i bought a '98 acura cl 3.0 in late december with just 58k miles from power acura (formerly south bay acura or peyton-kremer acura in torrance). the car was pretty clean considering all those i looked at, but i noticed during the test drive that the transmission shifted hard and had weird shift points. i informed the sales manager that i wanted the transmission looked at. long story short, i took the car back and they said it needs a new transmission. thankfully, they've agreed to replace it without cost to me.

while i waited, another woman waiting in the service area waiting room had a '98 with just 71k miles and hers needed a new transmission, too! the dealership said they would take care of it because she was a loyal customer. i can't help wondering if honda isn't aware of the problem and is quietly replacing transmissions in well-maintained cars with relatively low miles. this does not inspire confidence in this car and it's the first i've heard of a consistent problem among cls.

coincidence? what say you?

 

I need directions to this dealership !

 

Its a first gen so Acura of course learned from their mistakes a made a better car..The newer CL is a sick machine. I personally would love a CL-S right now.

 

the sales department was extremely reluctant to do anything for me since the cost to repair would come out of the deal i made with them, but after some lengthy discussions with their (a$$hole) used car manager and my reminder to them that i was told the car was thoroughly safety-inspected. he then told me that the "due bill" for the car had nothing on it and he wasn't obligated to do anything since the car was sold "as-is." i told him that i wanted the car repaired regardless and i would do whatever i had to do to protect my interests (including a small claims action against the dealership).

the service advisors at power acura south bay are extremely cordial, understanding and professional, and that goes a long way with me when i was looking at a $4,200 repair (retail cost of replacing the transmission according to service). thankfully, they gave me a loaner. now i'm pissed that i love this car: it's a 2004 acura tsx. gorgeous car...great gas mileage and very tight. it's just the $28k sticker price i can't swing.

 

The 2nd gen has problems too, what are you talking aboiut?

Oh, and guy who started this thread...YOU are the luckiest bastard in the world!!!

 

You are lucky that they are doing anything to your car. If they tagged it "as is" they are not obligated to do anything, plus the car is 7 years old way past any kind of warranty obligation either. Be happy they are fixing it, and they even gave you a car to trash while they do it. The TSX is nice but you figure the RSX has a bit more power and cost less. I think they made the TSX for people who can't afford the TL and don't likethe weird looks of the RSX. Just my opinion

 

I know mad people with 2nd generations and none of them have had problems with their trans..

 

i'm not lucky, i was wise enough to point out to the sales person and the sales manager that the car was not shifting properly and i wanted it inspected and/or fixed. what disgusts me is that this car has what appears to be inherent flaws in its transmission.

 

Are you we todd ed? Why do you think they did a recall on 2nd gen CL's, certain TL's, Preludes, and Accords?

 

True. My friends 01 prelude had to go back for a tranny problem. you know what they told him? Dont drive it in SS mode too much. Why have it then if you cant use it?

 

Even though this is an old thread i'm going to reply anyways. I own a 3.2 CL-P and drive in SS mode almost everyday. Since I'm covered I might as well use it since it came with the car. So far it's been 8 months owning the CL and I have not yet have any tranny problem.

 

Hi all,

I'm a noobie to the boards and hoping ya'll can help me out. So I see I'm not the only one who's tranny is about to bite the dust. I have a 98 CL 3.0 prem with 141k miles. I bought it used in '01 with 57k. I don't know if it was the second one or not. I started having problems with slipping this past Friday and knew that it was my tranny since a friend had the same car with the same problems.

Acura offered to get me a rebuilt one for $2600 (incl labor), but judging from their track record, well at least from what I've read on here, I don't think that'd be a good idea. I want to keep the car (it's is good condition) and just decided to get the tranny rebuilt by a mom/pop or Aamco for about $1800. Do you think it's worth it or should I say the hell with it and get another car? I ask because if it's rebuilt wouldn't they use the same parts manufactured around that time or will I get better parts so the tranny won't go out on me again?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

Someone says they don't rebuild tranny's anymore for this car. I don't know if that just goes for the dealer, or all repair shops.

 

you got jokes?

 

no?

 

Sorry, I thought you were responding to me.

 

my CL's tranny is slowly dieing -_-'' shix sucks yo!!!
like my tranny has some problems on my first gear. . it slips around 3-4 rpm or so
i hate the lag lol !! -_-'' getting a swap so. . it's koo

i think the 1st Gen cl's only flaw is the tranny . . everything else is tight and damn koo !

 

The Mistress, my '98 CL, LOL to Motohip... One month after I bought her, she said, "I have a dirty little secret, My transmission is burnt up..." LOL... Well, the car didn't tell me any secrets, but, it did need a new transmission at 98K. I think it is a matter of maintanance. The manual says to change the transmission fluid every 15K, (4 oil changes or once a year). How many people actually read the manual and additionaly, how many actually follow the schedule? $2,000 later, my transmission is fine and dandy, but I do intend on keeping the schedule for fluid changes. I wonder if it will do any good. Only time will tell. I don't rag on it too much, but there are times that I hammer the shit out of her in traffic, just to get on the highway. I swear, the bad transmission is a CL curse (1st & 2nd gen). Though, I do believe they use new parts to rebuild the ones that die. Hopefully the flaws are not directly related to engineering, but to corporate policies and cheaply made components. Anyhow, it is a shame that such a wonderful car has such a nasty skeliton in its closet. It is like meeting a really hot chick, going down on her, and discovering she has a scorching case of herpies. A little graphic, I know, but it is a dirty trick and I hated to have it played on me. Get the transmission and try to stay on the schedule. you should be fine.

 

I know...it's messed up that everyone is doomed with the same expensive repair, but other than that I haven't had any real problems...knock on wood

 

mermaid,

Good luck with the transmission problem. If it is going bad, don't flush it... just drain and fill untill you can get it fixed. A flush will destroy what is left of it. But as I said in the previous post, once you have it fixed or replaced, flush it on schedule. You will definately apriciate your CL more when it drives the way it was intended to. And inevitably, since it is slipping, it is doomed to failure... So be ready for that cost... In my case, I got a great deal on the car and even after replacing the transmission, I still have less invested in it then it is worth... So not such a bad deal altogether... Just inconvenient.

 

A 97 3.0CL here - my first tranny died around last September at about 132K miles. Here in CA, several Acura dealers offered to drop in a crated, fully rebuilt one for about $4,000 (they wouldn't open it up and rebuild as needed), or several Aamco shops quoted $2500 for a opening and rebuild. Well I thought I'd try to save some money and go with Aamco...ended up that they had to replace just about everything in there (surprise, surprise), and the cost ended up being closer to $3,500. Since we had a quote for $2,500, we ended up threatening to go to the BBB - we compromised at $3,000.

In the end, if you can get a new crated one from the dealer, I'd just do that since the Aamco cost will probably come in higher than their original quote and near the cost of the crated rebuilt dealer install. Good luck.

 

No doubt, fuck Aamco... once the tear it down, they got ya by the ballsack, or the boobs, whichever one might have. I got a swap, but luckily for me I know the dudes that run the local Honda/Acura salvage/rebuild shop. Those guys are the shit. He flat garanteed it. He said "if you break it, bring it back and I'll fix it." (one year)

Good luck

 

Honda/Acura knows, we have all complained but with the age of the car, they are not backing that stuff anymore. You got lucky with your dealership. Mine went up at 85 and I just swapped an h22 in it and converted to manual so I don't have to about torque converters going bad and all that other crap an auto has.

 

i already rebuilt mine at 105k, and it was done before i bought it at 80k. and the torque converter was replaced at 70k. (info from carfax) im gonna re-do mine one last time with the racing clutch packs, and torque converter. from. www.importperformancetrans.com 449$ for the clutch packs/steel clutches. bout 200 more than stock ones but worth it.. and another 500$ or so for the torque converter to get bulletproofed. and they also carry the sensors. cant wait.. this will be happenin within the next 3 months. and since ive already done a rebuild on this tranny it will be easy. can we say "hello 125 shot". these trannies bulletproffed will be able to take close to 500 hp. and for bout 3500 less than dr.evil, im down.

 

my 97 has about 65000 miles on it. i got it in 02 w/ only ~35k miles on it. however, as long as i remember, the shifting from 1st to 2nd is always a lil rough. it really help that when i let it warm up for a few minutes before i take off. and even longer when it's cold.

 

go git' 5 SPD NUKKA



-Alex

 

no man... ur not allowed to use any fashion of the "n" word. thats it im takin your pimp card.

 

ahahhahahahjshdrealolroflbbq



-Alex

 

When you get the parts put in, will you baby it, or hammer the shit out of it. I baby mine, don't really want to break it before I can afford to fix it if it craps out on me again. I don't think it will, I have hammered her a few times with no bad results since the replacement. Just curious.

 

u got the bullet proof upgrade too? ill prolly take it esy for the first week or so just to let the clutch packs work in, then its off to the races. cant wait.

 

Would love to go six-speed.... No cash for now. Is that even possible in a 1st gen?

 

if it is, it'd be expensive as SHIT.

but probably not. 5spd all the way!

-Alex

 

No doubt about it... CASH MONEY $$$$$$$$$$$

and I have none. oh well, some day I'm gonna bust out on an ASPEC RL.... Ah to dream a BIG dream.