There should be just a standard wiring clip at the base of each shock. Get a flashlight on and study how it goes together. You should be able to disconnect by pushing down firmly on the clip and giving the connector a good tug (always on the connector itself, never pull just the wire).

 

Mine were on there pretty tight. I had to use a screwdriver to push on the tab and a pliers to pull on the connector. Good luck!

 

Hey all, just wanted to share my experience. I recently bought an 07 sport and one of the front ADS struts was not dampening at all. After checking all the electrical connections etc. I gave up and decided to change out the whole system - meaning I converted from an ADS system to the standard MDX system (non-electronic struts). Reason being I was not willing to invest the $ to replace one strut and take a chance on the other strut or either shock in the rear going out and pouring more $ into the suspension. My MDX has 117K on it and I plan to take it to over 200K so I figured it best to rid myself of the issue now and forever. So, I ordered entire OEM strut assemblies for the front and KYB shocks for the rear. R&R was a piece of cake as it's been a southern car it's whole life so all the fasteners we're clean and rust-free. I then placed a 1 ohm 10 watt resistor (radio shack - $1.25/each) on each connector that was previously running to the shocks/struts. This has turned off the ADS warning lights inside the car. I've only been running this way for a few days but so far all is well. Just wanted to share my feedback in case others we're considering doing the same.

 

Thanks! :29:

 

I should also mention that I am looking to sell the parts I now have left over. I have a driver front ADS strut assembly that was working when removed as well as the two rear ADS shocks (also working when removed). If anyone is interested in the passenger front right ADS strut assembly (for parts) that was not working that is available too. PM me with any offers otherwise they will eventually make it to eBay once I get motivated.

 

What area are you located?

 

Now that you have replaced the ADS shocks with regular shocks, do you feel a difference in ride comfort? performance? handeling? Cornering? How does the suspension respond differently with regular shocks now?

 

Unfortunately I am not a good person to ask. Reason being I purchased the vehicle in Dallas, drove it 1100 miles with the one defective shock, and promptly placed it on jack stands and changed all the suspension out. So, I never really got to experience a properly functioning ADS system. Reports on the interweb from people who have driven all of the above say the "standard" suspension sits in between the "comfort" and "sport" settings of ADS. I've driven harsher/firmer no doubt, and I've driven smoother as well. All in all, I am very happy with the outcome and damage control (financially) this fix has provided me.

 

msteffe, would you mind posting some photos of the relay installed to get rid of the warning lights? I'm considering doing the same thing you did for my clunking ADS suspensions.

 

I worked on a friend's 2007 MDX today and did exactly what msteffe did (thanks!); worked like a charm. This one had 132k on it and flopped around quite a bit even in Sport mode and had a bunch of clunking at low speeds over sharp bumps. New OEM assemblies up front and KYBs in back, and the ride/handling felt like a new vehicle. Clunks are all gone, resistors seem to have kept any lights off (at least for one 15 mile drive today), and no real issues doing the job. A note, the resistors have solid wires coming out of either end; you can bend them to go into the two holes in the connector, and sort of work them in a little ways and they seem to stay. I decided to be classy and wrap them all up in duct tape to hold them in place, and then stuffed them behind the wheel well liners until they were good and snug. Should do the trick.

Strut to knuckle bolts up front were exceedingly tight, but kept turning up the air for the impact and they finally gave up. Anyone have the torque specs for those? I've done struts on quite a few vehicles and seen values range from around 120 to 175; given the rather enormous mass of those bolts (24mm if anyone cares) and the difficulty my impact had moving them, I went pretty high at 170ft-lbs. Also used blue Loctite as an extra precaution.

Anyway, for anyone considering this, while I don't have much seat time in a fresh ADS-equipped MDX, I can say it felt quite good compared to similar vehicles I've spent time in. Certainly not too harsh, yet not floaty or imprecise at all.

 

Thanks for the write-up. Mine has 95K miles and feels OK but not nearly as nice as the other lower-mileage ADS-equipped MDX I test drove before I bought this one. I'm debating whether to replace with ADS shocks or bypass the system.
What is the last year the ADS system was offered? We should be able to get the ADS parts for a while longer if it was offered on newer cars.

 

It was offered up to the previous gen MDX. Not sure about the current gen.

 

Update: 3 weeks in and close to 1000 miles and all my lights etc. have remained off after my conversion. This hack appears to have legs!

 

First sorry for my poor English. I have the same problem with my 2008 MDX Sport@Ent pack. ADS system use magnetic coils in shocks to control fluid parameters. Any type of coils can't be measured with Ohm-meter. Coils have a complex resistance with active+reactive (inductive in our case) components. Correct way to hack that circuit is using impedance (R-L) meter and emulate it with same impedance coil. In next few days I'll check the impedance of front and rear shock coils and share it here.

 

Thanks, it will be interesting to see what you find..

 

How did you place the 1 ohm resistor on each connector? Is it simply a case of soldering the resistor between the two 'pins' at the strut end of the wire??

I have a driver side front strut failure on my 07 Sport, am going the non-sport route on just the fronts for now as 1k per corner for ADS (with labor) is a bit steep and I doubt I'll ever notice the difference the way I drive.
I will have a perfectly working ADS passenger side strut for sale if anyone out there is interested?

 

Hey derek1504, I have a used driver side ADS strut assembly (not just the strut - the whole strut assembly, easy install) from my 2007 sport that was working when I did my conversion. If you want to PM me an offer you can retain your ADS system. Just a thought?

 

So, just to give a quick update, I had the two front ADS struts replaced this morning to non-sport versions, the car now feels MUCH better, and as a side note the slight vibration some others have also reported under heavy acceleration is gone, as is the low speed clunk. Way smoother drive.
I will live with the "Check ADS system" light for a few weeks until I get the rear shocks replaced, and then tackle the resistor fix to get rid of the warning.

 

Which ones did you get? Can you post a link?

 

What brand struts did you install?
I have that vibration whenever the car is going up a hill. I never put 2+2 together but it's probably the struts. 95,000 miles. Suspension feels fine under normal conditions but makes clunky sounds when I hit a pothole.
Debating whether to keep ADS or go with classic shocks.

 

Monroe struts. I had the same clunk with potholes, and when driving at low (parking speeds) the whole front of the car felt 'loose'.
Live in a flat area with no real hills, but from 0-55 under heavy acceleration there was a vibration.
My opinion on ADS - if you drive in a way that having stiffer suspension is a noticable benefit, its worth it to stick with it. If you are doing mostly highway miles, probably not.
I drive an 07, and plan on keeping it for a long while, it has 78k on it now, and I only drive about 6K a year (mostly highway).

Need to do the rear shocks soon, the rear feels spongy. Wondering if that is a DIY option???

 

Msteffe and DPE. You have both replaced front ADS struts with normal struts. Msteffe, it appears you changed out the entire front strut assembly, including springs and mounts, probably came as a unit. Is this correct?

DPE, it is unclear, but did you only swap out the struts, or did you do the same as msteffe? If only the struts, did you have to change the upper mounts or "bearings" to the normal system as well?

I have already changed my rear ADS to normal, it was a simple bolt in, no mechanical changes necessary. I am now looking to replace the front struts, thus the questions.

 

Jim R, I did indeed replace the entire front strut assemblies. I wasn't positive that the topside parts (spring, bearing, etc.) were interchangeable with the ADS and standard struts so I did not want to take the risk. Having them lay side by side, they look pretty darn similar - same spring for sure. Getting it as an assembly made for very short work and no need for spring compressors etc. The price difference wasn't too much different between bare strut and whole assembly so once I factored in time and not having to move the springs I figured why not. Having new strut bearings gives me peace of mind too as I plan to drive for another 100K.

 

What a great thread! Just also wondering if the resistors have held up for you guys.

I am also in the same boat and was just about to drop the $$$$$ for the ADS front struts, but since I am going to have the car for another 100K (it's at 90K with a very bad front left strut), never having it in sport mode anyhow, I don't care about having normal struts on her.

 

*subscribing to thread*

 

Rear shocks replaced

Got my rear shocks replaced yesterday.
My Mechanic changed them to KYB shocks. Paid $120 each plus labor.
He suggested we try to cut off the top of the old Sport Shock and reconnect the cable to it. Not sure if this will trick the system. If not I got a 10w 2.2Ohm resister I will put.
Any comments.
Will let you know how it works out.

 

10w 2.2 Ohm resister installed on Friday and ADS light went away. All is good after 3 days

 

did this this past weekend, now looks like my fronts are clunking wtf :28::headshake

 

I switched to non-ADS last month. Full strut assembley's up front and rear shocks. Parts came off a 2010 MDX...cost me $500. Unfortunately my light came on the same day, even with 10 watt 2 ohm resistors installed. I'm not too worried about it because I see that some of you have had success.

For those of you who are considering the swap, I would highly recommend it simply due to the unreliability of the electronic shocks and the potential cost savings. These parts are clearly faulty. I will say that I do notice a difference in the ride. I did use my sport/comfort option daily and it was great. The sport mode was very very good. The ride is now somewhere in between the previous sport and comfort modes and I can live with it but I do miss having the option.

Oh...and Acura Canada gave me the run around for about 2 months. They offered to replace both front struts (parts and labour covered) only 3 days after I did the swap. I'm glad this headache is over.

P.S. Can anyone post a pic of the resistors they used? Thanks!

 

What did you say to them to get them to offer to cover the parts and labour? How many km did your vehicle have at the time? Thx

 

On my Sport model, I made the front strut swap over the weekend. My cliff notes:

- Front driver's side strut was creaking badly. No leaks. I could feel it through the footwell from inside the car. With the "bounce test", it was almost impossible to push down with both arms (as if it was completely seized up), while the passenger side was much easier to push down.

- I ordered the complete non-ADS strut/spring assembly from Acura. $500 shipped from a dealer, online. The reason for ordering the whole assembly is that some of the random parts are different and I didn't want to take the chances. Plus, it was all ready to bolt onto the car, right out of the box. It also would have been time and money to swap over the springs, so it was worth the extra $70 each to get everything new and already installed.

- I removed the ADS sensors from the bottom of the ADS struts, to see if there was a super slim chance of being able to plug them in and hide them somewhere, tricking the computer. As expected, they are an open circuit when removed, so they can't be used to trick the ADS system.

- Used 10w 1 Ohm ceramic resistors from Radio Shack. Plugged the ends directly into the plug, wrapped it all up in electrical tape and zip tied the wiring out of the way.They didn't have 1.6 Ohm or 2 Ohm, but these still work like a charm, so far.

- As stated before by others, the ride lands right in between comfort and sport. It doesn't have the "cloud ride" of comfort, but it isn't as stiff as the sport. I am guessing the new springs and struts will soften up a bit over time. In any case, it is great and is a ton better than a broken ADS strut.

- I never used the sport mode, so this swap was perfect in my case!

Thanks for all the insight and help on this. Cheers

 

complete assembly

On my Sport model, I made the front strut swap over the weekend. My cliff notes:

- Front driver's side strut was creaking badly. No leaks. I could feel it through the footwell from inside the car. With the "bounce test", it was almost impossible to push down with both arms (as if it was completely seized up), while the passenger side was much easier to push down.

- I ordered the complete non-ADS strut/spring assembly from Acura. $500 shipped from a dealer, online. The reason for ordering the whole assembly is that some of the random parts are different and I didn't want to take the chances. Plus, it was all ready to bolt onto the car, right out of the box. It also would have been time and money to swap over the springs, so it was worth the extra $70 each to get everything new and already installed.

- I removed the ADS sensors from the bottom of the ADS struts, to see if there was a super slim chance of being able to plug them in and hide them somewhere, tricking the computer. As expected, they are an open circuit when removed, so they can't be used to trick the ADS system.

- Used 10w 1 Ohm ceramic resistors from Radio Shack. Plugged the ends directly into the plug, wrapped it all up in electrical tape and zip tied the wiring out of the way.They didn't have 1.6 Ohm or 2 Ohm, but these still work like a charm, so far.

- As stated before by others, the ride lands right in between comfort and sport. It doesn't have the "cloud ride" of comfort, but it isn't as stiff as the sport. I am guessing the new springs and struts will soften up a bit over time. In any case, it is great and is a ton better than a broken ADS strut.

- I never used the sport mode, so this swap was perfect in my case!

Thanks for all the insight and help on this. Cheers

do you have the part number for the complete strut/spring assembly? Both Monroe and KYB did not have for MDX. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the detailed description. You've convinced me that I need the ADS struts... My struts are starting to reach end of life (they clunk on hard bumps and are not that stiff) but they aren't stiff enough for me even in sport mode. (I'm hoping they will be more stiff when swapped for new)

 

If any of you have your OE coils. I am willing to purchase them if you are interested.

 

Hi all,
Did my rear standard swap out a few weeks ago and put in 1.5 ohm 10 watt resistors and the light has never come on again. Worked like a charm. Now for the fronts, they started riding like a horse and buggy a week later! I'm planning on installing the KYBs struts only. Has anyone had any issues on bolting these right up with existing hardware?

 

Can someone add a pic or 2 of the resistors connected to the plug, just so a couple of us can have an idea beforehand...thanks.

 

Here's a link to the ones I put in the back. Not the exact ones, but very similar. 1.5K Ohm 10W Resistor Wire Wound 5% Tolerance