That price in your attached picture is as good as you going to get. You got to love gizmos, regular MDX rear shocks can be had for under $90. I would be very tempted to put regular shocks, I didn't try this, but knowing Honda it will bolt right up, pull the fuse on that system and call it done. If fronts float, replace them with regular ones and it will be mint, all 4 for less money then 1 rear gizmo shock. That's me anyway.

Whatever you do, get 9 and 10 for each side, 9 will come out fine, but for $2 why not. 10 you'll most likely have to cut, I recommend sawzall with high quality blade (devalt or something). This stuff is really easy to replace, but 10 can be PITA.
Also, shock compresses really easy, so don't remove anything else, just take out 9 and 10 and compress shock by hand, take the old one out, compress new one somewhat, put it in, put 10 through the bottom, you'll have to jack up LCA a bit and fish 9 in (shock is a bit short even fully extended when x is off the ground). Leave the jack under there, tighten up and done.
If those bolts come out, it will take you longer to take the wheel off then replace the shock.

Good luck.

Regards,

Nino

 

I'm in a similar situation... The right rear shock is leaking in my wife's '07 Sport/Ent as well. Not major, but there is fluid on the tube; we don't feel any significant difference in ride quality yet. My dealer quoted me $900 for part and labor here in Libertyville, Illinois. Not sure that helps, but interesting that yours quoted you $1k + labor.

 

thx for the reply Nino. I ended up ordering 2 shocks plus upper and lower bolts based on your reccomendation. Under $1100 all in!

 

If you don't mind me asking, where did you end up ordering from?
I'm in the same situation only 1 rear shock and 1 front shock are leaking so I'm looking to order all 4.
I'm in Canada as well. Dealer quoted $1,400 just for one front shock. That's $1,000 for the shock and $400 for the labor. No thanks. I'll order and install myself thank you.

 

my rear shock also leaked, they were nice to me and charged me half price at the dealership, $400.

Its disgusting we have these EXPENCIVE shocks on there that arent reliable, and a fortune to replace when non sport MDX guys can get an entire set of NICE shocks/struts for 600 or less!!!!

 

Hey, I'm having the same issue but all 4 corners.

Price I was quoted from Acura CDN, was $2200 for the fronts +GST, and another $2300 for the rear, then a $100 for the 4-wheel alignment. Parts and labour. Shocks were around $893/pc and about $400 to install the fronts. I only went in because of the fronts, and they discovered the rears were leaking as well. This is a 2007. Edmonton potholes killed my MDX this winter.

Over $5000 for struts makes me sick. I want to just replace with Non-Sport shocks.

Anybody done this, and if so, what are the issues. Blinky light on dash? My wife drives it 95% of the time, and doesn't notice the difference between Comfort / Sport mode. I do, but I only have a 5% say. Acura didn't want to replace with non-sport shocks.

Thoughts

 

Anybody done this, and if so, what are the issues. Blinky light on dash? My wife drives it 95% of the time, and doesn't notice the difference between Comfort / Sport mode. I do, but I only have a 5% say. Acura didn't want to replace with non-sport shocks.

Thoughts

If it was me (and it soon may be) I would go ahead and give the non-sports a try. Buy some KYBs and give it a whirl. For around $400-500 I would try it out. if it doesn't work, you should be able to sell them no problem for little loss.

 

will base style shocks fit or not?

I am also having same issue with my 07--I want to replace with base style rear shocks--I called 4 diff. dealerships and inquired whether they would fit. 1 said no-1 said yes and 2 said they had no idea. My MDX has 173k miles on it-I dont care if the sport suspension works--Does anyone know for sure whether the shocks are interchangable? Thanks

 

Only one type of control arm.

I just looked up parts for the 07' MDX. There is only one control arm for both suspension systems. That means they both bolt up the same way. That being said, I'd bet the springs are different. They do sell a complete assembly for either sport or non-sport. That comes with all boots, spring, spring caps and such. If I were going to tackle this, I would buy the whole assembly and not just the replacement shock or strut. The only next question is whether you will get a fault light, if there is such a thing? I don't think there is a fault light. The sport switch only sends a signal to the sport strut or shock. The signal energizes the iron fluid for the correct ride height based on the resistance sent. I don't believe there is a feedback sensor from it. One way to find out, would be to unplug a strut or shock, and turn the MDX on. You'll know pretty quickly if there is a fault.

For those of you that had leaking shocks/struts, did you get a fault light? From what I've read on here, the only way people knew, was either they felt the ride was not right or a mechanic brought it to their attention from an inspection while performing other maintenance.

Randy B

 

I just looked up parts for the 07' MDX. There is only one control arm for both suspension systems. That means they both bolt up the same way. That being said, I'd bet the springs are different. They do sell a complete assembly for either sport or non-sport. That comes with all boots, spring, spring caps and such. If I were going to tackle this, I would buy the whole assembly and not just the replacement shock or strut.

Sage advice Randy. :29:

 

Word to the wise, we ran into an issue with shipping these to Canada late last year. The rear shocks CANNOT be shipped by any method we've found internationally, at least "legally". They are an inert gas hazmat, and we were unable to ship them by FedEx or USPS.

The fronts were no problem.

YMMV.

 

Word to the wise, we ran into an issue with shipping these to Canada late last year. The rear shocks CANNOT be shipped by any method we've found internationally, at least "legally". They are an inert gas hazmat, and we were unable to ship them by FedEx or USPS.

The fronts were no problem.

YMMV.

I just received two rear shocks from Delray Acura (WWW.ACURAOEMPARTS.COM) in Florida with no troubles at all. Shipping charge to Edmonton, AB from Florida was $55US (via USPS), not a big deal at all, considering the local dealership wants > $1000 for each shock!

 

That's a HUGE no-no on their behalf. They must have ripped all of the hazmat stickers off the parts.

 

That's a HUGE no-no on their behalf. They must have ripped all of the hazmat stickers off the parts.

Not sure, they came in a Honda parts box. Looked like it was a factory shipping box.

Anyone know what the torque specs are for the upper and lower bolts? #9 & #10 in the original diagram.

Thanks!

 

From Quebec Canada

Same problem with my front two Sport Shocks. So far they quoted me $2200 with labour and $100 wheel alignment. I would need to confirm if I get any alarms when unplugging the cable or fuse.

If no alarms, should I buy MDX base model struts or aftermarket?
If aftermarket, which ones are good?

Tks

 

Are yours not covered under the "recall letter"? I had mine swapped out a month or two ago and it was all covered by Acura.

 

You will get a permanent ADS warning light if you install non- ADS shocks on a gen 2 Acura Sport. The workaround is to wire up about a 1.6 ohm resistor across the connector for each shock that is replaced.
The springs are most likely totally identical.

If you ever sell your MDX, please put a huge warning sticker where it is clearly visible to any potential buyer. Performance-minded purchasers paying a premium for the Sport model would be extremely pissed off if they find the MDX Sport that they were searching for, actually has a plain vanilla suspension.

 

I'm thinking of upgrading from first gen.
I definitely want to avoid these shocks. Can someone post a picture of them?
Anyone know the model vin number so I can look at that data point and move on it I find one with that model number vin.

 

The sport shocks look just like the regular shocks except they have a two pin electrical connector at the top.

Are you asking which part of the vehicle's VIN tells you whether it has this or not? It is easily identified by a "comfort" button just below the shift lever and these vehicles should also have different style wheels.

 

wow, seems many driver from Canada are having issue... maybe that's reason Acura move away from ADS on Gen 3.

 

i thought the letter of TSB is only focus on the sensor and connector on the ADS? i have mine replaced last year and i am sure they only replace the sensor and wiring.

 

Has anyone replaced theirs?

This thread has gone cold.

Has anyone tried replacing the electronic suspension with non-electronic gas shocks? I understand there will be some kind of fault message. Can this be disabled by removing fuse #7 from the main box under the hood?

 

You have to put in a resistor to trick the computer.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

Has anyone in this thread done what you suggested about the resistor? I'm just wondering how they did it.

Out of curiosity, is it possible to remove the old connector attached to the strut/shocks and plug it into the wire instead of soldering a resistor?

The clunking is getting annoying now and replacement is definitely needed.

 

Here is what I will do when it's time to replace my sport shocks. Here is the information that we will need there is a lot of info.

http://www.mdxers.org/forums/74-2007-2013-acura-mdx/56394-ads-shocks-regular.html

 

Thanks