Hey, just wondering if anyone has replaced their ADS shocks for regular shocks due to $$$? In my case, my '07 Elite(sport) with 131,000 km's rear shocks are leaking & making a rattling sound at low speeds over bumps, but comparing the costs, cheapest being US$557 vs US$89., was curious if anyone has done it & if there's any issues?
ADS shocks to regular?
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crazy1eye
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Good tinkering, people. ...but I would be so pissed if I bought a used MDX Sport and it had the standard shocks. 
I'm a performance car nut and the ADS shocks is one of the key reasons I bought the car. My MDX has 93000 and the rear shocks are looking a little oily, but no clunking and the ride still feels good. Fronts look good. I'll start saving my money because I definitely want to replace with the ADS shocks.
I'm a performance car nut and the ADS shocks is one of the key reasons I bought the car. My MDX has 93000 and the rear shocks are looking a little oily, but no clunking and the ride still feels good. Fronts look good. I'll start saving my money because I definitely want to replace with the ADS shocks.
Brought mine to the dealer. After 15 minutes they confirmed word per word what I had already told them. "Front left shock is dead" Did not tell them mine Front Right was making noise, so the did not find the problem. How do I unplugs the Cables to the shocks. Was not able to do so.
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?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.
Did you enabled the sport mode with no problems? Some forum people reported light malfunction issues when the sport mode was enabled..
AC
AC
Why would you enable the sport mode once the ADS shocks were removed? It's not like the sport mode did anything to the rest of the car.
I am located near cedar falls, ia.
The warning lights are staying off with the car in either mode. There really is no "mode" at this point.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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It was offered up to the previous gen MDX. Not sure about the current gen.
I believe it was offered in the Sport/Advance package for all years of the second generation (2007-2013) but is not in the third generation (2014). The parts should be available for many years to come, since the cars that use them were still being sold new last year.
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