Hi all,

I just recently purchased a 1999 CL with 126,000 miles on it. It has all of its maintenance records mostly done at an Acura dealer, and the original owner never had any issues with the transmission. During the test drive I didn't notice anything strange, but I didn't exactly gun it or anything. Am I doomed to have the tranny go out at some point? I've read a lot on here about installing transmission coolers--what is the best cooler out there and can I install an external filter to go along with that? Can anyone give me the best brands I should look for. I was really excited about this car, but after reading post after post about issues with the transmission I'm starting to get nervous. Thanks a lot.

 

if its an auto, then you will most likely have troubles with it down the road.

 

Okay well I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Have you had personal experience with a failure? I'm just wondering if there are early signs/noises I should look for.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it, I had a 97 for almost 10 years. Never had any problems with the transmission ever. The car was solid. I had it till it was almost 150k miles. Btw, I had a 3.0.

 

As long as you don't notice issues, don't worry about it. It could go, it could not go. It really depends on the car. The early signs are sluggish shifts between gears 1 & 2, and metal shavings in the trans fluid

 

Thanks. Mine is a 3.0 too. I'll be sure to pay attention to it and change the fluid once a year.

 

Can you elaborate on "sluggish shifts"? I notice that sometimes mine will shift at lower RPMs (2k) or it will wait until 3k-4k depending.

 

Mine shifts hard, but still shift around 5k, 1st gear, 3.5k-4k 2nd gear. I have a 3.0 too, but I'm at 153k miles on it...got it in 07 at 80k, only had it for 4 years.

- RemieGino14 -

 

Does the car lurch or jerk when shifting?

 

My 97 3.0 hesitates from 1st to 2nd if you are soft on the gas pedal and if your slightly harder on the gas it goes to about 3.5-4 and shifts a little hard. It's definately starting to act up. I have 183,000 and it's the original tranny.

 

I'm afraid to even touch the tranny fluid as I feel with my luck it will fail immediately after fluid change. Should I change it?

 

I'm on my second 3.0 auto Cl and both shift as you describe.
Seems like if I am feathering the gas the trans seems uncertain if it will shift and then it does.
If I am more firm on the gas it shifts fine.
If I gas it there is no problem, it shifts perfect.
So I think the trans is just like that. Just my

 

race inspired transmission

 

Slap a tranny cooler on the front and change the fluid twice and you should be good.

 

If you wanna see what goes wrong in these tranny's look on my rebuild thread.

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2870174

 

JDMCRX--thanks a lot for that link. It's really fascinating to see detailed pictures of the inside of the transmission. Is the main issue here that clutch material clogs up in the strainers and oil passages and thus causes decreased lubrication and more friction on the clutch packs? Does this happen b/c of a design/engineering flaw or low quality materials? Thanks again.

 

i love my race inspired VTEC engine too

 

It just seems like it is waiting for more power before it shifts. And it kinda just seems like it takes a moment or two for it to grab the next gear(Only happens 1-2). Seems like my car is like jims3.0. RPMs dont really increase as if it was slipping though. And it really only happens if I am just starting to drive in the morning. Usually as the trans warms up it runs and shifts absolutely fine.

 

What happens is people don't change the fluids enough and the fluid breaks down and the over heating of the trans period. The engine runs at 180deg and the tranny cooler goes to the rad and basicly heats up the trans fluid up when the tranny is being driven hard. The trany under hard driving gears heat soaked and the clutches start to break down and the clutch fibers start to float in the fluid. The strainer picks up the fibers while it goes thru the strainer. But there is small pieces that go thru the strainer and the small round strainers get clogged up with clutch material and the small strainers in front of the valve body gets clogged so fluid won't reach the silnoids so the tranny holds the gear cause it can't get fluid to shift . Also the offices feeding oil to the main and counter shaft get clogged up an limiting fluid to the clutch packs and they get over heated and worn out. Also the ring seals on the main and counter shaft that dirrect flow to the clutch pack and clutch pistons start bleeding into each other and puta pressure on the other clutch pack that's not in use witch in turns looses pressure on the gear u are in ad then the clutch can't hold the power.

If the cars came with a oem tranny cooler and external filter the trannys would be good.

Also if you pull your liner and lock silnoids out you can clean out the strainers of clutch material. It's a simple task to. A clogged silnoid will cause the gears to hang and not shift and loose pressure and burn the clutchs out

 

if I were you I would drain your fluid and pull out your silnoids and clean the strainers out . This may fix the prob and buy you some time. 2-3 hours work if that. I've done it before and bought my buddy a like a summer of hard driving on his cl

 

Can you access these liner and lock solenoids without removing the transmission? I assume my mechanic would know what to do since he specializes in acura/honda, but it sure would be nice to be able to take care of something like that for cheaper...

 

Yeap you can access them by removing the intake tube.

I'll make a how to soon as I get the tranny in . As I'm gonna run the tranny for a week then clean filters and check for any particles

 

Thanks a lot!

 

That would be AWESOME man, thank you! I also need to do this as well because I've been having the exact same 'hesitation/slipping' problem at described in here. Makes me feel like I'm walking on egg shells when I have to 'give it some gas' for it to catch the next gear.

 

My moms 3.0 runs fine at 150k. My 2.3 tranny feels like its about to go. Check your transmission fluid look at the color if its brownish and if you feel debris by rubbing it between your fingers also if it smells burnt do not touch it!!!! You will probbly ruin the tranny. General rule of thumb if the previous owner never changed it and if it wasn't changed from the start don't touch it. The metal shavings in worn fluid provide friction for the tranny if you change it there will be no more friction and you might screw it up real bad.

Its also quality my cousin has a lexua vs with 203k never changed the tranny fluid and it shifts perfectly fine.

 

Hey guys.

Im going to be putting in the rebuilt tranny in the car next week as i am finaly done rebuilding it.

Im gonna drive it for a week then do a quick tranny filter change and take all the silnoids off and check for any material or debris or how ever you spell in in the silnoid filters. Ill do a quick DIY to.

Josh

 

Thank you, good sir

I think a lot of people on here have been awaiting a DIY thread of this sort!

 

Thanks a lot Josh--can't wait to see the results. Btw, how much did the rebuild cost you?

 

I think I asked you this over at Honda-tech. Can you shed some light on which "special tools" you needed to finish your rebuild? I was reading through the helms manual, and put together a part list and tool list.

Gear and pulley pullers are no problem, but the three tools concerned me:

1) The main shaft holder. I think you could avoid this by having someone hold the main shaft with a big pair of plyers and something to protect the shaft.

2) The housing puller. This was a special tool to split the case by applying pressure counter to the main shaft. This is the big one ($175). Did you need this at all, or did conventional methods work for pulling the case off?

3) The clutch spring compressor. Any clutch spring compressor should probably do, I can't really see getting around this without building a similar tool.

Let me know, I'm really curious. Good luck!

 

when I purchased my transmission was recently rebuilt about a year before I got it but as was said above if you are not having problems there is no reason to really worry about it. I don't race my car or anything but I do drive it and have fun with it at times. Yes there are allot of people that have these that do have problems but there are others that never have any problems. I am a firm believer that if you take care of your car it will take care of you and you have the maintenance records that shows what has been done (same with the one I have). There are preventative measures you can take like a trans cooler but other than that I wouldn't really worry about what may happen down the road and just enjoy it