beekermartin

I recently purchased a 2007 Acura MDX Sport with a 104k. I did every possible service that was required and the truck is running great. I don't drive it often since it is my wife's car. When I do drive it the memory seats don't always work. It will start to move but then stop. I'll hit the button again and it will start/stop again. That might happen 10 times. Other times it works perfectly.

I have already replaced the driver's door wiring harness because the back windows wouldn't work sometimes. I am assuming the issue now is related to the outside mirrors. I found a TSB that says to replace the mirror actuators. Both of the outside mirror are starting to peel slightly around the edges so I was planning on replacing them. Should I replace both actuators when I replace the mirrors? Is this the most common reason for the memory seats not working properly besides the driver's door wiring harness?

RDX10

I would say that is the number one reason actually. Since the actuators get caught it wrecks the whole memory process, it's kind of odd if you ask me that it would stop all other memory functions like it does.

beekermartin

Thanks for the response. I am going to test the mirrors tomorrow and see if one of them clicks or operates oddly. I'll assume it will be the passenger one since most people leave the mirror set to the right so it looks down in reverse. If I move the mirrors a few times it should "loosen" them up. If I do that and the memory seats work properly then I will know the mirrors are the problem. Does that make sense.

beekermartin

Thanks for the response. I am going to test the mirrors tomorrow and see if one of them clicks or operates oddly. I'll assume it will be the passenger one since most people leave the mirror set to the right so it looks down in reverse. If I move the mirrors a few times it should "loosen" them up. If I do that and the memory seats work properly then I will know the mirrors are the problem. Does that make sense.d

RDX10

It makes sense. But the only issue is that most of the time moving the mirrors back and forth many times when it's clicking like that does absolutely nothing. Rarely does it loosen whatever is getting in the way.

I'm not sure what causes it to get wrecked though. Is is dust getting into the motor? Any way to open it and grease it?

beekermartin

I know it may not "loosen" the mirror motor but for some reason after I move the mirrors a few times the memory seats seem to work. I assume when the mirrors haven't been moved in a few days (I don't have it set to aim down in reverse) that is why the memory seats stop working. After the mirrors have been "loosened/freed up" they work properly for a few minutes. I am going to test it more tomorrow.

Edit: I just went out and tried it. Sure enough, when I first hit the memory 1, it was set to memory 2, it moved for a second or so and stopped. I then started it up and moved both outside mirrors up/down and left/right a few times. I could hear the passenger side mirror clicking as I expected it would. After "loosening" the mirrors I hit memory 1 again and it moved to the correct position properly. I then hit memory 2 and it moved to that position properly.

It appears the passenger mirror actuator is the reason the memory seats aren't working intermittently. I will order the passenger side actuator and the actual mirror. Once I've installed both I will post my results. The drivers mirror is working well with no clicking so I will hold off on that side for now.

RDX10

I'm glad you seem like you caught the culprit. How much do those actuators cost just out of curiosity? Also is there no way to grease them?

beekermartin

https://www.acurapartsforless.com/oe...dXRvbWF0aWM%3D
Not too expensive. It cost about the same amount for the glass part as well.

RDX10

That right there is my favorite part of Acura as a brand. Very little gouging for parts. Other than the magneto-shocks of course.

beekermartin

I have been working for Honda in sales for over 20 years. The first time I bought an MDX at the auction that had those shocks and they were bad my service department quoted me $4000 to replace all four! I learned my lesson quickly! The MDX I bought was traded in to us and all the shocks had already been replaced. If it would have needed the magnetic shocks I wouldn't have bought it. That doesn't mean it won't need them again in the future. It probably will. I live in RI and the roads are horrible. So I imagine I will be dealing with replacing one or several of them eventually. For now they are all working 100% and my fingers are crossed it stays that way!

RDX10

It really bothers me that those shocks can fail at any given time without warning. Thankfully unlike air suspension, if these shocks happen to fail on a road trip they won't leave you stranded, just annoyed. My current vehicle thankfully has no fancy shocks other than being dual flow, but nothing like electronic dampening or any of that. There is something to be said for a vehicle that just doesn't scare you lol.

beekermartin

I agree. The magnetic shock idea sounds excellent in principle but in the real world they fail more often than traditional shocks.

RDX10

Also in terms of the ride, I felt no difference between confrot and sport modes other than WAY less floaty in sport and firmer steering. Nothing else. So it wasn't worth it to me at all.

SQLnovice

Since OP got his problem resolved, I figured I'll post my problem here and see if I can get some help. If I'm thread jacking, please let me know and I'll start a new thread.

My wife's 2012 MDX driver's seat will not move forward or backward. It moves up and down. It's out of warranty and I took it to my mechanic. He said that's something I should take to the dealer but decided to give it a shot. He swapped out the up/down/forward/backward switch and that did not work. He then swapped out the relay for the driver's seat and that did not fix it either.

After reading on here tonight, I'm thinking about swapping out the mirror actuator to see.

Do you guys have any suggestion on how I should troubleshoot this problem?

beekermartin

The memory seat function issue that is related to the mirror actuator would not be causing your issue. It sounds to me like the motor that controls the functions that aren't working is most likely your issue. I could be wrong but that is most likely the cause. Or the seat track is broken and the motors can't move the seat because of that.

SQLnovice

Thanks, I will look into this first, before I do anything else. Worst case scenario, I would have to take it to the dealer and pay a $120 for them to diagnose the problem. But that will not be for a month or two.