TSB fixes fuel door gap
 

I don't know how to respond to this. I did have a situation this winter where water had gotten into the first flap area and had ice in the filler drain area, but wasn't bad enough to prevent me from filling the tank. At the time I sort of chalked it up to the design, but when I stumbled across the TSB (when the navigation one showed up) I mentioned it to the dealer and they performed the TSB without question. I do believe that much of this lies with the specific dealer, and in many cases the relationship each of us have with them.. In my case I've been buying/leasing Acuras from the same dealer since 1990, and we have a long-standing relationship of working to isolate/resolve oddball issues and do ongoing maintenance - sort of a partnership if you will. There are many TSB's that are there that cover areas I've not had issues with, and I don't press those issues. But when I have experienced a problem in a TSB area, this dealer has been more than reasonable in working with me to get the problem resolved.

andy

Maybe. But if that's truly the issue, then I think it's bullshit for Acura or any dealer to hide behind it. Over the last 10 years I've purchased 3 Honda car/SUVs, 1 Acura SUV, and 3 Honda motorcycles. All except my Acura were purchased on the West coast, where I did have good relationships with the dealers. The last three times I even financed with AHFC/AFS. I relocated to the East coast, so I don't have the luxury of leveraging "history" with a dealer... But I did buy my MDX locally. Dealer still wouldn't do the TSB. But even if I hadn't bought the MDX from them I think it's offensive to be refused the repair. The dealer gets paid by Acura to do the work, so it's not like they lose money. And dealers should be trying to earn the NEXT sale -- not punishing me because I moved my family across the country.

Final thought - given you're down in the NC area it might be that the frequency of seeing a filler-neck freeze up is either non-existent, or in the belief that it couldn't happen that far south (speculation on my part). I'm in NH, and it's far more frequent that ice/freezing issues cause problems. I haven't seen any unwritten details, but maybe this TSB is regionally-limited? Hard to tell.....

Yes, that may be why the dealers resisted, initially. I do think the dealers should have performed the repair, anyway, after I pushed them. Acura Client Relations should have absolutely instructed the dealer to perform the repair, imo. NC had two uncharacteristically bad freezes, this year (so I'm told -- it was my first winter here, and it wasn't any worse to me than any Oregon winter). My wife did experience some freeze-related issues with her Infiniti while she was parked outside. Thankfully I have the luxury of using a garage both day and night... But we do take road trips up north, exploring our new side of the country. We also plan to go back to Oregon, at some point, and OR, ID, WY, CO, NE, etc are along the way and they get plenty cold.

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread.

No worries - welcome to the east coast! The Northeast is a pretty crazy region in the winter - and in the central area of NH it can become frozen-tundra like - and things freeze up that you'd never think would be an issue. I just took the studded snow tires off my son's ILX this weekend since he travels further north - and even in late April - you just never know.....

andy

I have a one-week old, 2018 MDX Sport Hybrid, and it has the fix (the hood over the filler opening) described in the TSB. But in my car the door is still misaligned, so I think the OP is lucky on that score. The latch looks unadjustable to me.

I think that in general the filler door sticks out further in the MDX than it does with the wife's TL or my RDX did - but the specs do say that it it supposed to stick out about 1mm from the body panel at the rear of the door. In my case it's now about that distance, but before it stuck out a lot more. I guess "misalignment" is a relative term.....

Mine's one or two mm, and it doesn't really bother me, though I notice it. The rest of the car, interior and exterior, is really quite well put together. I came from a 2016 Subaru Outback, which is another story altogether, except for the drive train, which is excellent (an H-6 and very good CVT, which I normally don't like) .

I had the TSB installed Wednesday. I see no change in the fit of the filler door.
Regards, Jim

I don't think the TSB has anything to do with the fit of the door--it's aimed at keeping water from gathering in the filler neck. I found a very easy solution for the door fix, and posted it here: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-mdx-...l-door-971743/

Yeah, BUT my 2017 MDX doesn't have a "bolt" sticking out. It has a square post that fits in the square hole in the filler door bracket. And the fit is snug, so there isn't room for any "cap" fitting over the post. Maybe a gob of epoxy on the end of the square post would work.
Regards, Jim

They're all square posts that fit into the square hole on the door bracket, including mine. The cap will work, but you may have to try a few different ones. None are too big to fit in the square hole, but some are too tight on the square post and some are too loose. Select one that's snug.

I should have said it in the previous post, but if the door is high, you can push on it and make it flush. If the square bolt was really too big, you wouldn't have that play. The rubber cap takes up the play.

Sorry, no way ANY cap will fit in the square hole in MY door bracket. The only thing that would fit would be a square cap about 1/32 inch thick.
Maybe I will try one of those little rubber "feet" that are used to keep stuff from sliding on table tops.

Regards, Jim

You must have a smaller square hole than I have.

Wow, his must be a virgin, lol.

See TSB 18-073 - Fuel Fill Door Rear Edge Does Not Line Up in the 2017-2019 TSB threads.

I'm not understanding how this (TSB 18-073) is going to fix anything. The "failed" part number and the new part number are the same. Has something changed with it dimensions-wise? If not, I fail to see how just removing and reinstalling the existing one using the TSB directions wouldn't be the same thing as installing a new one.

Has anyone had this done and has it worked? I'm still not understanding how this (TSB 18-073) is going to fix anything. The "failed" part number and the new part number are the same. Has something changed with it dimensions-wise? If not, I fail to see how just removing and reinstalling the existing one using the TSB directions wouldn't be the same thing as installing a new one.

dealer did mine about three weeks ago. Yes, it makes a huge difference. Before I could push on the door and it would move in a bit to line up. Now its lined up and snug.

Interesting, I have a 19 advance and the inside of the filler door looks exactly as pictured above with the cover / flap that covers the top of the capless filler port, forcing water to drain around it. Based on OP's comment it would appear this is relatively new. Does anyone with an 18 or earlier have this same cover inside the door from the factory? Just curious when Acura started including it from the factory....

My '17 from the factory (built in July 2017) came with a door that didn't have that protective flap. The TSB was addressing situations where water got into the top of the capless filler and froze, preventing the flaps from opening. The TSB replaced the capless top of the filler tube, the inner liner of the filler door with the new "cover", and the decals that went on that inner liner. That's when the change in parts happened and, in my case, helped snug the filler door closer to the body...

andy

You must be looking at a different TSB than the one were discussing here. TSB 18-073 discusses the misalignment of the fuel door. This one we have been discussing has specific instructions on how to measure the latched body to door gap. If its out of specs there is a part number and exact instructions on how to replace it. As I remember the measurement is 1mm or less. Mine measured about 1.5mm, so it got fixed for free. Took the guy about 20 minutes once they had the part.