135 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2002 Acura MDX cite power train, 61% of all 222 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 1 recall on this component.
“The vehicle's transmission is faulty. I took it to a second-hand repair shop because, while I was driving on the freeway, the speed had been dropping rapidly. I later found out they recalled the transmission for this Acura in 2005. It is 2026. I took it to a dealership and asked about the transmission recall; they said they could close federal safety recalls, so it wasn’t valid. I left the dealership and called Acura's client relations line, where they said that because I am the second owner, they would not accommodate the recall request, as it had closed in 05. I googled whether they can close federal recalls, and it said they couldn’t. Then they changed what they said and said that because it was over 150,000 miles, it wasn't eligible for a goodwill repair either. This (NHTSA Campaign ID 04V-176000) repair was never done on the car, but because it was issued in 05, they will not accommodate it today when the transmission showed a fault.”
“The contact owns a 2002 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that she depressed the accelerator pedal and the RPM’s revved; however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact pulled over, turned off and restarted the vehicle and started driving; however, after getting up to speed the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact believed that the vehicle had slipped out of gear. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond while shifted into drive or reverse. The contact stated no warning lights were illuminated. The contact had driven the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact had researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 04V176000 (Power Train). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.”
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 ACURA MDX. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO SHIFT FROM SECOND GEAR. ADDITIONALLY, THE ENGINE REVVED. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED HOWEVER, NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE WAS PROVIDED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 180,000.”
“TRANSMISSION RECALL WAS PREV ADDRESSED BUT STILL HAS SAME PROBLEM HWY OVERHEATING OF TRANSMISSION CAUSING FAILURE EXTREME JERKING SCARED US BAD AND COULD CAUSE ACCIDENT GEARS GO OUT SLIP FROM OVERHEATING AS WELL BURNS TRANSM FLUID RECALLED PREVIOUSLY SAME EXACT ISSUE OF EXTREME OVERHEATING AND AT TEMP GAUGE NOT WORKINGOCCOURS WHILE DRIVING IN MOTION”
“PRIORITY ACURA GAVE 2002 MDX BACK MONDAY 4/3/17 HAD PROBLEMS AGAIN WITH IT SLIPPIN INTO NEUTRAL AND WONT MOVE IN D5...THIS TIME CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND D5 STARTED BLINKING AND GEAR SHIFT WAS NOT MOVE PASS N UNTIL JAMES THE MECHANIC SHUT OFF VEHICLE AND STARTED IT BACK UP.”
“MY NAME IS [XXX] I PURCHASED A USED 2002 ACURA MDX FROM DEALER [XXX] AT PRIORITY HONDA HAMPTON VA 2/13/2017 ( 757 8381252 ). WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF DRIVING THIS ACURA MDX IT STALLED AS I MADE A TURN ON LYNNHAVEN PKWY INTO MY JOB PARKING LOT. THERE WHERE CARS BEHIND ME BEEPING. MY FIRST REACTION WAS TRY REVERSE IT DID REVERSE SO I TRY TO PUT IT BACK IN D5 NO MOVEMENT RPMS WITH JUST RUN UP NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON SO THEN I TRIED D5, D4, D3,2 NO MOVEMENT THE VEHICLE MOVE WHEN I PUT IT IN GEAR AT 1 AND IT DROVE ME TO A PARKING SPACE AND THAT IS WHEN I CALLED ACURA PRIORITY AND HAD CAR TOWED TO THEM AND EXPLAINED THAT I HAD PURCHASED THE CAR FROM PRIORITY HONDA THIS WAS MY 6/7 DAY DRIVING IT THIS HAPPEN. SO THE TOW COMPANY CAME AND TOWED IT TO PRIORITY ACURA CHESAPEAKE ( 757 5231700) UNFORTUNATELY THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WASN'T ON AND CAR DRIVING BACK NORMAL AND NO CODES HELD IN THE COMPUTER FOR THEM TO CHECK WHAT IS GOING ON. THEREFORE I REQUESTED THEY DO A THOROUGHLY CHECK ON VEHICLE WHICH COST ME 150.00 DOLLARS TO MAKE SURE IT WASN'T NOTHING WRONG WITH VEHICLE. THEY DID A EXTRA CHECK AND CAME BACK WITH BUSHINGS NEEDED TO…”
Showing 6 of 135 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
ON SOME MINI VANS, SPORT UTILITY AND PASSENGER VEHICLES, CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS CAN RESULT IN HEAT BUILD-UP BETWEEN THE COUNTERSHAFT AND SECONDARY SHAFT SECOND GEARS IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO GEAR TOOTH CHIPPING OR GEAR BREAKAGE.
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.