[KCBBQ]

Same problem 22 MDX, steering column replaced 3 months ago, so far so good. Went to the dealership for oil change last month and was told that multiple other owners were coming in with the same problem. Apparently corporate headquarters has now told the dealership that the solution is to grease the steering column and not replace it !!

 

[TheBeast369]

Same problem 22 MDX, steering column replaced 3 months ago, so far so good. Went to the dealership for oil change last month and was told that multiple other owners were coming in with the same problem. Apparently corporate headquarters has now told the dealership that the solution is to grease the steering column and not replace it !!

Is this the permaneant fix or just to get it past the warranty period?

 

[eurojap]

Same problem 22 MDX, steering column replaced 3 months ago, so far so good. Went to the dealership for oil change last month and was told that multiple other owners were coming in with the same problem. Apparently corporate headquarters has now told the dealership that the solution is to grease the steering column and not replace it !!

Hopefully, the greased the crap out of the new one they installed in mine BEFORE installation. I've been driving it all weekend and no issues outside of the broken panel clips. Oddly, the pulling seems much better as well. Maybe I was looking for that problem. The roads here are heavily crowned.

 

[KCBBQ]

Is this the permaneant fix or just to get it past the warranty period?

Probably worth a try before replacing the whole column !

 

[KCBBQ]

Is this the permaneant fix or just to get it past the warranty period?

Probably worth a try before replacing the whole column !

Is this the permaneant fix or just to get it past the warranty period?

 

[mdethloff62]

When starting the car, there was an occasional short "grunt" along with a small vibration in the steering wheel. It became more frequent and started to happen when shutting off the engine.

Brought it to the dealer yesterday and it turns out there is an issue with the steering column adjustment system that moves the steering wheel into/out of position as the car is started/shut off. They are going to replace the steering column.

It's back-ordered and I have a feeling it will be a bit of a wait.

LL

I had the same issue.... they replaced it for me within 6 mos of purchasing the car. No problems since....

 

[IanCH]

They are replacing the whole column because Acura has requested the part back for failure analysis.

New car -> parts fail -> whole part goes back to acura -> failure anaylsis and NCMR/complaint processed -> either fix in part supply or service repair method determined (or both) -> more failures become repairable in the future.

Audi had a problem with its DSG longitudinal transmission that required transmission replacement for the first 3-4 years that it was happening, now its a $500 fix with a replacement parts kit.

 

[eurojap]

I had the same issue.... they replaced it for me within 6 mos of purchasing the car. No problems since....

About how many miles have you driven since the replacement? Mine is fine after the first week and, for now, I have the auto adjust feature on just to test it thoroughly. I may turn it off at some point to avoid reoccurrence. Now waiting for the lower left dash trim part to arrive at the dealership so they can replace it. I would rather do it myself but, I'm sure they wouldn't give me the part.

 

[eurojap]

Let me know if this fix is permanent please. My warranty clock is quickly ticking away and I don't want to a replacement OEM part for it to just fail again, waiting for that redesigned part.

I'm sorry to report that replacing the entire steering column is not a permanent fix. It appears they replaced the column with one of the same design. No revisions to address the grunt/groaning sounds. After several months and few thousand miles, the sounds are back intermittently. I would say this is how they started with the original steering column. For now, I have turned off the auto adjust steering column feature . It's not like I need the wheel or, the seat for that matter, to move for me to comfortably enter and exit the vehicle. It's just a convenience.

Also, I have an update on the destruction to the dash panel that occurred when the highly trained Acura technician mauled it during the repair. I was able to talk the stealer into letting me install the new replacement panel myself. It took about 20 min and I, the untrained shade tree mechanic, didn't break anything. It was easy and just really difficult to understand how anyone could have done that much damage to the panel in the process of removal or installation. What really frosts my arse is if the person broke it during removal, they absolutely had to know. There were parts snapped off. If they did, they reinstalled the broken panel (poorly) and hoped I wouldn't notice it. If it broke during reassembly, It is amazing they could have pushed or pounded hard enough to get some clips to hold and break off 4-5 other areas. Unbelievable. As it is, one of the clip supports is molded into the parking brake switch housing. I would need to replace the parking brake switch to recover that clip. As it stands, I have 12 of the 13 total clips fully engaged and it appears to be fine. Fits perfect and no squeaks or rattles, nothing is loose, etc.

 

[Frankcunn]

10k, 2023 MDX, I have just noticed the noise this week.

 

[kgt]

I've got 50,000 km on my 2022 now and going onto my 3rd steering column. Well technically 4th, the second one was DOA and had to be replaced the day after it was installed. Hopefully they sort their issues out before the warranty runs out. Replacing them once a year is a bit absurd.

 

[tomjhansen1]

2023 with about 17,000 miles on it. It’s annoying but for now I just turned off the feature. I’ll report it the next time I go for service.

 

[papachan]

My 3 years of ownership is coming up in July.
I turned off the steering wheel movement at entry/exit a few months after buying my car.
I wonder if the "grunt" rears its ugly head that my steering column will be replaced after the warranty period without cost.
There's no TSB or notice as far as I can tell regarding this issue.

Thoughts?

 

[eurojap]

I'm on my 3rd column and turned the auto adjust feature off after the last replacement. I'm pretty confident the grunt/groan would return after a few months but, certainly after some longer period of time. There is clearly a design flaw. It doesn't appear Acura has addressed and corrected the root cause. My plan is to leave the feature off for a while longer and when I get within 6 months, or so, of the warranty ending, I'll turn it back on. If the condition reoccurs, I'll get the column changed again. Hopefully, by then, they will have revised the design and the replacement will be good for the remaining life of the vehicle.

I doubt Acura will do anything about the condition after warranty unless they finally formally admit to a design problem (TSB) at some point.

For me, the feature is not a thing. Just thought it was cool and made it easier to get in and out with stuff in my hands, or whatever. Not at all necessary, just a convenience. But, I definitely don't want to listen to the grunt/groan. It's actually embarrassing when people would ask "what the heII was that?"

 

[TheBeast369]

Still haven't taken mine to the dealer for it. Coming up on my 3 year mark...I did get a notice about a firmware update that has to be done at the dealer so I will at least formally document the grunt issue when I go but I don't want them fixing it, because clearly they don't have a fix and I don't want my dash destroyed and clips broken for no good reason. My wheel still grunts and I refuse to turn off a feature I paid for. My wife and I both drive the car and have different presets for the wheel position so I will continue to use it.

 

[zhaobinis1]

2024 mdx just over 1500 miles. Noticed the grunt noise when move steering wheel in and out. Up and down seems fine. Looks like mine is at stage I

 

[zhaobinis1]

Oh by the way I’m at the dealer to replace my infotainment system. I asked the technician to check the grunt noise. Of course they found nothing wrong. Funny thing is I just went into one of their demo cars and tried the telescoping function. Definitely no grunt noise like mine. There is a difference for sure. Will talk to the service guy later.

 

[zhaobinis1]

Allow me to complain more. It seems Honda has not addressed many of the common issues found on early model years. I still got many of them on my 2024 mdx. So far I have done: tailgate realignment, antenna and infotainment assembly replacement due to time not updating/acuralink app not updating. Things to be fixed: roof subframe causing noise from second row passenger seat area, grunt noise from steering column, noise from driver door, ticking noise from engine when cold start, whistling noise at higher speed over 70 mpg. I am finicky enough to notice all of these issues, yet don’t have time to address each of them with the dealer. Ironically, I have spent much more time at the dealer of Acura compared to my previous cars of BMW and Audi. Not cool.

 

[xoomercom]

LOL, I ignored it because I though I'm just losing it hearing things.

I'm at 36K miles and this has been happening for past 10K miles, sometimes more pronounced than others. Grunt is the right word to describe it.

If this is not some mechanical issue I'm probably going to leave it for now.

 

[eurojap]

LOL, I ignored it because I though I'm just losing it hearing things.

I'm at 36K miles and this has been happening for past 10K miles, sometimes more pronounced than others. Grunt is the right word to describe it.

If this is not some mechanical issue I'm probably going to leave it for now.

It is almost certainly a mechanical issue. It's vibration caused by incorrect gear mesh, I suspect. It's either caused or exasperated by time and wear. Most of them are quiet when new. I'm on the third column and have no confidence this one will not fail (make the grunt/groaning noise). I begrudgingly turned the feature off since I don't really need it. That said, on a $62K+ vehicle, I should be able to use any and all of the features. I'm going to turn it back on within about 6 months of the end of the warranty and if it happens again, get yet another column. Maybe the 4th time is a charm.