ductman

Anybody experiencing with their 2010, a slight metallic pinging sound when accelerating at partial throttle but not under wot, I have been using Shell 93 and have also tried Exxon 93, but their is no change, seems to be more pronounced in between the shifting of the gears as the revs drop and build between shifts, but at full throttle the engine sounds great. Is this a " normal " Acura / Honda engine trait, I have been using full synthetic oil and I have no consumption issues.

xtralight

My 2007 TL-S did that and it was pulling timing which was confirmed by the tech with his laptop. Acura Canada said that it was "normal". I did the same test in a 2006 Honda Accord Coupe with the V6 3.5L. So it seems that Acura-Honda engines have a detonation problem but is within normal limit with them.

db22

The pinging should go away with the volume set to about 11 or 12!
BTW - I have never heard pinging in my 2010.

ductman

Since the weather is slightly cooler 80's verse 90's , the pinging sound is gone, only seems to happen with hot humid weather .

LDX

Thought I responded but must have got the threads mixed up.
I have exactly the same sound. Metallic sound most of the time with some very light engine knock sounds right around 25 mph under light acceleration. Seems to be much more muted recently but maybe I'm just getting used to it. Tried different tanks of premium gas with no change.

ductman

Same here, tried multiple tanks of Shell 93, Exxon, Mobil
I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow, I am sure that I will here the " can not be duplicated at this time " Today was a hot and humid day in the 90"s, sound is back but under wot above 4500 it just goes away, I am aasuming if it was a true spark knock that it would get worse as the rpm's climbed.

LDX

Please report back what you find out. I found the knocking sound to be quieter than I thought. When I tried to duplicate it with the mechanic in the car the surrounding cars drowned out the knock. Will have to try it again another day. Seems to be a relatively common problem. Hope Acura issues a TSB soon.

ductman

Just an update, head mechanic drove the vehicle, no sounds out of the ordinary, claims normal trait for Honda/Acura engines to have a slight spark knock at times, strange thing is that I used Castrol Synthetic for this oil change verse the Valvoline Syn Power and the engine does seem noticeably quieter ???

ductman

Took the vehicle to a second dealer, tech found that the half piece heat shields on the right side had to be repositioned and tightened according to Acura, looks like this solved the problem, glad it wasn't an engine pinging issue.

AlCan

Anyone else has this issue on their 2010 MDX?

I have a 2010 ZDX (same engine and tranny as MDX) and I am having this metallic ringing noise when accelerating from 3rd to 4th gear, and from 4th to 5th. The noise is louder when climbing a hill.

The tech at the dealership checked the heat shield and intermediate shaft and they seem to be tight.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Gentlemen, this is your problem right here.

my 2006 Tl does it.

with a knock monitor, some have noticed it going away with higher octane than 93.
I think a mixture of 93 and 100 to make 96 solved the problem.

Always use the highest octane available for your Honda/Acura engines.

AlCan

I have been using 94 Octane for 3 tanks of gas now. No avail... it still pings or rings.

I spoke with Acura Client Services, and they told me to use 91 instead (no need to use 94 as it's a waste of money, they said) when I bring my ZDX in next week to the dealership for more tests. Acura will pay for the 2 day car rental while my beloved ZDX is in the shop for more diagnostics.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

rentals are free. if they fed you that line......"we'll pay" best believe they'll feed you another.

tnobori1

Technically they are paying for it. Depreciation on loaner vehicles is a dealer expense and is not sponsored by Acura. Besides, if the dealer is out of their own loaner vehicles, they will often rent a car for you to drive (though its usually domestic ).

In either case, I don't agree with running higher than 93 octane. In CA we don't even have 93 and neither of our Acuras have pinging issues.

AlCan

Here's what the field engineer and the dealership did: 1) test drove the car under various load conditions; 2) put octane booster; 3) checked knock sensor; 4) inspected spark plugs.

The also checked the exhaust and everything seems tight.

According to them they found nothing wrong with the car. And the car still pings and makes the ringing noise.

Anybody has any ideas? I'm thinking there's got to be something loose.

AlCan

Future 2011 MDX buyers: beware of this pinging (ringing) problem before you buy this car.

Test drive the exact car you would be bringing home as Acura does NOT have a fix for this problem at this time. :angryfire

The symptoms are: when you accelerate moderately around 2000 rpm in 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th gear, an audible ringing (or pinging) noise emanates from the engine or underneath the car. On hard acceleration, even in 2nd gear you can hear this noise. This affects 2010 and 2011 MDX and ZDX as they have the new 6 speed transmission.

I test drove 2 ZDX demo models and they do NOT have this issue, so clearly it does not affect everyone. However, if you end up with one like mine, it means if you turn off the audio system, you can hear it pretty much most of the time.

For upper end models in the Acura lineup to have this issue is not acceptable. Any owners out there having this issue, please chime in so we can let Acura know this is a widespread problem and they cannot just sweep this under the rug.

mdxdn

Add me to the list. 2011 mdx.The hardest part about this situation is having someone at the dealer tell you its normal. I'm hearing back from my dealer soon about this issue. If they tell me its normal. Guaranteed the last time I will ever buy another Honda/Acura product. $60,000 dollar vehicle sounding like it has a diesel engine. How absurd.

AlCan

I would like to know if anyone has fixed this problem.

If you can state: what are the symptoms, what the dealership did to fix it, is the sound gone or merely lessened after the fix.

Thanks!

db22

I drove the 10 MDX this morning to see if I could duplicate the pinging and I heard nothing.

AlCan

The ringing noise seems to be more persistent this morning. I could hear it consistently at 70km/h on a straight road.

I'm beginning to suspect it might not be the engine. Could be the torque converter in the 6 speed transmission that someone else suggested.

RACINGHART03

iTrader: (2)

I have heard this complaint so many times. It is NOT uncommon for the ECM to advance timing as far as possible until the knock sensor sees knock and THEN pull some timing to achieve optimum combustion. In order for the knock sensor to see knock, there needs to BE knock. There is nothing wrong with the vehicles. Dealers need to explain this CORRECTLY as to eliminate the confusion. If there is a problem, the engineers will fix it. And yes, I am another person from the dealer telling you its normal.

tsxuser

I have a 09 TSX I4. I also experience same pinging issue, most around 2000RPM with light accelerating. I use 93 all the time. Recently, I switch to Exxon 93, but it woun't hep. It seems ping more ogten than 7-11 brand. The pinging will be gone when you revv to bypass 2000rpm. It bothers me a lot. I took it to dealer once to replace knock sensor and update sofware, but It just won't help at all. I don't want to revv my car everytime to avoid the problem, especially gas price is high now. Is this really the traits of Honda's engine?

EL_PIC

I have '11 MDX Advance w 1700 miles but have not yet heard such pinging or knocking and use mix of 93 prem / 89 plus (Shell mostly}.
Perhaps it is related to Ethanol and winter/summer gas blends.
Ethanol in theory is high octane {alcohol = 110 when pure} but in practice it attracks H2O from ground and air.
It therefore lowers octane and causes other problems.
Ethanol also has less explosive engery force of gas regardless of how
much H2O / Octane and of course it causes corrosion of engine due to H2O. GM's E85 cars ??? LMAO !!
Brazil which runs sugar cane E20 - E25 and has reported similar.

I will listen more and you all might try the Fat's Domino song in your CD at 14 + volume ... I hear you knocking ...

fxcarden

3,000 miles on the 2011 MDX and 1,000 on the TSX, and no pinging on either. Using 91 octane gas.

benben01

2011 MDX/Tech with 3,000 miles on the clock. Noticed pinging ~1,000 mile mark. Pinging is getting more and more prominent. My 2011 TSX/Tech 6pd seems ok. I noticed a slight ping at low rpms but it quickly corrected itself. This only happens on hot and humid days with the A/C cranking.

islandfamily

I've experienced the same issues as mentioned in this thread, and the dealership is telling me I'm the only one who has ever reported this problem. We live on an island outside Seattle, and drive up and down some big hills. The pinging is the worst going up hills, and unfortunately, our driveway is a big hill so it happens at least a couple times a day. The service department is "nice" but they think we are just making things up. If this is normal, then we should get a better explanation of why. We had a 2008 MDX, and never had this issue.

Gen4MDX

No issues here, June built 2011.

AlCan

Well just to update this forum (and I've been away for 5 months now) that I traded in my ZDX in March for a BMW 328i. From the bottom of the dealership to the top at Acura HQ, no one could give me a straight answer as to when they would fix this issue. I miss the looks of the ZDX but not the consistent and persistent pinging/ringing noise.

I think my mistake was to buy a first year model, but given how Acura has treated me, I really doubt I would be buying another Acura anytime soon.

So now I'm enjoying my 328i. Not only does it drive really good, but also no ringing noise... even while going up the hill. The engine sounds good, even for a non-turbo. There's definitely a purr in the engine.

brent2056

Just did 1st A1 service on my girl friend's 2011 MDX/tech at 7500 miles.... = oil change and rotate tires... and now it is pinging. I cannot see how changing oil and rotating tires can cause pinging. I personally did the oil change and rotate myself so I know nothing else was done. Mobil1 5w-20 and M1-110 filter. I drove car around all day before I did the service and no pinging. The car has 91 octane fuel and no fuel was added before or after the service. The pinging is slight on accelleration similar to other posts. As part of the service, I reset the oil life % on the multifunction display. Is it possible that resetting the oil life causes the engine computer to adjust engine timing or something? That is the only thing that makes any sense. I tried removing negative battery cable to reset electronics but still pinging.

mdxpingingnomore

Since new, our 2010 MDX has had a constant pinging under part-throttle acceleration. We always fill it on premium gas and have spent a couple of frustrating years with our local dealers being told that we are putting in regular gas, or that the noise is normal.

A couple of weeks ago I took the MDX to a local independent Honda/Acura service shop. They were easily able to reproduce the pinging noise. I suggested that they check for software updates to the fuel injection computer. Sure enough there was updated software available and after this update was applied the engine pinging completely stopped.

A bonus is that we're also now getting 5-10% better gas mileage.

Don't let your dealer tell you that pinging is normal - no modern car should ever ping. Make them update all the car's software and hopefully your problem will go away as ours did.

It's unbelievable to me that Acura won't acknowledge and resolve this problem. I've had Honda/Acura products for 26 years (4 motorcycles, 6 cars) and none of them every had issues except for the 2010 MDX - the newest and most advanced of everything I've owned.

Vividsi

that sounds very disappointing considering that the Acura techs are supposed to be the best and they cannot even check for a software update. I guess they think its easier to just call the customer a liar than check the car for problems.

fxcarden

To be honest, I am not impressed with Acura techs that have worked on my cars. Could be a local thing at this particular dealer, but when a guy tells you you need to replace the air filter 3 days after you replaced it yourself, you need to wonder what the hell is going on back there at the shop. I have had my oil overfilled, my tires not rotated after I was charged for it (knew because of scratched rim still being on the same wheel), etc.

dzionny_dzionassi

That's why i do all maintenance in my garage, i just dont trust these people. they got bad attitude, treat me like i am idiot. If it is not warranty issue, you will not see my ass in stealership.

Cleansweep

And here I am, yet another dissatisfied customer. I have owned Accords and Civics before this and I was obviously satisfied when deciding to move up to the Acura brand. Since then the car has run semi well, but for the price, not to the standards would would expect.

I have knock/ping and whatever variation you want to call it. To be told its "normal" is a farce. If this is a regular occurrence, why does it not appear in all models? Better yet, why is it not consistent in all TL's?

A little light reading - http://repairpal.com/what-is-engine-pinging

I will be taking my car in once again early next week to have this addressed as the car is getting more and more sluggish, not to mention noisier. Strange that this would be the case for a "normal" occurrence.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^what type of fuel are you using?

Despite their Honda counterparts, I suspect the timing and ecu is turned all the way up on Acura's to get that performance and fuel economy.

it needs 91 octane or better.

also, software updates can fix this as noted by other MDX'ers