So brought the wife's RLX Sport Hybrid in for the fuel pump recall yesterday. The dealer, doing their normal health checklist on the car, came back with an observation that the TMU (rear twin motor differential) fluid needed to be changed. This confused me, since at just shy of 15k miles I had it replaced at that dealer, and as of today the car has only 21k miles on it. Everything I've read, and my experience with the normal rear diff on a non-hybrid SH-AWD system, says 15k miles, then every 30k after that - with no "time" constraints. My dealer is saying it needs to be changed every 3 years, which I've never heard of for a closed, non-hygroscopic system like the TMU system is.

So - has anyone heard (or read) this time-related recommendation for the rear diff / TMU fluid?

thx - andy

 

I haven't heard of the 3 year time limit on DW-1 for the 7DCT and TMU (lumped them together because of the same fluid). I've done all the M.I.D. scheduled TMU and 7DCT fluid changes by mileage so far. I'm thinking about adding in a 4 year time limit if I don't reach the 30,000 mile interval for either. Not an issue reaching the M.I.D. 7DCT/TMU service notification every few years in our 19 MDX SH since that is our main travel vehicle. The wife is retired since 2023 and the RLX is now low mileage with 85% city driving with 1 or maybe 2 partial refuels a month. I'm right at +4 years since the very first RLX TMU service and might have it done on the next engine oil change this summer if it doesn't pop up on the M.I.D. (+42,000 miles on RLX).

 

sounds like another moneygrab from them...can you ask them to quote where in the owner's manual that dictates this service interval

 

Greetings from your neighbor over in Nashua!

I have heard of changing oil annually if one is not driving enough to hit mileage interval for it. However I have not heard of this recommendation for other fluids like DW1 or Dual Pump.

If I were worried about it, I'd sample the fluid with a fluid pump and see how dirty it is.

 

You would think the 3 year time limit would also apply for the 7DCT since it has an electric motor/generator, dual wet clutches, regen braking, power from the 3.0L, and physical gears the DW-1 to lubricate?

 

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm not worried about the health of the TMU fluid given the way the RLX is driven, and parked nightly in a heated garage. Aside from my reaction that probably was abrasive to the service advisor, I didn't push back on asking for the proof of the 3 year figure. What got under my skin is that their comment was "We don't have a record that we've ever done a TMU fluid replacement on your car", and when I brought them the receipt showing THEY did it less than 3 years ago (and 6 k miles), they then flipped to the 3 year value. Now I've done business with this dealer since 1990 for lots of cars, and largely the service folk know me by name. But this is the second time I've had them tell me that "we don't have record of doing xxxx" on your car when I have the records to prove that I did. I need to take a deep breath and see how this relationship goes into the future....

thanks for listening :-)
andy

 

I keep a back-up of all my services with the dealership, local shops, or DYI on a smartphone app called Road Trip. I sometimes double-check smartphone app dealership entries against the Acura Owners web site. My dealership seems to keep web entries up-to-date. The dealership sometimes leave out some of the details of the shop visits on the Acura Owner's site.

 

Interestingly, this dealer also keeps the Acura Owner's site up to date on the service records. I could easily find the TMU change in the RLX's history on that site. Funny how the service advisor couldn't.......

 

Not sure if he's willfully ignorant or just bad at his job or both.. .

 

I'm in the other camp. This would be your second TMU change since you've owned the car? It's not a bad recommendation, not a money grab. They just trying to take care of you and got caught making a mistake. Change at 30,000 is what I'd do.

I have not heard about the fuel pump recall, but I did some online homework and it does not apply to my 2016 RLX-SH. Glad us guys are all looking out for all of us... keep the information flowing.