rickshobbies

All,

I just purchased my 97 CL 3.0 with 67k miles on it. It's an automatic. I bought it with the "Honda/Acura" reliability in mind, but I hear that many of you have had problems with the tranny.

Could anyone tell me what the early warning signs for this so I know what to look for? I purchased a year's Acura warranty and if this starts to happen, I want to know that it's coming. Hopefully it won't!

The only thing I notice now is that the shift from 1st to 2nd, though still good, isn't quite as smooth of a transition as it is from any of the higher gears on the upshift. I figure this might be normal since the torque of the engine is more noticable at the lower gears.

Any feedback would be great!

Thanks,

Rick

wilp99

take it in. 1-2 shifts are the first sighns. theres probly nothing immediatly wrong with it but its going to happen. take it to aamco first to get a free estimate, then take it to acura witht the aamco estimate. because acura is going to say nothing is wrong with it. and aamco obviously is going to find something wrong with it so they can make money. then put a tranny cooler on it. that will save u alot of time and money. if u wait until ur warranty runs out it will cost over 1800$ for a rebuild. dont get me wrong tho i love my cl and its been good to me.

jz-97-c7

damn...mine has that same 1-2 shift...like you're waiting for the gear to grab or something

rickshobbies

Could someone describe how the shifts "should" feel?

IAm1WeAreMany

I also noticed that it shifts from 1st to 2nd at 4000rpm even if you're going easy on the gas. And once its on 2nd it picks up speed and you can feel its smoother. My friend said thats normal for our cars but hes got the 2.0. All i know is our cars suck if you're trying to fly from a dead stop or even if your not. Hope nothing is wrong with the tranny. Let us know how it turns out if you get work done on it.

Canuck-CL

Hey Rick,

I have had my 97 CL 3.0 for 2 years and it has about 127,000 miles. It has always shifted what I consider "rough" from 1 to 2. It is worse when the weather is cold until it warms up. I am thinking of a tranny cooler after looking at this forum. The shifts in the other gears are good.

rickshobbies

OK, yeah, that's the way I would describe it too. Basically, all of the shifts "feel" the same, but the 1 to 2 shift is more pronounced. You feel the torque more during that shift I guess is a way to describe it. But the way it shifts is pretty consistent throughout all the gears. It's certainly not a hard shift or slamming or slipping. Just not as smooth as our Civic or Pathfinder is so I just might not be used it. Both of those cars shift so smooth you can barely tell they shifted.