dominik331

My first rear diff fluid change was done at around 11K miles, 18K miles later I have not gotten a minder for it again. I did get one for transmission and transfer case at 27K miles which I did. So I am interested to know how often others change it. If I don't get a code at my next minder I am thinking of changing it anyways.

billman730

On my forth X and one thing I noticed is all my dealers 3 different of 4 cars, politely try to persuade early repetitive maintenance. Even oil where it is above 45% type stuff.

007Acura

first 15k miles then every 30k there after

mattpete

iTrader: (4)

searching for a DIY on this one....

nicky_r

I just purchased a 2011 MDX from Carmax about 3 weeks ago and today the service engine light came on saying service soon B16. What the heck?

NJ06RL

for the 2011 MDX a B16 service is not anything to worry about. It is regular scheduled maintenance. Are you concerned that the reminder came on 3 weeks after you bought ? The first reminder does not mean you have to go for service. You might be able to put another 300-500 miles or so on it before it is actually time to perform the service.

keep calm and carry on

3.2cls6speedmt

I purchased a 2013 acura mdx tech last year with 11,000 miles. It is a cpo. The only maintenance that was completed by previous owner was oil change based on the information gathered on the car fax. The selling dealer did complete brake flush prior to purchasing since I told them the car was put into use dec 2012 and it was close to three years. The mdx now has 19,500 miles. We clunk sound from the rear suspension. We recently had a oil change and tires rotated at Acura Dealer. I told the service advisor to check the rear noise but they forgot. The maintenance minder has not indicated we need to change the differential fluids yet. My other car is a cls so I am not use to following a maintenance minder. Is the maintenance minder pretty reliable?

Skirmich

My MID always tell me to change Engine Oil too fast... so far (2 oil changes) the MID throw the first at 4600miles and the second did not even reach 4000 miles so I would keep the MID as a back up reminder not your main reference.
I think your CL-S has the Oil Reminder that uses Mileage like my TL-S blinks at 6500 and lights On at 7500miles, The MDX uses a variable reminder that checks for RPMs, Temperature, Driving Habits but still uses Dino Oil as reference so it kills Engine Oil Life too fast to be reliable, specially if you use Synthetic ala Mobil 1 EP.

Services on the other Hand do use Mileage only like Diff oil change, Transfer and Timing Belt..
Diff Oil will pop off at 15,000 miles then every 15K.

mrgold35

All three of my Acura's have maint reminders (+130,000 miles on TSX/RDX, +80,000 on MDX) and the M.I.D. seems to work for me. The M.I.D. doesn't include brake flush, alignment checks, or power steering flush. I'm usually around 5k for the TSX/RDX and 7500k for my MDX between my A/B services with my driving habits. The services I do early are the 6AT/transfer case flush around every 30,000 miles, engine air filter, and cabin filter. The Acura tech can reset the individual 1-6 codes if you do a service early before it shows on the M.I.D.

Do you have the Adv model or base/tech? I would make sure to take the MDX back to double-check the clunking noise in the rear before the 4/50,000 basic runs out. It could be anything from a rear shock, endlink, rear stabilizer bar, or another suspension piece like a control arm. Just make a note to let the tech know if you hear the sound only during turns hard, bumps, at low speeds, or all the time.

3.2cls6speedmt

I have read your comments on both forums. Thank you for all the information you post. I have the tech version. I usually get the oil changes before the minder comes on. The clunking is at low speeds over bumps. I was scratching my head the differential minder has not come on yet at 19,500 miles. I have a case of the differential fluid and atf. We purchased the mdx from one of the costco dealer programs. 50 percent off coupon any parts or accessories. We flew down and picked it up and drove it back. The dealer didn't have any accessories so used the coupon on fluids.

3.2cls6speedmt

I got the differential changed out this morning. I paid thirty dollars to my indy mechanic. He used about 2.5 quarts.

Skirmich

^ He did use AWD DPSF right?

Artbuc

Mine takes a full 3 qts. He either did not drain it completely or did not fill it completely.

Skirmich

^ You overfill it.. Owners Manual says 2.6q and that is what mine filled at.

Artbuc

You can't overfill it. You need to add until it overflows, temporarily install fill plug, drive in/out driveway a few times to distribute fluid and then top-off.

Skirmich

You can overkill it if the car is not level... Manual says 2.6q you added 3q = you overfilled it...
I still got the left over in my garage since I only bought 3q.

Artbuc

Owner Manual capacities do not always exactly match what takes place in the real world. The amount of motor oil I need to refill my X can vary by almost a quart depending on how long I have it jacked up and how high it is jacked. This is true for my other vehicles as well. How can the diff be overfilled if fluid does not drip out when you remove the fill plug?

3.2cls6speedmt

I have a case of it. I provided it to the indy mechanic.

Skirmich

You basically responded yourself.
Now about the real world scenario.. 2 of us made almost the same fill of about 2.5q, Manuals says 2.6q.. You added 3q so whos the odds one?.
And I know why you mean.. This happens too with Transmission oil, Acura says 3.1q but the MDX fills with about 4. That is alright and all but SH-AWD diff is not a transmission, there aren´t many places where almost half a quart can go... My diff started to pour at 2.5-2.7q I cant be sure because the Quart marks are just too separated from each other to give an exact number, BUT by no the diff has more space to fill the remaining in the quart... Also counting the amount of oil still in the hand pump.. I will gladly take a picture of what remains in the quart but Like I said, Diff isn't that big.

digilla

I always perform services when the MID displays the corresponding code. So far, the MID has displayed code 6 (differential fluid change) at the following mileages:

38,500
53,900
91,000

Recently, the MID prompted me for an A1 service at 135,000 miles, but still no prompt for code 6, so it has now been 44,000 since it last prompted me to change the differential fluid. This seems excessive and has me concerned.

Several months ago, I brought my car into the dealer to have a tire patched, and while patching the tire, they reset the MID. I have no idea why they did this, and I complained, because I was at 20 % oil life. If I had not noticed, I could have gone almost twice the mileage between oil changes. It also made me wonder if any of the other MID counters had been affected. Does anyone know if the MID counters can be reset for code 6 before the vehicle is displaying the code? Obviously, codes A and B can be reset prematurely, but can the 1 - 6 codes be reset prematurely?

Skirmich

No, MID reset only resets Oil Change Reminder.

AcuraAddicted

What year is your MDX? On my 2008 I reset everything myself, including sub items.

digilla

Mine is a 2012. I let the dealership do all the maintenance (except for air/cabin filters). But, I don't let them do anything until it pops up on the MID. That's why I am concerned that their MID reset might have reset more than just the Oil Life. Based on a video that I just watched which was posted by another responder, it appears that a MID reset will clear all codes that are currently being recommended by the MID. Of course, the MID only displays the codes once the Oil Life reaches about 15%, so any other pending codes are hidden until that time. It appears that those "hidden" codes get cleared as well when a MID reset is performed. So, likely, my MDX was due for a differential fluid change, and I missed it, because the MID was cleared prematurely.

Skirmich

No, Any pending sub items that haven´t been triggered wont get Reset by a Oil Change Reminder only Reset.
If for example you had 1000 miles pending for the Diff oil change, Manually resetting the Oil Change Reminder for a simple oil change wont reset that back to 0 UNTIL it pops on in the MID.
Once the Diff oil change pops in the MID then it can be reset with the Oil Change Reminder but it will wait until the Oil % reaches 15 to tell you about that Item. It wont alarm you after those 1000 miles because the engine oil is not due to be changed so almost always the sub items are over due.. This is why you see a lot of folks waiting for the 105K service to pop off and nobody will hit the same mileage when it finally asks for it.

For peace of mind better start to track your OWN records, Do not wait for the MID... The MID is at best a convenience feature and not a rule of thumb.

mrgold35

The Acura tech can reset the individual 1-6 codes if you do maint before it pops up on the M.I.D. Example is I like to do 1X1 ATF exchange (and transfer case for sh-awd) every 30K and have them reset the ATF service code when is wasn't due with the current engine oil change. Unfortunately, some techs forget to do this and having a back-up record to keep things documents really comes in handy.