general problems of the 2016 Acura MDX - part 1

This has happened twice while on a drive, cruising along on a highway and go to pass a car in another lane, transmission down shifts and then lose all power, transmission repair light comes on as well as emission controls, vehicle is still running but no power to the wheels, trying to get back across three sometimes four lanes to get to the shoulder due to the loss of power, this happened once back in the summer and again today about 96k and now 110k, there are a lot of forums talking about it as well.

When car is started, attempting to slowly accelerate in reverse or forward you will experience a loss of drive power, transmission does nothing. Then all of a sudden transmission responds and you lurch forward or reverse. Very unsafe situation. Other cars not sure if your moving or stationary.

The Acura Mdx, which had always been serviced at an Acura dealership, had 121,007 miles on it when the transmission completely failed without prior warning. I was driving with the d cruise control on at around 70 mph when I took the car off cruise by touching the brake to take the exit ramp onto I-10. I suddenly lost power, the engine still runnning, the car was on the exit ramp, which was uphill and exiting from i75 south. I had to coast to a stop and stopped between in a trouble area between the exit ramp and the fast lane on i10 east, which the wrecker driver said left the car exposed in a “kill zone. ” after stopping, the car would start but all four wheels were locked and the wrecker drivers could not roll the car into a safer location to retrieve the car. They nevertheless pulled the car onto the wrecker while in what they described as a “kill zone,” and I also thought the spot I had to stop was extremely dangerous. The dealership, key Acura in gainesville, florida, advised the transmission needed to be replaced at a cost of $7,200. After that I sold the car to an online site at a price that was basically for junk.

This submission supplements my existing NHTSA complaint regarding recall 17-010 and the 9-speed automatic transmission atf warmer defect. My vehicle received recall / product update 17-010 service on March 10, 2017, at which time the transmission was replaced. The final redesigned atf warmer did not exist at that time. The atf warmer installed with the replacement transmission was an earlier design. The vehicle returned for a second recall 17-010 service visit on December 9, 2017. The service record from that visit explicitly states that the atf warmer was not replaced, noting that it had been replaced during the prior visit. As a result, the recall was initiated but not completed with the final redesigned atf warmer. Acura later issued TSB b17-026, extending warranty coverage to 10 years from original in-service date with unlimited mileage, because damage from atf/coolant contamination may occur years after initial exposure, even if fluids later appear normal. In 2025, the vehicle developed transmission noise. An independent transmission specialist advised that the vehicle exhibits bearing failure, with the extent of damage unknown until teardown. Bearing failure is a known delayed consequence of atf/coolant contamination associated with the atf warmer defect. The vehicle was delivered to an authorized Acura dealership for evaluation under the warranty extension. However, the dealership has refused to perform the warranty inspection unless payment is made, and has stated that the vehicle is outside the warranty period, despite the warranty extension remaining in effect through January 2026. This supplement is submitted to document that: •recall 17-010 was started but not completed with the final redesigned atf warmer; •the final corrective part was never installed on this vehicle; and •corrective action and inspection related to this incomplete recall and warranty extension are currently being denied.

Car stalled in traffic and would not restart, and couldn’t figure out how to put in neutral. We had good samaritans that wanted to push it out of the way, but no one could figure out how to put the car in neutral. Even the police and tow truck driver couldn’t figure out how to put it in neutral. I found out after research that to put it neutral when it will not start requires a special tool that has to be installed by opening the hood. Acura doesn’t even include this special tool. It costs extra. So if you’re are in traffic and your car stalls there is no way to push it out of the way. This is incredibly dangerous in a traffic situation.

The transmission and motor has failed. Car has 133000 miles. Transmission recently rebuilt. Car continues to malfunction according to the recall but is not listed.

Vehicle started having issues just a couple of years after purchase (acquired brand new as a lease which I later purchased when the lease was up), in the beginning it was mostly at low speeds, but it would occasionally happen at higher speeds as well. You could feel it having hesitation when shifting gears. Took it to the dealer at around the 30k miles due for service (may of 2019). Had the transmission fluid replaced, dealer noted some "debris" was found. The problem quickly showed up again soon after this service, so the vehicle was brought back to the dealer for further checkup a couple of times, the result was always the same, no problem found, and the vehicle was ok to drive. I have lived with this problem ever since and on occasion it got even worse at higher speeds (around 65mph) when the gears seemed to go to neutral for a few seconds and then re-engage again on its own. Knowing that the car had always acted funny and the fact that the dealer never found any issues, I thought it must be more of the same. Finally, a couple of weeks ago (March 25 of 2025) the transmission gave up completely while my wife was driving the car, luckily it was not in a highway, she had enough time to pull to the side of the road but once the car stopped, it would not get into gear again. I have called the dealer for assistance, but they tell me the car is not under warranty anymore and there is no recall pending for this VIN, they could take it in, but the repairs would not be covered by them. This has prompted me to look into the issue further and found out that Acura issued a service bulleting number 17-026 back in 2018 which describes the same symptoms as what I describe above, they extended the warranty to 10 years but when I called them they say that it does not apply to my VIN because of a different manufacturing location (despite the fact that the symptoms are the same). Came to find out that other owners have had the same issue over the years.

Recall 23v-751 affecting certain or maybe all 2016 Acura Mdx sh-awd connecting rod bearing failure. The vehicle came to a sudden stop on the freeway after a loud terrible sound from the engine. This left my wife and child on a freeway exit ramp with no way to navigate the car to safety. The vehicle won't start, it makes a terrible clanging noise and stops. It has a seized connecting rod bearing and now a broken connecting rod and several holes punched from the broken rod. It was immediately towed to an Acura service center where it was confirmed. Recall 23v-751 described this failure exactly yet my car VIN is not included in the recall even though it is clearly affected by that recall. Acura client relations refused to add the VIN even after saying they would if the problem was confirmed by an Acura service technician which it was but they refuse to add the VIN and repair the SUV.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the motor's rod bearing spun. It is available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? the failure could have created enough friction between the bearing sleeve, rod and/or journal bearing to seize the motor and the drivetrain while driving. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes the vehicle was taken to the Acura dealership to be inspected, diagnosed and repaired. There is a recall for the same year, make and model but my vehicle's VIN is not included in the recall. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? the vehicle has only been inspected by the Acura dealership. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? there was a check engine light that produced code p0430 (catalyst system efficiency below threshold bank 2) and p0306 (cylinder 6 misfire detected). The vehicle had a loss of power and troubles accelerating under load. The first time the problem was noticed was January 18th, 2025.

Vehicle engine started making noise . Called Acura customer service . They advised have taken to Acura dealership for examination. Did so ($450. 00 tow bill) there is a motor recall on 2016 Acura Mdx. The Acura garage advised ( in writing ) that they felt this was the same engine problem ( rod bearing ) as in the 2016 Acura Mdx under recall. . Acura corporate advised mine was not listed as recalled .

The car suddenly shut off when I was on the red light wit the idle stop.

Transmission slips and make chirp sound, and failed completely during driving at 86000.

Our engine is exhibiting symptoms currently related to an open recall by Acura for connecting rod bearings. Our 2016 Mdx is one of the affected model years but as of now our VIN is not included in the recall. I don't believe this is coincidence. I believe the mechanical issue is more widespread than Acura wants to reveal and is subsequently limiting the viv numbers it includes. I am trying to be proactive in this regard prior to an incident taking place.

While waiting to turn left from a busy street onto a highway, the engine seized. The car was unable to be moved from it's location in the center of the busy street with cars approaching quickly from behind and weaving around my stopped vehicle. I had the vehicle towed to metro Acura in montclair, CA and they confirmed that the connecting rod bearing had failed causing the engine to seize. They also confirmed that the vehicle is not part of the existing recall. The engine produced some rough noise prior to failing but otherwise did not provide any warning lamps or other messages.

See attachment for detailed explanation.

The contact's wife owns a 2016 Acura Mdx. The contact stated while driving 60 mph and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond and lost motive power. A message indicating a transmission failure was displayed. The contact was able to veer to the side of the roadway. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to shift into gear. The vehicle was towed to a aaa center. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was covered under an extended transmission warranty. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not eligible to be repaired under the transmission extended warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000.

I have had numerous instances of the car not engaging the transmission when driving. This can happen at highway speed; the car will not accelerate and acts like it is in neutral. You must take your foot off the gas pedal for the transmission to re-engage before accelerating. This has been an ongoing problem for a few years, and Acura says there is nothing wrong. This is very dangerous. I know multiple Mdx owners who have experienced the same issue. I think there may be a class action lawsuit about it.

I have a 2016 Mdx v6 88k miles and I purchased the car as a certified pre owned (cpo). I recently had two lights come on 1) blind spot info system problem and 2) transmission system problem. The car has been driving fine and has been well maintained. Since the lights came on, I've put about 8000 miles on it over the last 6 months and no change to the way it drives (transmission seems to work fine). It seems odd that both lights come on at the same time? recently my family took a 150 mile trip and both went off during the trip but then did both come back on later that day. Looked on line and it seems many are having this exact issue. . Read more...

Transmission shifted to neutral limiting controllable forward movement. This occurred without any warning while in traffic. This created a very high safety risk. This issue occurred three times creating a need to have it towed into a repair dealer, diagnostics, and resetting of the electrical circuit. The diagnosis code was p0973.

The contact owns a 2016 Acura Mdx. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle hesitated and then accelerated. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no additional assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.

On a multi-day road trip, the car had a temporary complete loss of power on two separate days. Both times this happened after several hours of driving at highway speeds on I-15 in California, outside temperatures were in the 90s. After a slight deceleration and then applying the accelerator again, there was a 'clunk' like sound possibly from the transmission, and then a complete loss of power. The first time I tried to pull over to the breakdown lane, and then regained power after about 2-3 seconds. The second time, we were in the middle of traffic and were not able to pull over, but again after 2-3 seconds, the power came back. The engine did not rev up when applying the accelerator and there were no dashboard lights. This appeared to be either a transmission, fuel delivery, or engine management/drive by wire issue. While we luckily did not get into an accident, we did slow down significantly on the highway, requiring other drivers around us to break, or change lanes. I have made an appointment with my independent mechanic, but the car has not been inspected yet and I am not able to forcibly reproduce the issue.

Transmission issues with my 2016 Acura Mdx slipping into neutral and staying there while driving at high speeds on interstates. This could've caused injury to myself, my passengers, and other drivers on the road due to the high speeds. Without being to able to accelerate when needed, it could've resulted in harm. Transmission service problem and blind spot malfunction lights appeared. I took the vehicle to Acura for service 3 weeks before the last incident and Acura said there was no problem and to bring it back if it happened again. 3 weeks later, it happened again. I had reported slippages in the transmission for several service checks with no issues found by Acura. After the most recent incident, Acura recommended to either keep driving and bring it back or replace the transmission. Diagnostics were run and error codes cleared. The csr at Acura mentioned he saw this on at least 5 Acura 2016 Mdxs this year already. The warning lights did not appear until the last issue. Several other incidents occurred with no warnings. All transmission maintenance activities have been performed.

I have had the vehicle since beginning of March and I noticed the transmission slipping. I had the transmission flushed which made the problem not as bad but it was still there. A couple weeks later the transmission started slipping hard again and I had the transmission replaced by the dealer. I take it home and its shifting all over the place and not accelerating. Acura did a reprogram and I picked it up and the minute I left the dealer, it started to do a hard shift/slip between 4th and 5th gear that is not going away after a new transmission was put in. I'm not getting any warnings or lights, just the hard shifting that has caused me to return to the dealer on 3 separate occasions and now will be a 4th time. This can be dangerous because I do not know what the car will do at any given moment while I am driving.

The contact owns a 2016 Acura Mdx. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle downshifted inadvertently. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where the failure was not able to be replicated. The contact stated that on one occasion while attempting to place the gear in any gear other than reverse (r) the gear selector indicator displayed the gear selected but the vehicle did not operate as intended. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

My SUV would accelerate when going down hill and the message: “transmission system problem”along with “blind spot warning malfunction” would come on. Took to dealer the message went out. Will come on intermittently. This has gone on for past month. They sai it had to stay on for them to diagnose. Now car will not go in reverse at all. This transmission was replaced November 2019 because of a defect. They told me there is no recall but the other was a service bulletin that required my engine to be replaced as well. If there is a class action I want to be added as this is a big inconvenience and the company is denying there is an issue with the transmission computer system so they can get us to pay high repair fees. Please help!.

The contact's wife owns a 2016 Acura Mdx. The contact stated that while his wife was reversing out of the driveway with his grandchildren in the rear seats, she stopped the vehicle to check for incoming traffic but the vehicle switched gears to drive on its own and accelerated forward. The contact's wife depressed the brake pedal but it failed to respond and the vehicle crashed into his unoccupied vehicle that was parked ahead in the driveway. The driver's airbags deployed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's wife parked the vehicle. There were no injuries sustained. A police report was not filed. The contact stated that his wife switched gears to reverse and attempted to reverse the vehicle. The vehicle only reversed for 2 feet and switched gears back to park. The contact stated that the vehicle continuously switched gears to park whenever they attempted to reverse. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 37,592.

Every since I've owned my 2016 Acura Mdx I've had infrequent, and intermittent transmission issues. Several have been safety concerns: - transmission is slow to engage when first pushing accelerator, leading to unexpected lag pulling into traffic - transmission did not shift into park as expected, causing car to keep moving as I was opening door and starting to step out - transmission slips and does not respond when accelerating to merge into fast lane on highway to pass slower traffic. Car speed stalls and you have to let off the gas and wait for a few seconds before the transmission reengages. - overall horrible/hard shifting all the time. . . To which we're told. . . The car learns your driving style. We've reset it multiple times to try to get it to start learning again. No luck. - after coasting on highway, very hard shift with loud noise when you go to hit the accelerator all of these situations have happened numerous times over the past 2 years of owning this car. All of them infrequent, but also unexpected. . . Leaving you to really worry if this is the time the transmission is going to let you down and cause you to wreck. Dealer now says a new transmission is needed, but I waited until 78,000 miles to first report it, so it's out of warranty now. Hoping Acura will step up and address this serious safety issue with the 9 speed transmission.

For at least the past four years, my Mdx has been "catching" while accelerating and lurching at other times. If I have to step on it to get through traffic or want to pass and I accelerate, the car will jerk. This is most noticeable at 40 mph because that's the speed I'm driving at most often. It also happens at higher speeds when on the interstate. I have taken it in to the dealer numerous times, but they just keep telling me there is nothing they can do about it and they blow me off.

While driving on local road all of a sudden the 3 errors came on the dash board transmission system problem, emission system problem, and blind spot system problem, engine light came on. When this happens the transmission doesn't shift right and grinding of the gear is heard, car quickly slow down. After stopping and start up again, errors still there but transmission could not shift into higher gears and car tops out at 30mph. This has happened 4 times in the last few days and we are now scared to drive the car local roads, highway would be bad until we get it fixed at the dealership. This is potentially a very dangerous situation if the car loses power at an intersection.

Car began to stall while driving. Would not accelerate while pressing gas pedal and suddenly turned off. Tried to turn it back on. Which it did turn on but it did so with a lot of effort from the car. Engine light has now came on along with 3 more lights.

Purchased a certified pre-owned 2016 Acura Mdx sh-awd w/ tech a few weeks ago & from day one there have been issues with acceleration off a complete stop like a stop sign, stop light, coming off park or upon putting it into drive. The vehicle will not move when the gas pedal is depressed, will rev high through first, jump into 2 still revving high before finally moving when it hits 3rd. It is a huge safety issue when other traffic is oncoming as you are expecting to "go" & nothing happens when pressing the gas pedal. The dealership inspected the vehicle upon purchase at our request on two occasions but told us it is normal & will adjust to my driving style. This is not normal. They said they updated the software but found nothing wrong with the vehicle. I'm feeling like we paid for a lemon & driving something which is very unsafe especially with children in the car.

- vehicle lost power the other day had to pull over luckily was still in residential corridor at 35mph with no other vehicles around. Transmission problems include: erratic shifting, sensation of acceleration when coasting down hills, surging when braking, transmission feels like it stays in various gears too long. During slight acceleration from a stop, experience both hesitation and surges and transmission feels rough at low speeds. Also experience poor acceleration and bogging at low speeds. Erratic shifting and speed changes occurring daily.

My 2016 Mdx shifts into neutral at highway speeds and won't let me accelerate. I have escaped getting into an accident multiple times. Every time I take it to the dealer they do a new software update however the issue still remains. There are hundereds of people reporting this l. Please look into this. Acura has not recalled the vehicles but issued a tsb15-034. I have received this TSB update but the problem hasn't been fixed. This is a very dangerous situation as I have barely escaped getting into terrible accident. There are multiple class action lawsuits against Acura for the same but Acura refuses to acknowledge the issue. When the issue arises the mil starts flashing random error messages. I am attaching the pictures of the error messages I got while stranded on i95.

Vehicle stalls at highway speeds. No software update by Acura has fixed the issue. There are several lawsuits against Acura for the same but they deny any responsibility. Google Acura Mdx transmission class action lawsuit.

When the engine is cold the car hesitates when it shifts into 2nd & 3rd gears. It almost stalls. I have almost been hit numerous times at intersections. The dealer says nothing is wrong, yet 2 loaners that were similar ages & miles didn't do that. The problem goes away after the car is driven a few miles. Happens every day.