On my way to Sacramento yesterday and while in traffic I get a message (vehicle charging sys may not be operating properly message and the battery light is on). Call the dealer's service department and told them what was going on with the car and that I was on the way @4:40, got there @6:15 (traffic) and they had closed up shop . I was not to happy about this but I drop off the car any way and my sales man got me into something else. Has anyone else had any problem yet or seen this before.

 

Sounds like the same crap prior MDXs have gone thru. Expect firmware update.

 

Just got the call, they are going to change an alternator because when they called Acura and gave them the readouts they were below normal.

 

I just got the same issue today. Flame3g, did the dealer actually replace the alternator? How long did it take?

 

I got the same MID light and message yesterday driving home from work. I picked up my MDX last Friday and I already had an appointment at Harper Acura Knoxville for this morning to have my bodyside molding installed. So I told the service advisor when I checked in this morning. He wished I had remembered the error code. The AcuraLink error message had cleared itself.

Here's the results from the work order:

"Performed all DTC check, performed gauge control module diagnostics to check F-Can and B-Can communications lines. No faults present. Tested battery, OK. Called Acura Engineering. Customer to take note if the MID display appears again note if battery indicator "RED" is illuminated. Charged battery in dealer inventory mode as stated by Acura Engineering. Took less than 5 minutes to charge to 100%. Battery is OK at this time. If message reappears note battery indicator and return to dealer for further diagnostics. Vehicle is OK and not showing any problems at this time."

We'll see what happens.

Gerald

 

They changed it out. Had to be ordered so it took a couple of days.

 

I have experienced this problem several times. For me, it always seems to happen when all the accessories are on (nav, music, AC) and my bluetooth linked cell phone rings. The first time I was on the way to see relatives in Florida and got stuck on I75 in traffic. I took the car straight to a dealer in Orlando and they checked it out but found nothing. The last time was yesterday when an amber alert was received. It is very annoying. I have also had the nav system reboot itself several times while underway. I knew I should have waited until this model's second year to buy one.

 

Electrical gremlins in a complicated car are a PITA. My TL had issues with dead battery, after a while we discovered that the rear electric opening switch was faulty, finally curing the problem. Luckily our x has been electrical glitch free.

 

Is this a common problem on the new MDX?

 

How often did you drive your car and for how long were the trips before this incident? If you were not driving the car sufficiently recently and for a long enough trip to recharge the battery, the battery charge could have been low. Then on a trip where you are stuck in traffic idling in Drive, the alternator is not generating enough to handle your high load (NAV, music, A/C, and Bluetooth), and you don't have sufficient battery reserve, you'll see the error message and your NAV may reboot due to insufficient voltage.

I personally feel Honda's charging system is not aggressive enough in providing current to charge the battery or run the system. I've got a volt meter on mine while I drive and frequently the alternator shuts down, allowing the voltage to drop to 12.3v. I went to a dealer twice to get mine checked out and they found no issues. I checked the loaner RLX I got and it behaved the same way. Perhaps Honda is being careful not to overcharge the batteries (which could shorten battery live),, but as a result, the battery isn't really topped off.

On several occasions I've driven 1.5 hours straight, highway miles without much traffic, gotten home, put my Noco charger on it, and it'll charge for 2 hours. It seems like the charging system only charges it up to some percentage below 100%.

 

Same issue. I was told by Acura that a system software update is in the works for this issue and it should be available within a few weeks.

 

This seems like a similar issue I had with our 2010 when it was 1 year old in 2011. Got a number of low battery warnings from a car with an essentially new battery. Was told eventually that a software update was required and the dealer took care of it. It has not given me trouble since.

 

My 2014 MDX has not started on a three occasions leaving me stranded. Battery was low, a jump start got it going on no problem. Dealer checked battery and charging system and gave me an all clear and told me the batteries on the 2014 are small and if the car is not driven enough, will not hold a charge. Was advised to disconnect battery if I plan on leaving the car sit for more than a few days, like when I go on a trip and leave the car at the airport. This advice seems pretty lame, have a hard time believing a luxury SUV would need to have the electrical disconected everytime I go on a weekend trip.

I'm guessing it may be the alternator firmware issue you all are talking about. Any comments?

Thanks.

 

See TSB 14-026 - MID Reads "12 Volt Battery Charging System Problem" in the TSB thread.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-mdx-.../#post15083949