paid $10,000 or $45,000 or $100,000 for something, if my common sense tells me that there is a quality issue then I expect it to be taken care of. If a similar problem came up with two different cars, I would abandon that model, too. I seem to recall that someone told me MDX stands for Multi-Dimensional Luxury. In my mind the word luxury implies higher quality. I would definitely move on to different car if I ran into the same problem multiple times.<o:p></o:p>
 
#14 ·
All I can say is that "It's normal" is the normal thing for some dealers to say and it P!##Es me off when they try to insult my intelligence like that. I am not a car expert but I know a few things about cars and I know the sounds my cars make better than any one because I drive them everyday and I can pick up when something sounds "abnormal".

Now back to the power steering issue. I've noticed that it is very "common" for some Acura vehicles to have problems with the PS pump, including the MDX, last Gen TL and TSX.
I could be wrong but there seems to be a high failure rate of the power steering pump with these models which leads me to believe that this could possibly be a design flaw. Both my MDX and TSX make this grrroan noise (More noticeable on the TSX) when parking and I have learned to live with that because the pump has been replaced on the TSX and I still have the same problem after a few thousand miles.

Is it normal? Hell no. Is it common? Very much. Design flaw? very possible or how you explain that an older car (Accord, Civic or CR-V) in the family with over 100k more miles; don't make any type of sounds or vibrations when turning at low speed and with fluids that have never even been changed?
 
#15 ·
Hi All, I have this same exact issue in my 2011 Tech MDX, when I am warming up the car or turning the steering wheel when parking, the vibration and buzz in the car and steering wheel is really annoying... Glad I found this thread, going to call my dealership today....

For those that had parts swapped out, was the work and parts covered under warrenty?
 
#16 ·
alright, so we all know about the Transmission problems on the MDX, Battery Problem, Gas Cap problem and now Power Steering problem. What's next? Aren't Acura's supposed to be very reliable cars? I know this site is a small sampling of owners but it makes you wonder which direction Acura is going.
 
#17 ·
Wow I'm glad I found this thread. We just picked up a Certified Pre Owned MDX 2 weeks ago and I noticed a similar problem. I first noticed that when doing a sharp u-turn maneuver that I had a lot of resistance to turning the steering wheel at the low speed. It didn't happen all the time so I let it pass as a fluke. Then I felt it again when leaving the house a couple of days later.

After investigating the issue more I notice that if I have the car in Drive while stopped with my foot on the brake, I can feel and hear a loud vibration/shudder in the engine while turning the steering wheel slightly left and right.

I do work on all my cars and motorcycles personally and never trust a dealer to do a botch job on my vehicles. Funny thing is that I had just performed a Power Steering Flush on our accord this week so this issue really stood out with me. After the accord power steering flush it felt like I had ZERO resistance in the steering wheel while stopped. I went back and checked and could not recreate any of the sounds or shudders in the accord so I'm thinking there is something going on with the pump. I looked at the fluid and it was fairly dark and I know that the Honda Fluid is actually clear. But with 23,000 miles I'm thinking that is just normal discoloration.

We have the car going into the shop today and I have a case number created with Acura Corporate. I also have a full copy of the shop manual and printed out the Parts Bill of Materials from the Acura E-store for the pump. I printed out the troubleshooting and symptoms pages from the service manual as well.

I also found other threads on the internet that referenced a faulty o-ring causing these problems in other Acuras. Now if in fact the "shudder" is normal I can live with that, BUT I can't leave with heavy steering at low speeds. I might as well delete the Power Steering Pump and enjoy the sportier response at high speed.
 
#19 ·
UPDATE-

The Acura Dealership took it for a drive and noted the noise while stopped was present and also noted that steering resistance increased the closer you got to full lock of the steering wheel.

They have determined it to be a bad power steering pump and are replacing the unit tomorrow, all under warranty of course. I hope this clears up the issue. If not then I'm afraid the rack and pinion is bad.

I will update when I get the car back.
 
#20 ·
Car seems better at low speed turns. I still get very slight shudder while turning wheel while stopped. I won't complain since the major issue is turning at low speeds. I just bought 4 quarts of Honda/Acura Power Steering Fluid for my Accord when I picked up the MDX. The reservoir fluid in the MDX looks rather dark to me when compared to the brand new fluid. I thought they would have performed a power steering flush when installing a new pump, but maybe they just topped it off. I guess I will have to do a fluid flush myself this weekend.
 
#23 ·
So just to put bring all info together:
if there is shuddering/vibration on turning: posible issues is the rack
if it's just moaning or stiffness: could be a o-ring issue?

Is that accurate? I'm hearing the slight moaning after the MDX is warm, when the steering wheel turned and light acceleration. Looked into the steering wheel reservoir and did see some minor bubbles, but only some on the sides....I'll wait for the MDX to cool down to see a before and after
 
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