twiz03

hey guys,

my parents have an 02 MDX and they've been complaining that this car no power going up hills on the freeway... So i took it upon my self to test it out...

im going 70mph before the hill with my foot steady on the gas pedal... starting to go up the hill.. the odo goes down to 65mph.. foot still steady

car downshifts out of over drive... RPM goes up.. but im still losing speed...

i step on the gas alittle more and the car won't downshift.. then i almost floor it, then it would downshift to 4th gear.. it maintain speed and then hardly gain any speed...

I mean, i under its a 5000lb car but god, it felt like it had no power what so ever... the Toyota Sienna we had before i bought them this MDX felt alot stronger going up this same hill.. (its not a steep incline at all) 45degree angle at most..

sienna= 4spd auto.. 210hp 3.0L
mdx= 5spd auto... 240hp 3.5L

I got the spark plugs, timing belt and water pump changed right after i bought the car at 103k miles.. now it has 110k... compression for the car is good also....do you think the transmission is just programed wrong since this was part of the first batch of the 5spd auto for the mdx???

vybzkartel

Well, the '01-'02 MDXs are known to have transmission issues.

twiz03

well its not the transmission because it was replaced 86k miles with the updated one... i was just thinking the programming might be wrong...

do you (with your 03) or anyone else have this issue with the MDX?

vybzkartel

Nah, don't have that issue.

So, it only happens when it's going uphill?

hondaacurapro

Doesn't seem that uncommon for the 01 and 02 MDX. The 01 and 02 are sluggish, and have slow responding transmissions. The ECU cannot be reprogrammed on the 01 and 02, however if the trans was replace the ECU should have been replaced as well. Most people would not be able to notice a difference in shifting between the two ECU's. The main difference in the programming is for the torque converter engagement points.

twiz03

yes it only happens when im going up hills.

thanks for the info hondaacurapro...

dam if i knew, i wouldve just bought the 04 and up

007Acura

thats strange, it should be going faster. Check the engine air filter and try a fuel system/engine cleaner and always use 91-93 octane.

vybzkartel

Yeah, try this.

If it only happen on upgades, and not on flats or any other times, then it may not be the tranny. Seems like a fuel supply issue.

Also, check for blown fuses.

csmeance

I don't know about the 01 or 02 MDX, but does it have D5, D4, D3, D2, and D1 on the shifter? Do you have manual shift? If yes, keep the car in D4 and then go up the hill. It might be the transmission not engaging properly into 4th gear when downshifting.

Tahoe4wd

I have an '01 and do not have this problem going up hills. It shifts down and hauls up steep hills. I have never had the transmission issue either. I pull my 4000# boat at 5,000feet up steep grades no problem. It shifts down and sometimes no better than 65mph with that boat but that's expected.