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2003 MDX Transmission Fluid on The Floor

9K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  03mdx 
#1 ·
We got our 03 MDX less than a month. Just found out couple of hours ago that our garage floor under the MDX engine area have some transmission fluid (Kind of Pink color). The car is being used in the weekend only so far. It only has 350 miles. Since it's kind of late when I found out, I called my dealer sale person and he told me to call the service tomorrow. Any body have experienced this before especially the 2003 MDX which have a completely re-designed trasmission? I don't espect this to be normal??? I probably should not drive the car this weekend until I can bring the car to delear to confirm it's okay.

10:45pm Pacific Time. 11/22/02
 
#2 ·
While I can't speak for the 2003 model since I "retired" from Acura just before I had a chance to PDI one, I can tell you that every MDX that came in hada transmission that seemed like it was leaking. Some more than others...but every damn one of them wasn't dry. The problem most of the time wasn't actually a leak, but it was assembly lube. They use it when they are assembling the transmission, and after you drive the car some, it liquifies from the heat and looks like an ATF leak since it's also pink/red. It's usually the worst from the linear solenoid(at least I think it what that one was) and the transfer assembly. It can seep for quite some time. And 350 miles could still easily be that problem. Some techs do not bother to clean it off on a PDI, even when it's so bad that it's covered the frame rail.

But it still could be a leak also. I've seen the big o-ring that seals the transfer assembly to the tranmissions leaking on PDI a couple times before.

Rob
 
#3 ·
Rob,

Thanks for your profesional reply. I brought my MDX to the dealer I bought the car this morning. The tech check it for a few hours and I got the call from the service advisor. He told me it's some kind of overflow issue which happened on other cars too. They said it was designed that way. The MDX has a transmission overflow system next to the transmission for protection purposes. He explained that the trasmission fluids drip on the floor is not from the transmission itself, it is from the overflow system. The tech. clean it up and test drive car and my car is ready to be pickup tomorrow. I will double check this issue with Acura Client Service too.

Hope you find your job soon.
 
#5 ·
Hi All,

My 2002 was leaking trans oil couple of days after delivery and had it towed to dealer.

I am hoping yours wasn't as serious as mine but the tech told me they could not find a specific leak - because, it seems the oil was leaking from all over - some type of manufacturing defect. Had the trans replaced @ 35 miles. Wasn't a seal problem but it seems the casing was "porous".

Anyhow, I would recommend documenting everything they do -


Good luck
 
#9 ·
I brought it back to Stevens Creek Acura on Saturday 11/23/02 where I bougt my 03 MDX from . Here is what they wrote in the service invoice:
"Verified Concern, Found Normal Run Off Assembly, Test Drove, Reinspected All OK".
I think it's kind of like what Rob's explanation. They told me not to worry about it, everything is normal and it will go away.
 
#11 ·
I brought my 03 mdx to Stevens Creek Acura again on Monday 12/2/02 afternoon to double check the pinkish fluid leak again. This time a more experience technician is checking it. He confirmed that the pinkish fluids is not from the transimission but is from the Transfer Case which is connected to the Transmission. He suspect that (not 100%) the leak might be from the seal in the Transfer Case. However, there are only one Transfer Case seal part is available in the whole United States. The technician older it and don't know when it will arrive. My one month old 03 MDX is still with the SC service center since Monday. I am very dissappointed with Acura that built the car with leakage. Any body have any idea how can I complaint about this issue? I talked to the Acura Customer Relation on Monday and all they said is that they will work with the dealer to come out the resolution. I called the Acura customer relation again today and they told me they are still in research about this matter and I felt that Acura haven't even contact the dealer yet. My 03 MDX currently only have about 570 miles and more than 25% of the mileage are driving it back to Stevens Creek Acura which is about 36 miles from where I live. We are very frustrated about this and very dissapointed the quality and reliablity the 03 MDX that Acura built. We waited a few months just to get the 03 MDX and all we got so far is troublesome and frustration from this brand new MDX we got on late October. After we found out the leak, we are even scare to drive the car because we are not sure what might happen to the car because of this leakage. We currently own a 2002 3.2TL as well which Acura extended the tranmission warranty but we already bought the 7yrs/100miles warranty. If Acura does not come out a resolution with the dealer that satisfy us, we will never buy another Acura again the future. I will continue posting on this forum to let other 03 MDX owners know how Acura handle this issue.
 
#12 ·
You should be proud to list your location also, but assume it's somewhere near the Bay Area. SC Acura has not been the dealer of choice by most from the bay area.
There should be other posts on here regarding a similar problem. I know there has been a transfer assy. or two replaced (not just the seal) .

I hope it works out for you, it must be very disconcerting on a new vehicle. Keep us posted. Los Gatos Acura has one of the most sterling reputations around here for service, but there are others too.
It sounds like the tech did isolate the problem though. What kind of loaner did they fix you up with?
 
#14 ·
Got my 03 MDX back today. They replaced two Oil Seals, 91201-RDK-000 and 91201-RDK-003 (Both are 48x65x7.5) and the O-Ring , 91303-RDK-003 (120.7x2.4). I compared the before and after pictures. They seem to do a good job on it and it looks very nice and clean. So far so good. Will pay extra attention to it and keep the forum posted.
 
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