2017 Acura MDX Power Train

While driving my 2017 Acura MDX SH-AWD, I began hearing a tapping or knocking noise coming from the engine. The noise gets noticeably louder and faster as engine RPM increases during acceleration. There were no warning lights, check-engine light, messages, or any other symptoms on the dashboard before the noise started or afterward. I took the vehicle to an authorized Acura dealership for inspection. The dealer diagnosed significant wear on the connecting rod bearings in the 3.5L V6 engine and stated that a full engine replacement for $11,000+ is required due to connecting rod bearing wear. The engine is still installed in the vehicle and is available for further inspection upon request. The dealership has fully inspected and documented the issue. Because of the known risk of connecting rod bearing failure leading to sudden engine seizure, loss of power while driving, stalling, or fire, this puts the safety of myself and other road users at serious risk of a crash or breakdown. The symptoms and diagnosis exactly match the type of engine failures covered under safety recall 23V-751 as well as the ongoing NHTSA investigation PE25008 for similar 2016–2020 Acura MDX vehicles that are outside the original recall population.

Since 2020 the transmission does not shift properly from second to third gear. The power drops and the car shutters and makes noise like gear teeth are missing. This does not happen every time though. Sometimes multiple days will pass before the problem arises again. There have been a couple of times where I barely avoided a wreck because of the drop in power and underperformance of the transmission.

We purchased vehicle in Sept 2020. The vehicle has always had a rough jerk or rough shift when initially moving at stop lights or any stop and as vehicle is accelerated and to shifting to next gear. It is not a smooth transmission shift from initial start to first few gears. Just seems that at any time transmission may fail and vehicles behind may run into it.

I recently took my vehicle in for service due to a noise coming from the oil pan area. Upon further inspection from my mechanic is appears that my vehicle had metal shavings in the oil pan and seems to be related to the connecting rod bearing issue that a recall was issued for. Unfortunately my vehicle was not part of the recall for this issue and perhaps should be included in potential expanded recall. I was told by my mechanic that I would need to either buy a used motor or new motor however my concern with a used motor is that I could potentially have the same issue again and be dealing with engine failure.

While travelling at highway speeds, I removed my foot from the accelerator to adjust speed for a lane change. When changing lanes and acceleration was then needed, there was no response from the engine for ~5 seconds. I depressed the accelerator several times with no response, which nearly caused an accident during the lane change. The engine did not stall. Eventually, the engine responded to the accelerator input. This has occurred multiple times under similar circumstances.

On [XXX], while driving from Orlando, FL to Atlanta, GA, I experienced one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I was traveling on the freeway at approximately 80 MPH, in lane 3 or 4, when my vehicle suddenly began to hesitate and lose power without any warning. In that moment, fear and panic took over. Cars were flying past me, and I could feel my truck rapidly decelerating. I immediately turned on my hazard lights and began honking to alert other drivers, praying they would give me space to move over. Thankfully, I was able to carefully navigate across lanes and reach the far-left shoulder. Once I got into the acceleration/deceleration lane, the vehicle suddenly lurched forward and began accelerating again—completely on its own. I knew I couldn't risk staying on the road, so I exited at the next ramp and pulled into a gas station, still shaken. After refueling, I attempted to restart the truck, but it would no longer shift into Drive or Neutral. The truck was stuck in Park and completely inoperable. A roadside mechanic responded to my call for help and made several attempts to restore mobility, but nothing worked. I spent the evening stranded and alone, unsure of what to do next. The following day, [XXX], I had the vehicle towed to Honda South near Atlanta, GA. After inspection, I was informed that the issue was a complete transmission failure. In addition to needing a new transmission, the vehicle also required replacement of critical sub-assembly components, including the transmission control module (TCM). This situation was not just a mechanical failure—it was a serious safety event that put my life and the lives of others at risk. I’m still shaken by what happened and deeply concerned about how such a failure could occur so suddenly and without warning. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the transmission system error message displayed. The contact pulled over to the right side of the road and turned off, and attempted to restart the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to respond. A local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed, and it was determined that the transmission sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall and suggested that the failure be reported to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 92,000.

The transmission failed. It is not able to be inspected unless retrieved by the dealer. While driving the vehicle the transmission would disengage. There were no warning lights or failures picked up by the CAN bus. This would happen during normal driving on the highway, potentially leaving the vehicle stranded in the middle of the highway. When issue occurred the transmission would make a whining noise. I was able to replicate the issue with the dealer. I am unaware if the part was inspected. I contacted Acura of America to report the problem. The issue mimicked the reported recall that Acura issue on a portion of MDX of the same year. They offered no assistance to the issue. There were no warning lights or indicators to let me know of a transmission issue.

The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated that after a routine transmission flush, while driving approximately 40 MPH, the transmission was hesitating before shifting. The contact stated that vehicle was jerking into gear and made an abnormal banging sound. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, and the transmission started to jerk while shifting into gear, while shifting lanes. The contact pulled off the highway and observed that numerous warning lights were illuminated. The check transmission message was displayed. The contact was able to shift to park(P) and turned the vehicle off several times. The contact stated that the vehicle was able to be shifted to drive(D); however, when the accelerator pedal was depressed, the engine revved, and the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that numerous warning lights were illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to the same dealer where the service was performed. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that previously the vehicle was parked and when the vehicle was started, the gear shifter was inoperable. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not assist. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

When pulling into traffic the car wants to hesitate almost like stalling when going from 1st to 2nd gear 1st thing in the morning. Almost causing a crash it does it every morning after the car is driving the car for a while it no longer does it. There are no check engine lights on

On a 2,000 mile family road trip the car shifted to neutral two times at highway speeds. Fortunately, I didn't lose my power steering or power brakes. The car remained on but I had no power. Then the car jerked, the rpm's dropped to 1,000 and then jumped around a little and the car took off again.

In October I noticed my engine knocking. It has always made a ticking sound so how long it might have knocked before we noticed I don’t know however in October it was clearly noticeable. The first thing I did was check my oil level and it was full. Over the several days it became more noticeable and one morning while driving my check engine light came on and the vehicle lost most(maybe 80%) of it’s power although it did continue running and I managed to make it home and immediately scheduled an appointment with Pecheles Honda to have it looked at. When I started the car the next morning the engine light was off and I drove it to the Honda dealership where I was told I would need a new engine. We regularly had the oil changed using synthetic oil and it never burned one drop of oil so I didn’t have any idea how or why it could have happened because it is very common for issues like this to occur due to low engine oil. Last week I learned of a recall on multiple Honda and Acura vehicles the same year and model as mine due to faulty rod bearings with symptoms exactly like I experienced only to find out that mine is not included in the recall. Right now it is sitting in my yard because I don’t have $10,000 to get the motor replaced. The Honda service manager and their best mechanic were at a loss at how the motor could have went so pre maturely. Something faulty had to have been put in that motor because I took great care of that car and never drove it hard. Before this car we had a 2003 Honda Pilot we owned for nearly 15 years with 300,000 miles on it that never had one issue the whole time we had it and this issue should not happen to 6 year old Acura’s. I wanted to document this issue and hope anyone else going through the same misfortune with these vehicles does the same.

In October the car had 46,000 miles and suddenly the car stopped because there was a transmission problem and we went to the dealer, they said it was an update the software problem, this is considered is not safe for me and my family because the car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. What if I was going 60 mph on the highway and they car suddenly stopped and caused an accident, and someone was hurt. I don't think it is an update problem. This morning I went to the dealer to talk about it, and they refused to do anything, and we are just reporting and if in the future it happens again then what are we supposed to do if we're on the middle of the highway.

The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated while at a stop light, the vehicle would not shift out of park. The contact attempted shifting into another gear however, the vehicle would not shift out of park. The vehicle was towed to the dealer however, because the vehicle would not shift out of park, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 60,000. The VIN was not available.

While in a residential area we were accelerating from a slow speed as we were leaving one corner and preparing to enter a second corner. The car then suddenly lurched forward followed by the drivetrain immediately entered into neutral - losing all forward power. We were able to coast across the end of a residential driveway. (The owner wasn’t thrilled about that at first but understood after an explanation.) We then turned the car off, ans waited about 15 minutes before restarting the car. At that point everything worked normally with no indication of a continuation of the problem. The car was in the comfort dynamic mode at the time. Although the transmission went into neutral during the incident the shift clearly remained in the drive position. We were very careful about checking to see if we had somehow been at fault - bit this was definitely not driver’s error. We were fortunate on two fronts. Firstly, had an adult or child been in the crosswalk we were approaching at the time it could have ended badly. Secondly, we were at slow speed in modest traffic and had enough momentum to safely coast out of traffic. However, the incident was unsettling and we remain highly cautious about driving the car now. Later that evening we drove the car for about 30 minutes attempting to recreate the incident or see if we noticed anything odd at all about the transmission, shift, or electronics. We did this on a secluded road, using each of the car’s dynamic modes, at varying speeds, and changing acceleration. However, we were not able to recreate the incident. We did not notice anything odd about the car and no warning lights came on. There were also no warning lights leading up to or during the incident. The vehicle is available for inspection if requested. To be fair, we have not yet contacted the dealership. However given the seriousness of this issue and potential danger we felt it was important to report it right away.

While in a residential area we were accelerating from a slow speed as we were leaving one corner and preparing to enter a second corner. We were in comfort dynamic mode at the time. The car then suddenly lurched forward followed by the drive-train immediately entering into neutral - losing all forward power. We were able to coast across the end of a residential driveway. We then turned the car off, and waited about 15 minutes before restarting the car. At that point everything worked normally with no indication of a continuation of the problem. Although the transmission went into neutral during the incident the shift clearly remained in the drive position. We were very careful about checking to see if we had somehow been at fault - bit this was definitely not driver’s error. We were fortunate on two fronts. Firstly, had an adult or child been in the crosswalk we were approaching at the time it could have ended badly. Secondly, we were at slow speed in modest traffic and had enough momentum to safely coast out of traffic. However, the incident was unsettling and we remain highly cautious about driving the car now. Later that evening we drove the car for about 30 minutes attempting to recreate the incident or see if we noticed anything odd at all about the transmission, shift, or electronics. We did this on a secluded road, using each of the car’s dynamic modes, at varying speeds, and changing acceleration. However, we were not able to recreate the incident. We did not notice anything odd about the car and no warning lights came on. There were also no warning lights leading up to or during the incident. The vehicle is available for inspection if requested. To be fair, we have not yet contacted the dealership. However given the seriousness of this issue and potential danger we felt it was important to report it right away.

Traveling on I-49 north at approximately 80 mph without any sign of a problem when suddenly the car began breaking, shifted into neutral, hazards flashing, and every light on my dash lit up (Emission system Failure, Braking Failure, and Transmission Failure). At first I thought it had something to do with the cruise control, so I tried turning that off, which did not help, so I pulled over to the shoulder safely. This really could have been dangerous had there been more traffic because the car could not accelerate. Once on the shoulder I engaged the parking break as the car would not shift into park or any other gear. I turned off the car while I called state police and roadside assistance. After a while I was able to turn the car on and move it to reverse because I was about 30 yards past an entrance ramp that I could go to off the interstate. All lights were still lit up on the dash. It sounded rough. This was a very dangerous situation and Acrua needs to address this. It is currently awaiting evaluation at Acura of Lafayette.

Complete Transmission failure at 77,000 miles. Vehicle lost power at highway speeds causing a dangerous situation and stranded our family 650 miles from home. Had vehicle towed to the nearest acura dealership where I was told the transmission was terminal and needed to be replaced. Three weeks later the dealership has failed to find a transmission and nothing has happened. Acura extended a good faith discount on the repairs 4k down from 9k because it failed just out of warranty.

On March 20, 2022, I was on the freeway going 65 miles per hour in the fast lane and my transmission warning light came on and the car went in to Neutral and lost all power on the gas pedal and the car would not move. I could not put it in Park or it would roll backwards so I put on my hazard lights and kept my foot on the brake. I was almost rear ended several times as it was 9:30pm and no lights on the freeway in the area I was at and no place to get out and find a safe spot as my car would have rolled backwards as it would not come out of Neutral and at that spot in the freeway there is only cement walls. I was able to get the Calif. Highway Patrol to get me a tow company that could tow my car after I called 911. AAA which I have said it would be 90 minutes. I would have been killed before that. The tow truck driver had to tow my car to the Hopkins Acura dealership in Fairfield, CA where I had just had it serviced the Thursday and Friday before on March 17 and 18 for the car's 100,000 maintenance work. The Hopkins Acura said they test drove it after the maintenance work which cost me $3500.00 but my speedometer showed they only put 1.5 miles on my car so they did not test drive it far. The dealership said they do not touch the transmission during the big maintenance but this car was driving fine and for this transmission to just stop and freeze is so dangerous. The dealership says they will fix the transmission as they spoke to two different companies they work with but they want me to pay $600.00 of the repair which I do not think is fair.

Vehicle has ongoing rough transmission shifting issues. It jerks between gears when accelerating at stop signs or stop lights. I have also received a letter from attorney alleging ongoing transmission issues with this model - 2017 MDX. Car has only 23k miles. I used your website to search for possible recalls and did not see any. However, I wanted to share my experience to hopefully help others or perhaps hope of others reporting same mechanical issue.

Transmission goes into neutral on its own. Loses power. Delay in acceleration. Jerky gear shifting.

The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle started to jerk back and forth. The vehicle inadvertently shifted to neutral causing the loss of motive power. The contact exited the vehicle and pushed the vehicle to the side of the road. The contact had the vehicle towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

VEHICLE LOSES POWER UPON ACCELERATING AND HESITATES FOR A SECOND OR TWO - MOST TYPICALLY FROM A STOP AND SEEMS TO BE MORE LIKELY WHEN TURNING THE VEHICLE WHILE ACCELERATING, ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN THE VEHICLE HAS STALLED WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE ON A STRAIGHT SECTION OF HIGHWAY. PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT, VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT OR REPLICATE, BUT HAS OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE PURCHASE OF THE VEHICLE IN NOVEMBER OF 2017.

WE WERE DRIVING 70MPH ON THE INTERSTATE I10 HEADED TO NEW ORLEANS WHEN OUR VEHICLE SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING LOST ACCELERATION THE DASHBOARD LITE UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE TELLING ME TO PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY AND THEN ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE ERROR, TRANSMISSION ERROR AND AN EMISSIONS ERROR ALL AT ONCE. THIS WAS A VERY DANGEROUS INCIDENT AND WE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO GET TO THE SMALL SIDE OF THE ROAD ON THIS BUSY INTERSTATE. IT SCARED THE BOTH US! THE MDX WOULD NOT GO INTO DRIVE OR NEUTRAL? WHILE WAITING FOR THE TOW TRUCK WE ALMOST WERE SIDE SWIPED. THIS CAR WAS PURCHASED FOR THE SAFETY FEATURES AND IT HAS REALLY CAUSED MY WIFE AND I TO LOSE ALL FAITH AND NOW CANNOT DEPEND ON IT. OUR VEHICLE HAS 44K ON IT AND IT WAS EVEN A ACURA CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED INSPECTED VEHICLE. I HAVE LEARNED THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FOR THIS SAME TYPE OF INCIDENT AND MODEL OF ACURA. THIS CAR IS DANGEROUS AND ACURA BETTER OWN UP TO THIS FAULTY VEHICLE. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED!