Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2016 Acura MDX
Only 7 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
There are 9 reports of control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2016 Acura MDX, 7 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 17th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 44,108 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 $700–$3,000 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 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2016, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2022 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2016 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
9 speed transmission lurches forward when trying to stop - sending the car forward while trying to brake. Happens when the car should shift between gears 3-2 and 1-2/2-1. Acura dealership said it's the fuel saver once, normal the second time, and updated the tcm/PCM another. There is no one addressing this when it could send my car into another car when trying to stop. The last time I drove it on sunday 7/15 I was slowing down to turn into a shopping center, going around 20mph when the car jerked forward, snapping my neck forward 12"-14" then back again. The car is at the dealership now with the service adviser saying the lurching is the fuel saver and that acura won't pay for a warrantied item unless the service light/codes are there.
9 speed transmission lurches forward when trying to stop - sending the car forward while trying to brake. Happens when the car should shift between gears 3-2 and 1-2/2-1. Acura dealership said it's the fuel saver once, normal the second time, and updated the tcm/PCM another. There is no one addressing this when it could send my car into another car when trying to stop. The last time I drove it on sunday 7/15 I was slowing down to turn into a shopping center, going around 20mph when the car jerked forward, snapping my neck forward 12"-14" then back again. The car is at the dealership now with the service adviser saying the lurching is the fuel saver and that acura won't pay for a warrantied item unless the service light/codes are there.
When driving around 75 MPH on the interstate I went to switch lanes and when pressing the accelerator nothing happened and acceleration was not possible. All warning lights came on, including all wheel drive system problem, emission system problem, all wheel drive system problem, transmission system problem. Check engine and sh-AWD. The power steering and brakes still worked and was extremely lucky to get the car to the shoulder without getting injured or killed. Had car towed to chattanooga acura dealer. Car was operating normally when they received it. Acura tech support advised dealer to replace transmission and transmission control module (tcm). Also was told acura is working on a software update for the tcm but it is not available yet but I have little confidence in the fix and little confidence that this won't reoccur. Strongly considering replacing the car
Also reported on the 2016 Acura MDX
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other fuel system problem
Lane keep or steering assist fault
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 9 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 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 control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2016 Acura MDX?
Across 7 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2016 Acura MDX?
9 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