barnett468

Hello;

I have a 2003 Acura TL with the dreaded P0740 code and a shifting problem, however, I am not going to automatically rebuild the trans or get another trans . I just bought the car and it had been sitting for 3 years . Sometimes it shifts properly, but most of the time it will rev high before it shifts then it will slam into gear . This tells me that all the circuits in the trans do work from time to time and the clutches and bands are good.

I am going to start by installing a new torque converter clutch solenoid set and changing the oil . If it is still bad I will cry about it then.

I read on one of the threads that some of these cars received a new trans under warranty and the way to tell if it was replaced is to look at the mounting bolts because the new trans will have blue bolts or gold bolts with a dab of blue paint I guess . Anyway, my bolts have a dab of blue paint . Any idea as to whether ths is a new replacement trans?

What is the best oil to use in the trans?

Thanks in advance for any help.

thoiboi

OEM ATF DW1 is best

barnett468

You mean factory Acura oil from the dealer or can it be from another mfg like Valvoline etc?

Thanks

thoiboi

OEM.


NOT anything else

Skirmich

Your transmission is dead.
Under no circumstances the trans should slip, unless the clutch packs are finally worn out. If the trans was skipping a shift, hesitating or such you could probably say it was some solenoids or something else.
But P0740 + Slippage = Dead Trans about 99.9999999% of the time.

So I would not waste my money any further on the trans and start reading the AV6 Swap Thread.

barnett468

It does NOT slip at all.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

No.

Skirmich

What you are experiencing is the 3rd gear clutch drum SLIP at all times that is why its slamming HARD into gear... You need to comprehend how the Hondamatics Work (Honda Autos are called Hondamatics), Once you know how they shift you can understand what is that HARD SLAM into gear that is nothing more than the 3rd gear drum clutch slipping to hell and that is why you are high revving the shit out of it..

I can GUARANTEE You that the only way you are shifting into next gear is by releasing the gas pedal right? Then the trans does that slamming into gear from High RPM.. That is 100% Slipping from the 3rd gear clutch, The trans is holding gear because is physically incapable of holding the next gear into shift under power.. When you release the pedal the engine stops creating power and the little material in the clutch drum can bite and shift into gear that is the sudden Slam Into the Gear.

Test this just to confirm..
1.- Make the car go automatically into 1st then 2nd
2.- Feel the shift into 3rd if the car starts to over-rev Past 2nd or even on 1st gear you are already slipping.
3.- When you release the gas pedal and slams into the next gear, WOT (Wide open throttle) and see what it does...
4.- If the car does a horribly screeching sound then you know its DEAD.
5.- If the car downshift correctly into 1st and do not hesitate see if it correctly goes into 3rd or 4th again after you release the gas, if it slams then its DEAD.

I don´t even doubt that is dead myself as it happened to me before dying so I know its part of the symptoms but If you need to triple confirm it that is the way..
Everyone here that had a Trans Failure know what you are experiencing, It works alright when cold but starts slamming when hot... It also doesn't fix it using Sport Shift (Sport Shift uses higher pressure to shift so if it slams on Sport Shift you are borderline near full Trans Death).

fsttyms1

The others are right, your trans is on its way out. Some have had luck replacing the solenoids and fluid and gotten a little more life out of it but 99% of those who have had those symptoms have had to replace/rebuild the trans.

barnett468

installed new tcc servo . center screen was completely plugged . only issue now is that if I get on it hard it will take around 3 seconds to fully engage 3rd at which point it goes into gear moderately hard but no longer slams into third causing the tires to chirp.

barnett468

installed new tcc servo . center screen was completely plugged . only issue now is that if I get on it hard it will take around 3 seconds to fully engage 3rd at which point it goes into gear moderately hard but no longer slams into third causing the tires to chirp.

car is completely driveable now but if there is a way to improve 3rd gear engagement I will try that.

Iggy

Were you throwing a code that led to TCC servo? Sounds like your transmission is on the way out. The debris that clogged the screen will get worse. And, no, once third gear starts going you are living on borrowed time. Check out the AV6 swap thread.

Iggy

Barnett, you don't seem to heeding the valuable input from others. Think about why the screen was clogged. The transmission is self destructing.

thoiboi

He's trying to ignore the reality of it all.


Good luck OP.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

He seems to be in denial and is investing more into his transmission.

barnett468

ummm, you dont seem to realize that i know what a clogged screen means and that i am not just going to go to the bank and rob them for $3000.00 to get the trans rebuilt trans when the trans works now and may work for another month or 6 months or a year or so.

if i would have heeded other experts advice i would not have gotten it to shift perfectly except for 3rd gear under heavy load. the trans wouldn't shift well at all before and slammed into 2nd and 3rd and would chirp the tires . if i dont push the pedal more than half way down when accelerating it shifts perfectly . if you floor it at 30 mph in 4th gear it downshifts perfectly into 3rd . the trans is absolutely NOT dead although it my be getting weak . all i need is an answer to my question . i do NOT need to continually be told to yank it out and rebuild it.

Iggy

Wow

barnett468

ummm...you seem to not know the answer to the question so don't bother posting.

thoiboi

We will just sit here on the sidelines and take bets on when it will die .

barnett468

wow is right . you are the THIRD person to post and none of you has an answer to the question so why are you posting?

thoiboi

Because welcome to the Internet. It's a free open forum where we can post whenever and wherever we please


Don't get angry with us because we're not telling you what you want to hear. Do you not hear literally everyone answering in resounding unison?

barnett468

FOURTH person that can not answer the question . perhaps we should take best on how many replies i get until someone actually answers the question . at the rate it's going my guess is around 25, lol.

barnett468

sure but that is useless . this is a tech forum, not face book . an intelligent person would at least answer the question.


Everyone is making posts that are totally useless to me because they are not answering the question.

thoiboi

To answer your question, there is a solenoid. https://www.oemacuraparts.com/auto-p...-solenoid-scat

#10/11

thoiboi

Understand where we're coming from Barnett, were trying to save you money here.. but you're free to ignore our advice.


The code is the last nail in the coffin .

barnett468

yes and it also had a code for a bad temp sender so i changed the sender, and put 4 qts of new fluid in it and cleared the codes . i would then shift normally when it was cold but would shift poorly when hot and i would have to let off the gas for it to engage without revving up and slamming into gear . i then put 4 more qts of oil in and it shifted better but still had the problem so i installed an new tcc solenoid and cleaned the center screen which was nearly completely plugged and i now shifts perfectly unless i push the gas pedal down 2/3rd to full throttle which then causes it to revf up in 3rd for a few seconds after which it goes in solidly but without slamming . if i floor it from 30 mph in 4th gear it will downshift solidly into 3rd with no slam and no spinup.
all the codes have cleared and stayed clear.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

I think it's clear who the ignorant person in this thread is... It's everyone except you! That's right, everyone is wrong and you're right. Good thing that you're so smart.

Enjoy getting stranded.

Skirmich

Damn that escalated quickly...
When you have a SENIOR Moderator basically a Master Technician in everything related TL like fsttyms1, 2 Mods and Several Users giving factual info and advice and you decide to ignore it?
There is nothing more you can ask from this forum, Please go wherever you think you will get the answer you need because this forum definitely ISN´T.

Kris9884

Dang, I hate to see such good knowledge go to waste like this. OP, do some more research and see just how many threads there are (not only on this forum) of people in the exact same boat as you just before being stranded. Your transmission is on its way out, a clogged filter means your clutches are falling apart. There's no other questions to be answered. You can get solenoids and flush it and get a couple hundred more miles if you're lucky but that's just money you could have put towards the AV6 trans. Best of luck bud, I hope your trans doesn't go out when you have an emergency or something.

SuperGreg

Best of luck OP. The problem with clogged screens is most likely the internal filter is getting clogged as well, and once that is clogged enough to restrict flow below what is needed to shift the transmission, it's dead, Jim. If you're really going to try to make this work make sure you change the external filter as well, and drain & fill like 5 or 6 times.

barnett468

lol, i never said anyone was wrong . you obviously have very poor reading comprehension skills . i appreciate all comments that were technical . do not read.add any words into peoples posts that are not there and do not make assumptions and do not be an a hole and things will be far better . be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

barnett468

much, but not all of your info was useful . my trans is obviously not dead because if it was it would no longer move the car . it does in fact shift perfectly now with the exception of some "slipping" or lag, or slow engagement when upshifting into 3rd . this only occurs if the gas pedal is depressed at least around 1/2 to 1/3rd of the way . changing the oil, and filter, and solenoids make it go from a virtually useless trans to one that shifts perfectly in every way except for this one anomaly.

people here make huge inaccurate assumptions about things which is ignorant to do . the best thing is to simply answer peoples questions with accurate replies . saying the trans is weak and will likely fail soon would have been accurate . saying it was dead was not . i have been a mechanic for 50 years and am also an engineer and ran the r and d department of a major vehicle mfg where i did engineering and fabrication and test riding and clutch testing was part of my job so i actually have a decent background on transmissions and decent understanding of how they work, however, my knowledge is in old, non electronic, non computer controlled transmissions, which is why i joined this forum . if it was a 727 torqueflite or c4 or c6 etc, i would know exactly what the problem is.

my guess at this point is that the problem with 3rd gear is the band instead of the clutch pack if in fact this trans uses bands on the drums, but obviously after 100,000 plus miles, the clutches the clutches will be worn also.

as far as someone saying that spending money on new fluid and/or a new solenoid pack is a waste of money, that is simply ignorant because it obviously was not since it took a car that was basically unuseable and turned it into a car that is fully useable, PLUS, when a trans does grenade and actually must be rebuilt, it would be an intelligent thing to replace the parts i replaced anyway . this is just one of many examples why everything that people tell others on these types of forums should not be taken as fact.

the fact is that i only need the car to work for around 2 to 3 more months after which i will have other transportation and can decide at that time whether to invest in a new or rebuilt trans or a 2006-2007 accord v6 trans etc or to sell it as is or to simply part it out as i can probably part it put for way more than i could sell it as a complete car for because it is extremely nice . a rebuilt trans is over $3500.00 installed where i live and even though the car is extremely nice, it is only worth around $3000.00 even with a good trans but it is easily worth $1500.00 on ebay with a completely dead one, therefore, spending $3500.00 to fix it just isn't practical in my case unless i plan to keep it for a long time.

barnett468

"...1/2 to 1/3rd of the way."

should be

"1/2 to 2/3rd's of the way."

.

thoiboi

Godspeed sir. . please let us know how much longer it lasts. Maybe you'll prove us all wrong

barnett468

installing a used trans from a 2006 to 2007 accord instead of a rebuilt accord one is also an option and one i might consider but unfortunately i haven't found any posts that explain exactly what changes/mods need to be made to do this, therefore, unless i do find this info, using an accord trans is not an option although it does interest me.

i have read many posts from people saying their rebuilt trannys only go maybe 20,000 miles before they grenade again and sometimes don't even work properly after they are rebuilt . this is obviously a problem with the trans builder and not inherent in the design of the trans, unfortunately, finding a trans builder that truly knows what they are ding as opposed to one that simply says he does even though he may not is a problem and a gamble i am very hesitant to take.

the good thing is that my trans works perfectly with just this one minor issue, therefore, there really isn't anything complicated about repairing it as they basically need to just clean it and replace the clutches and bands but i have had other trans builder screw up even a simple job like this in c4 and c6 trannys, so even if i did want to get it rebuilt i'm not quite sure who to trust at the moment.


that m

thoiboi

umm... https://acurazine.com/forums/second-generation-tl-1999-2003-98/faq-06-07-av6-transmission-swap-905115/
I think that lack of trust is part of your problem Barnett. You're assuming this is the first time we've come across this problem. Alas it is not. You see like a very smart individual with loads of experience in other aspects of automotive but there are some very specific experts of this car here answering your questions and you're not heeding their suggestions . The AV6 swap is a tried and true method hence why everyone suggested it in basic unison..

barnett468

you obviously haven't gotten any more intelligent since your last post since you still don't understand what i have written because again, i am NOT trying to prove anyone wrong.

here's some very simple grade school math for you.

car rental

1 week ........................................ $200.00
1 month ....................................... $800.00
3 months ................................... $2400.00
rebuilt trans ............................... $3500.00
$2400.00 - $3500.00 = negative $1100.00

thoiboi

Your math skills are in need of a little refinement.

A rebuilt trans will last a lot longer than a month compare to a 2400 monthly car rental...

Try again before trying to insult someone trying to help you. a little humility in your life will go a LONG way.

barnett468

your assumptions are WRONG and people that assume are not as intelligent as people that do not make assumptions, it's that simple.

one of the reasons i joined this forum is because i have read many posts from members regarding these trannys so i knew there was a lot of knowledge here . since i am also a mechanic and vehicle engineer i also know not to believe absolutely everything that everyone says.

as far as the trans sqp goes, you have not told me anything useful because i am familiar with it which is why i mentioned it but AGAIN, i don't know exactly what mods must be made to use it and until i do, it is NOT an option.

if you know EXACTLY what mods have to be done to use it then post them instead of just telling me lots of people have done it etc.

barnett468

" trans sqp"

should be

"trans swap"