Acura MDX SUV Forums banner

Advice on radiotor leak and dealership diagnosis

975 views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Bun_e_d 
#1 ·
This morning I dropped of my 07 MDX at the dealer (Ontario, Canada) to get it checked for an oil leak coming from the passenger axle seal. They confirmed it as a leak, a small one though, with no action required, just a recheck in 6 months. I'm just baffled that they left it alone even though its a confimerd leak. Usually dealerships want to make money and then some so I'm questioning this now as why the would just say to leave it alone. Are they waiting for something bigger to fail? I see it as very strange. I don't want to sound suspicious but why wouldn't you fix the problem if the problem was identified? Why wait? It's a simple seal.

Second part of the message is that they found a slight leak at the radiotor spigot which requires the whole radiotor to be replaced. They said they don't want to see antifreeze mixing with transmission fluid. Where is that spigot located? I just want to double check it and I always thought that the engine mixes coolant? Is the small ATF cooler somehow connected that it can mix trans fluid with antifreeze?
I just want to say that English is not my first language and I had no clue what a spigot is so I googled it and it's showing me faucets. I assume it's the valve in a faucet or something? Just trying to find a correlation with a radiotor and where to find it.

Third thing I asked them about is the volume switching channels problem. They said they want 150$ to diagnose the problem. 💵💵💵 It could be a lot of things, steering column, ground srs... Should I just ask the parts department to order me that ground relocation solution and I install it myself?


Thanks for any replies.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
The radiator is a very, very, very common issue and everyone knows to keep an eye on the issue. It's most likely leaking where the transmission line goes in to the radiator as the transmission fluid circulates though the radiator to both warm it up quicker in cold weather and keep it from overheating in hot weather. Most commonly the radiator fails internally and mixes coolant with transmission fluid, and if not caught early it will ruin the transmission. Don't ignore it if it has occurred.
 
#3 ·
**** the dealer, go to a independent mechanic!

Radiator is less than $200 USD from rockauto.com, i'm sure canada has a site similar to this

Labor shouldn't be more than $400 USD to install radiator.

Honda/Acura DW-1 Transmission Fluid: $100 USD for 12 liters to help get old/bad mixture of oil out and get fresh new fluid in

Honda/Acura Type 2 Coolant: $50 USD for new coolant to add to the cooling system and clean it out.

What issue are you having with volume or change channel?
 
#4 ·
So the gasket for the axle seal is 25$ 5 hours labour x150$ an hour, they have to drop the exhaust apperantly. I haven't looked at the location but I'm pretty sure people change whole axles without touching the exhaust. Regardless that's where I'm at right now with that.
The radiator and hose is damp on one of the spigets at the bottom. Nothing serious but to keep an eye on it. The guy at the dealership said to just do it somewhere else for cheaper as it's not worth it for a 2007.
The volume thing is something pretty common for both 1st and 2nd gen. You press volume+ it switches the station/changes the song.
The ground need to be relocated. I thought that I needed a new part for the ground but it's just a relocation.
 
#5 · (Edited)
So the gasket for the axle seal is 25$ 5 hours labour x150$ an hour, they have to drop the exhaust apperantly. I haven't looked at the location but I'm pretty sure people change whole axles without touching the exhaust. Regardless that's where I'm at right now with that.
The radiator and hose is damp on one of the spigets at the bottom. Nothing serious but to keep an eye on it. The guy at the dealership said to just do it somewhere else for cheaper as it's not worth it for a 2007.
The volume thing is something pretty common for both 1st and 2nd gen. You press volume+ it switches the station/changes the song.
The ground need to be relocated. I thought that I needed a new part for the ground but it's just a relocation.
Removal of the axles are easy, but you need more room to access the seals as they are in the transmission body; therefore exhaust need to be pulled for access. If it is just weeping, not a big issue.
As for the rad and small leak (in the spigets) now can lead into a very large problem fast and leave you stranded and/or a blown transmission. A new rad can be had for $200-$300 cdn shipped(rockauto, wrench monkey etc. your local autoparts will have too) replacement is pretty easy in a few hours. I did mine on the drive way in 3 hours. Indy shop should be able to replace in a couple hours I'd think.
For the volume issue, try cleaning the ground contacts (sand paper) at the steering wheel, this worked for me in my 2002 with same issues. No need to relocate the grounds.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the reply.
I will definitely try that thing with the ground and I'll keep an eye on the axle that's for sure.
I haven't heard about that koyo radiator. As far as I could research denso has the updated version that is most secure for atf not mixing with antifreeze.
 
#8 ·
I just wanted to close this thread with an update. Since it's cold now in Canada I didn't want to even think of an attempt to change the rad myself. Found a shop in Barrie, ON that did the job for 800$ cad. They used a spectre rad although I asked for Denso but whatever it's new, hopefully it lasts 10 years and by that time this car will probably be history. I might have overpaid but every other shop I called wanted to look at the car first for 1hr worth of labour. I don't need i diagnosis I need stuff replaced.

Either way in the mean time I opened up my staring wheel to look how to relocate the ground and to my surprise only the 1st gen has that ground issue and tsb. Everything in the second gen is tucked in and hidden for the most part. I just pushed in the plugs that were going from the buttons as that would logically be the only problem that I can identify and fix and voila it worked. No trouble with volume and channel buttons.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top