Great video, that's a lot of work for sure. I see a lot of people with the high oil consumption issue on here and would like to suggest anytime/everytime any engine has high oil consumption, the oil gets dark quick, oil leaks and/or poor engine performance replace the PCV Valve. Blow air or clean any small tubes or orifices out in this circuit to make sure they're operating properly. As the engine gets more miles it's even more important to make sure this system is working 100%. I think Hondas' system is a little on the weak side of good function and why some have the problem and some don't. If you pull the valve covers on a J Series you'll notice a lot more varnish build up in one bank than the other. Someone below mentioned they had the rering job done and the problem reoccured, it was almost certianly a PCV Valve issue. I have 287K+ miles on a 2010 MDX Advance and I'm looking at adding a valve to the front bank. With this many miles blowby will be worse and I need to get ahead of it. Good Luck.
I prefer the J30’s on 7th Gen Accord V6 models and J32’s On Acura TL’s 04 to 08 one of the Best J Series V6 models made. The J35Z in the 13 to 18 Acura RDX models is solid engine. Sadly the J37 had many problems.
I have the same problem of burning oil and detonation everywhere and have a burnt valve on cylinder 3 on exhaust valve. The dealer said I need a new engine where I knew is going to be a junk yard engine. They asking for 10k so I say NO! I do it my self and I drove it home and pull off the cylinder head and replace one $10 exhaust valve, put everything back on and my MDX is driving just normal. Do it your self. 👍
Awesome video. My fathers 2011 MDX started misfiring on cylinder 6 and a shop told us that it was a bent valve. The car has been sitting in the garage for roughly the past year and I hope to rebuild or replace it during the summer. I tried working on it during last summer but I was stuck on how I was going to get the engine out from the top. Seems like it’s going to be a difficult project but I can’t wait. Thanks for the inspiration.
The J37 Honda/Acura engine has issues with the cylinder liners being made of an exotic material. Said material is extremely strong, but it doesn’t have any cross hatches to hold oil on the cylinder wall. This leads to all sorts of issues that can cause catastrophic engine failure.
@@bradstoybox8811 indeed, and imperative that owners of this engine let it warm up, change oil between 3,000-5,000 miles max, & don’t beat on it while it’s cold. Also, changing the PCV valve extremely important.
@@Leo-by2vz Leo it was in fact plug and play but from what I hear there are older versions of the motor that use a different crank sensor so be careful what you buy.
Hey brad I’m doing the same swap same year mdx I be was wondering what all you swapped over from the mdx to the rl to make it all work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I basically made sure that the sensors on the new motor mated with the MDX harness propery and I kept the MDX intake and throttle body. The accessories (ALternator, AC etc were all MDX so there were a few brackets that had to be swapped over to properly mount them up. Good luck wth your swap! The MDX is a great vehicle that is let down by that turd of a 3.7 motor.
I am definitely trying to figure out the mess I have. It’s a fabulous truck but It just went out while driving. I’m not the first owner. Little particles inside the manifold. Low compression in 5 cylinders, no compression in 4. I went in and took the ignition coil out and it was completely fried. I’m faced with the same issue. I’m not finding honest service. All Acura says is “Sure we’ll replace it for $8k!”… smh 🤦♀️ I’m guessing the cylinder heads need to be replaced and gaskets, but if it’s pistons, crank shaft & all that not sure.
Honestly Angie, with so many low compression cylinders, it's probably a write off but that's just keyboard talk. It needs to be opened up to know what has happened inside.
I had the same issue and ended up with the A2 for an RL. Thankfully it had the correct crank sensor that worked with the MDX ECU otherwise I would have been in trouble.
Brad I was also wondering if you had any issues with the crankshaft position sensor. The rl had a different style than the mdx at least the rl engine I bought from Jdm. I had to swap the splash guard and oil pan to use the mdx style sensor. Did you run into this and if you did Did it cause any problems
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
It all matched up just fine. That said, there are versions that have a different crank sensor and that would have been a show stopper. Mine was through the oil pan where the older version installs behind the flex plate.
thanks for the info. I just got one I'm in Canada. The car is great but seller didn't disclose it burns oi. How long has yours been burning oil for will top off the oil be enough or is it too thirsty for oil
I bought this one used with 265k on the odometer. It was already buring oil at a very hight rate but the seller (Barrie Ford) didn't know that. I drove it for a year and a half, adding oil weekly. It also had a horrible ping (detonation) which was associated with the oil burning so it ran like crap. Eventually one of the piston rings failed as a chunk broke off and gouged the cylinder wall. That was the end of that motor.
It was burning oil really bad and then it suffered a piston failure that put a huge crater in the cylinder wall. It could have been detonation because it was pinging something aweful as well.
Great video, that's a lot of work for sure. I see a lot of people with the high oil consumption issue on here and would like to suggest anytime/everytime any engine has high oil consumption, the oil gets dark quick, oil leaks and/or poor engine performance replace the PCV Valve. Blow air or clean any small tubes or orifices out in this circuit to make sure they're operating properly.
As the engine gets more miles it's even more important to make sure this system is working 100%.
I think Hondas' system is a little on the weak side of good function and why some have the problem and some don't. If you pull the valve covers on a J Series you'll notice a lot more varnish build up in one bank than the other. Someone below mentioned they had the rering job done and the problem reoccured, it was almost certianly a PCV Valve issue. I have 287K+ miles on a 2010 MDX Advance and I'm looking at adding a valve to the front bank. With this many miles blowby will be worse and I need to get ahead of it. Good Luck.
I prefer the J30’s on 7th Gen Accord V6 models and J32’s On Acura TL’s 04 to 08 one of the Best J Series V6 models made. The J35Z in the 13 to 18 Acura RDX models is solid engine. Sadly the J37 had many problems.
100%, even the J35's in my 2011 and 2013 Accords was a better engine. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I have the same problem of burning oil and detonation everywhere and have a burnt valve on cylinder 3 on exhaust valve. The dealer said I need a new engine where I knew is going to be a junk yard engine. They asking for 10k so I say NO! I do it my self and I drove it home and pull off the cylinder head and replace one $10 exhaust valve, put everything back on and my MDX is driving just normal. Do it your self. 👍
Awesome video. My fathers 2011 MDX started misfiring on cylinder 6 and a shop told us that it was a bent valve. The car has been sitting in the garage for roughly the past year and I hope to rebuild or replace it during the summer. I tried working on it during last summer but I was stuck on how I was going to get the engine out from the top. Seems like it’s going to be a difficult project but I can’t wait. Thanks for the inspiration.
They are great SUVs that suffer from less than great motors. Good luck with the swap!
10-13 mdx has the problematic j37. 07-09 is better.
I’m about to start this swap as we speak just picked up a j37A in MDX
The J37 Honda/Acura engine has issues with the cylinder liners being made of an exotic material. Said material is extremely strong, but it doesn’t have any cross hatches to hold oil on the cylinder wall. This leads to all sorts of issues that can cause catastrophic engine failure.
Bingo. So don't be buying a high mileage J37! Probably ok for about 125,000 miles and after that you are on borrowed time.
@@bradstoybox8811 indeed, and imperative that owners of this engine let it warm up, change oil between 3,000-5,000 miles max, & don’t beat on it while it’s cold. Also, changing the PCV valve extremely important.
Not sure why honda moved away from the cast iron cross hatches bore but this ceramic cylinders is junk after 125k.
@@searobin25 yeah, but thank heavens they only did that with the J37 variants. The J35 version still use iron cylinder sleeves.
Great video man, I’d love for you to film in widescreen mode (hold the camera sideways) so we can see more of your videos.
Thanks for the feedback, I will certainly give that a shot on my next video.
Where any sensors needed to be changed I’m thinking of doing the same swap on my 2010 mdx any help would be greatly appreciated for this swap
@@Leo-by2vz Leo it was in fact plug and play but from what I hear there are older versions of the motor that use a different crank sensor so be careful what you buy.
Care to expand on this, I was told that jdm rl motors use front crank sensor, is different year rl that uses one like mdx?
@@bradstoybox8811 Could you specify which exact model and jdm engine is compatible with 12 mdx? Thanks
Hey brad I’m doing the same swap same year mdx I be was wondering what all you swapped over from the mdx to the rl to make it all work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I basically made sure that the sensors on the new motor mated with the MDX harness propery and I kept the MDX intake and throttle body. The accessories (ALternator, AC etc were all MDX so there were a few brackets that had to be swapped over to properly mount them up. Good luck wth your swap! The MDX is a great vehicle that is let down by that turd of a 3.7 motor.
I am definitely trying to figure out the mess I have. It’s a fabulous truck but It just went out while driving. I’m not the first owner. Little particles inside the manifold. Low compression in 5 cylinders, no compression in 4. I went in and took the ignition coil out and it was completely fried. I’m faced with the same issue. I’m not finding honest service. All Acura says is “Sure we’ll replace it for $8k!”… smh 🤦♀️ I’m guessing the cylinder heads need to be replaced and gaskets, but if it’s pistons, crank shaft & all that not sure.
Honestly Angie, with so many low compression cylinders, it's probably a write off but that's just keyboard talk. It needs to be opened up to know what has happened inside.
Does the mdx have a transmission cooler?
Did you change the oil
Well in these motor harmonic balances is inside the motor not outside
Is this a J37A2 or J37A1? I cant seem to find a JDM "J37A1" for 2010-2013 MDX online the only thing I see is the A2 for the RL.
I had the same issue and ended up with the A2 for an RL. Thankfully it had the correct crank sensor that worked with the MDX ECU otherwise I would have been in trouble.
It’s way noticeable that idk is a high out put compare to aspec
Brad I was also wondering if you had any issues with the crankshaft position sensor. The rl had a different style than the mdx at least the rl engine I bought from Jdm. I had to swap the splash guard and oil pan to use the mdx style sensor. Did you run into this and if you did Did it cause any problems
There were two possible styles. I got lucky and my new motor was the same as the one in my MDX
From what I understand, you can't use the old style with the newer ECU. Something to do with the frequency of the signal.
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
Brad unfortunately I did not get lucky and they are two different styles. According to Jdm the engines are interchangeable. Do you know if there is a way to make the two different styles work together. We both now removing the engine due to crankshaft sensor would really suck. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
Greetings! I have a 1500lb cherry picker. Would that be enough to lift the engine? Thanks in advance!
Yes a 1500 pound engine hoist should have no problem lifting this V6 engine.
@@bradstoybox8811 Thank you!
Was that JDM engine plug and play. Did you have to modify connections, harnesses, sensors etc.? Interesting that the RL is interchangable with the MDX
It all matched up just fine. That said, there are versions that have a different crank sensor and that would have been a show stopper. Mine was through the oil pan where the older version installs behind the flex plate.
thanks for the info. I just got one I'm in Canada. The car is great but seller didn't disclose it burns oi. How long has yours been burning oil for will top off the oil be enough or is it too thirsty for oil
I bought this one used with 265k on the odometer. It was already buring oil at a very hight rate but the seller (Barrie Ford) didn't know that. I drove it for a year and a half, adding oil weekly. It also had a horrible ping (detonation) which was associated with the oil burning so it ran like crap. Eventually one of the piston rings failed as a chunk broke off and gouged the cylinder wall. That was the end of that motor.
@@bradstoybox8811 thanks
Why did the original engine fail??
It was burning oil really bad and then it suffered a piston failure that put a huge crater in the cylinder wall. It could have been detonation because it was pinging something aweful as well.
Hey man so I got everything swapped cranked it over. No spark any suggestions man Ide appreciate it
double check the connections obviously and check for codes. The codes should give you a hint of what isn't happy.
You forgot about vtec won’t be working with a jdm engine without modifying the wiring harness
I used the harness off my motor and it worked fine with no CEL or issues.
@@bradstoybox8811 lucky you
mines died @ 300k as well.
How you unwell the crossmember
I drilled out the spot welds and then rewelded them after the motor swap.
what caused the failure?
The engine had 300k on it and was burning oil till one day it suffered a piston ring failure that damaged the cylinder wall beyond repair.
What's website you used to purchase it?
ruclips.net/video/HSjqgqCsT0I/видео.html
Sell me that intake manifold if you still have it!
Sorry it was sold a long time ago. I do have two sets of heads though, one overhauled and the damaged ones that came off my J37.
Lmao a lump
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! So few do..
2004 mdx j35a5 owner, them 37s are known for crappy ass valves