Other engine problem on the 2001 Acura MDX
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Acura MDX report other engine problem at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 65,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 165,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 98,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65,000 miles | 78,000 miles | 90,000 miles | 112,500 miles | 163,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 24 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2016 carries the most reports, with 85; the 2001 has 15. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*-the contact stated that while driving the 2001 acura mdx,on a clear dry day at 50 MPH the vehicle made a jerking motion and felt as if the vehicle went into park. The vehicle skidded on the road, it shifted into gear , and the rpms were high. The vehicle didn't lose power, but did lose acceleration. He was able to put the foot on the accelerator and proceed, but the vehicle would only go about 30-35 MPH. The contact took the vehicle to the dealership, and they informed him that the transmission was ruined and needed to be replaced. The contact stated that this vehicle had 125,000 miles, and the replacement of the transmission totaled $4,100, the dealership replaced the transmission. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealership due to a noise from the engine. The dealership informed him that the engine mount sheared. The contact stated that this was going to cost him another $500.00. There was recall o4v176000 concerning the powertrain: automatic transmission, but this vehicle was not includede in the recall. The current mileage was 126,000.*ak
Engine mounts failed. Car has 71,000 miles, and the engine mounts failed. This has been a serious problem well documented across the internet by hundreds if not thousands of 01 mdx owners. I believe it to be a design flaw. *tr
Motor mounts going bad and breaking in mdx acura 01-current. Replacing between 40k-80k. Intake system clogged (airport) gives bad gas mileage and to unclogg runs $200 at dealership. Makes vibration and noise as if you are going over a speed bump heading towards a toll booth. *tr
Also reported on the 2001 Acura MDX
Other powertrain problem
Complete transmission failure
Torque converter failure
Other body or interior problem
Strut, shock or spring failure
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2001 Acura MDX?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2001 Acura MDX?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed