[SUVMOM]

All,

After having the MDX for about a week, I noticed the following:

1. Gas Pedal
There is too much slack. The first half a inch, or so, does not give any response at all.

2. Cold start
When the car is parked outside, around 30'F, for a few hours, it takes many seconds to start the engine. Even my 10 years old Caravan could be started quicker. I am afraid that this could give problems to the battery.

Are the above two normal? Anyone of you have these before?

Thanks!

 

[remery]

Dear MOM!

Try buying another brand of gasoline because your brand may not have enough butane blended in it to add volatility for cold weather starting. This is especially true with unleaded premium since it has lower volatility to start with. I live in IL like you, and have experienced some starting problems but in a heated garage. This is just the opposite of your situation since the warm garage makes the gasoline too volatile which is why I have problems once in a while. If your battery were bad, your engine wouldn't turn over and your lights would be dim. Hope this helps.

 

[proskunetes]

I, too have had a few instances with cold starts. I have to crank and crank for a few seconds before it rolls over. I thought of taking it in for this but the problem would be duplicating this to the dealer...

As far as the gas pedal problem, I would say that mine is pretty responsive.

 

[Pierre]

All,

After having the MDX for about a week, I noticed the following:

1. Gas Pedal
There is too much slack. The first half a inch, or so, does not give any response at all.

2. Cold start
When the car is parked outside, around 30'F, for a few hours, it takes many seconds to start the engine. Even my 10 years old Caravan could be started quicker. I am afraid that this could give problems to the battery.

Are the above two normal? Anyone of you have these before?

Thanks!

1) Sounds like a tweak performed by your dealer might be in order.

2) I've parked in -10F recently and have had no problems. Engine kicks in after 1/4 turn. I use Shell Optimax Gold (91 octane).

 

[MrPrescott]

I've had no problems with mine. It starts right up.

 

[davegood]

I have experienced this

I have experienced this slow to turn over issue. Just seems to take a couple of cranks more than I would expect. If it is still an issue when I get to the 7500 mile check up, I think I'll mention it to the dealer

 

[sgtglok]

same here!!!

sounds strange that so many people have the same problem; it happened a few times to mine when parked on the street with temp ~ 25-30 F, but usually starts fine even at lower temps;
whatever the issue is - less than half full tank, not enough butane, etc, - it's still an issue, otherwise so many people wouldn't complain about it, right?

 

[Thanson]

Another Illinoisan checking in with the same problem as remery -- I've had to crank it a couple of times when it's been parked in the garage.

I found it mildly annoying sinces my 96 Avalon never did this and I use the same gas in it!

 

[SUVMOM]

It is a surprise to see so many people with the same slow start problem.

In my first week of driving, I was using the gas filled up by the dealer, and no idea what it was.

This week, we filled in with Amoco Gold (93 Octane). The problem seemed not as obvious. Will keep watching.

Will still have to have the dealer to check the gas pedal slack though.

Thanks!

 

[VA Tech Hokie]

My "X" has the same problem.

 

[charlieinnj]

It happens to me, too. I've had it happen in my unheated garage or, if it's been sitting outside in the cold.

Never really gave it a second thought.

 

[Guest]

No starting problems at all!

Mine starts up immediately the first time, every time with hardly any starter turnover in both very hot and very cold weather. I have never had any trouble starting at all. The summer temperatures here in Virginia get into the high 90's and down to 0 at times during the winter (mostly in the low 20's in the morning). Could it be the fuel additives in certain parts of the country causing the starting problems? We don't have to worry about air pollution out here in the boondocks, so our fuel doesn't have any anti-pollution agents added. That is also why it is so much cheaper in the Shenandoah Valley then in the D.C. area. It might also help the people with starting problems to add some dry gas occasionally to the fuel in the winter.

 

[jgen]

Hard Start

I posted this problem in the "Knowledge Base" earlier. Not a regular problem, however, it does come and go. Acura should look into this.

 

[WayneMDX]

It happened to me in the second week of owning the car - still on dealer's gas. It cranked about three seconds and didn't start, so I had to stop and restart it again. The temperature was about 45 degree so I don't think it is the cause.

 

[tdnone]

Never been a problem for me. Always start right away, either at home (in a garage) in the warmy SF area or on the ski slope in the Sierra.

 

[TheWorm]

No issues here...prolly not a fair comparison w/the midwest and great white north, tho.

BTW, I seem to recall something, somewhere about the fuel system "pressurizing" when the key is in the II position (just before the crank position), and that this takes a couple of seconds.

Any of you hard-starters tried to leave the key in the II position for a couple of seconds, then trying to turn it over? Or is the hard-start more like a weak-battery sound rather than a there-ain't-no-gas symptom?

 

[bef]

I'm in Sunny So Cal and it seems to take much longer to start up compared to my CL. I've even gotten into the habit of pumping the gas pedal before I turn the key (not sure if this really does anything). The first few days I had the MDX, I thought I had to pump the gas while I was turning the ignition. This made the engine rev too high on start-up so I stopped doing it and just left the starter do its job (it cranks way too much to start IMHO).

Starting is probably the most annoying problem that I've had so far.

OK, I also think the passenger mirror points too low when I reverse the car.

The lack of a good dead pedal is also annoying.

 

[davegood]

02 problem

I was looking through the previous posts, and it seems like this is more common among the '02 owners than the '01 owners.....

If anyone has this problem on an 01, please post it here. If not, maybe it's the first documented 02 problem.

 

[whitemdx]

I did have couple of occasions where the engine didn't start right away like it normally does. I think this only happened in the morning. Even though I live here in SF bay area, it did get as low as mid 30s for about copule of weeks. Mine is also '02 model. I always put either Cheveron or Shell premium which is 91 octane here in bay area. However, I could never duplicate this problem consistantly...

 

[frostyra]

01 problem

Davegood,

My '01 has experienced "slow to fire" a few times during cold weather; it has always felt like lack of fuel, never like a slow-cranking problem. It has happened with a couple of different brands of fuel, including Exxon 93. It has also experienced stalling a couple of times at stop signs within a half-mile of starting out (again cold, and usually damp).

frostyra (another Penn Stater)