mt6272

Last weekend I bought my first Acura, a 2001 Cl 3.2 Type S with 139,000 miles on it. When researching this car, I became aware that there was a known transmission problem. The previous owner indicated that the transmission had been fixed, and a transmission cooler has been installed as well. I did a test drive before buying the car, and had a mechanic look the car over, and everything checked out. It seemed fine. I was convinced that it was a good buy for a very well maintained and kept up car with its known reliability (aside from the well documented transmission issue) at the price of $3,800. Now that I have the car, I've been doing more research on the transmission issue and it's certainly making me more critical of my recent purchase.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the problem never really was fixed, even with the replacement transmissions. Sure there are people who have had their cars for a long time without a hitch, but many people are talking about their 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th transmission failing.

What I have to ask you all here is what preventative measures can I take to ensure that sure my transmission does not fail? Are there any cheap modifications or part replacements that I can have done? Should I be changing my transmission fluid much more frequently than you would in other cars? Should I be putting some special transmission fluid in my car?
What about driving habits? Would it help to accelerate more slowly, or even quickly? Would using the tiptronic "manumatic" manual mode help some how? (I know, that's probably a stretch, but it's a thought that I had.)

Is there anything at all that has been proven to work in preventing transmission failures in this car? I'm hoping that answer is yes. Otherwise, I hear that transmission replacements run at $3,000 to $4,000 and I am not looking forward to doubling the price of my purchase is the transmission gives out 10,000 miles down the road. All told, I love my new purchase and hope to keep it. Thanks all.

clpassenubye

iTrader: (20)

Start saving just in case because as far as I know there's no full proof solution other than selling your auto and buying a 6 speed

YeuEmMaiMai

trans cooler won't do crap... the reason is that the lubrication passages to the 3rd gear clutch pack are WAY TOO SMALL. This in turn makes the fluid see temps in excess if 300F (mmm bad mmmkay)

open the hood of your car and if it has been replaced by Acura you will notice 2 things

Blue painted assembly bolts
lack of oil jet cooler

I have a 2002 CL-S and the trans decided to crap out at 71K. It was replaced in 2008 with a new unit similar to what they use in the 206-early 07 TL and 07 Accords

The car has 139K on it and the replacement trans is OK but due to a faulty 4th gear pressure switch it was never right. Had the switch replaced in May of this year and it has been pretty much fine ever since. I change my fluid once a year right after winter time. I drive about 10K a year

Rapture

I'm typically pretty light-footed as it is in my car (moreso to save gas rather than relieve strain on the trans) so I don't know if it helps. I also do a 3x3 on the trans fluid when I need to.

From my understanding these transmissions are just high maintenance. You really shouldn't beat on 'em too hard, and keep up with the necessary maintenance. I've had my CL for 6 years and I've never had any transmission problems. but then again I only put like 6-7k miles on my car per year....

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

Trans cooler lowers ur temp by 80 degrees. So it helps

I got a trans temp gauge to prove it. I deleted the jet kit acura put on the trans to increase flow through cooler. Change trans fluid every oil change. Just one drain tho not a 3x3

Even still tho that will not save ur tranny that's just helping it.

The damage is already done if ur at 139 miles. It doesn't take much to make the trans slip from 2nd to third.


My advice.. Do not rip it if ur car is already hot... Cause the trans will be melting itself basically. The clutches in the trans are pretty weak and when they heat up they disintegrate when hot.

Yes the valve body is the issue. But the valve body allows too much heat to build up on the clutches. So in essence heat is the issue because of the valve body.

So a trans cooler helps.

If it did not help acura would not have added it to the 3rd gen tl..

fsttyms1

And i will add with the others that a trans cooler WONT help. I had 5 failures, 4 of which had a trans cooler. The simple fact is is the fluid isnt getting to the 3rd gear clutch drum. The fluid could be 30 deg all the time but if the fluid isnt adequately getting to the 3rd gear parts it doesnt matter how cool it is, it will over heat the fluid inside causing wear.

Your best bet is to save up and buy a 06-07 Accord V6 trans. Its well documented as a great replacement that is reliable.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

Did u delete the jet kit when u added the cooler?

TaxiDriver

When was the tranny replaced? What year? I think if you have blue bolts and your tranny was replaced AFTER February of 2005, you have the updated tranny and it had fairly low failure rates. I bought my 2001 brand new, had the trans replaced at 30k miles, on May 2005. I had no symptoms at all, but at a routine service, the Acura dealership said they needed to replace it after looking inside it with the video monitor and saw the 3rd gear damaged.

After that, I have replaced the tranny fluid every 15k with a simple drain and fill. I am at 166k miles with no signs of trouble, and the goal is to make it to 200k.

fsttyms1

No i didnt, Nor would it have mattered if i had. The oil jet kit was for the recall, which was ONLY for the 2nd gear shaft breaking due to lack of cooling which was what resulted in the less than 1-2% of failures of the trans and complete lock up which is being confused with the 3rd gear issue and dropping to 2nd gear.

fsttyms1

While the ones with the blue bolts were more reliable, they still are prone to fail.

Also, they didnt look inside and see damage to the 3rd gear clutchpacks. Its impossible to determine that unless the trans gets pulled and disassembled and clutch packs removed from the clutch drum. Whats likely is they saw the discoloration on the 2nd gear shaft which is what they use the scope to inspect for (and what the Recall was for and what the oil jet was for)

TheWeez

This. There is nothing you can do that'll prevent it. A redesign of the entire transmission is the only cure. Transmission cooler won't solve it, more frequent flushes won't change it, nothing is going to keep you safe sadly.