2003 Acura MDX, most of the time this thing is perfectly fine but every few days it wont start, battery dead as if it was drained by leaving something on. There is no pattern to it, it could be 3 or 4 or 5 days... or even sitting for a week or more before it happens. If you jump it and drive 15-20 minutes its fine... First I found a little corrosion at the battery terminals and cleaned them up but that didnt fix it. Damn japanese thing!

4/8/2008 8:12:24 AM

didn't somebody have this same problem a while ago?

4/8/2008 9:02:48 AM

i seem to remember a door lock switch issue

4/8/2008 10:44:57 AM

Its 2008, if thats your factory batter, its 5 years old, time for a new one.

If not, good luck finding that battery drain

4/8/2008 10:48:30 AM

Getting the battery checked is probably a good idea as well. Most places will check you battery for free. Otherwise, break out the multimeter and hunt down whatever is drawing current.

4/8/2008 12:10:45 PM

yuk yuk yuk

i forgot to mention it is a brand new battery, proper size and type. that wouldnt matter anyhow since as i stated it is an intermittant issue. bad batterys dont come and go like this.

the door lock switch issue is for later model MDXs as far as I can tell, same for the tailgate latch drain issue.

turns out im now 99% sure i figured it out, ill give you another set of clues.

- one day while idling normally in gear, foot on brake, the system started dumping freon. not enough that the system no longer works, but it was definitely a high pressure venting of freon. or refridgerant or whatever you wanna call it.

- periodically there is a hissing noise that comes from the dash, in the area of the cabin filter. sounds very much like a vacuum leak, comes and goes almost as intermittantly as the battery drain. there are no vacuum lines used in this HVAC system.

- if it is hissing in the dash upon cold startup, and you rev it quickly it comes back to idle and stalls. as if something was causing excess drag on the engine.


get it yet??

4/8/2008 12:46:14 PM

ac clutch relay

4/8/2008 12:59:15 PM

is that common for mdx's?

that's a shitty (expensive) problem.

4/8/2008 1:35:14 PM

is there any aftermarket wiring whatsoever in the vehicle? security system, audio, etc.

4/8/2008 10:13:39 PM

Quote :

"ac clutch relay"

winnar!


it was about $15 to fix. aggravating, but nowhere near as aggravating as changing the cat that is sandwiched between the motor and the firewall.

4/8/2008 11:09:08 PM

i jst looked a a veedub with a similar problem, turned out to be a trunk lock. after an accident so not a common issue. i guess u'll be spending some time with a miltimeter

4/8/2008 11:19:53 PM

damn $15, i thought $$$$

4/9/2008 2:28:51 AM