1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

I am new to this forum and I have a brain teaser. I currently own a 1997 Acura 2.2 CL Premium with the 4 speed Auto Tranny. The car and tranny has 170K on it and it has been babied since its birth. I bought it off a friend and he bought it off the showroon floor in 1997. I have all the service records and it was garage kept. My question is what would cause the tranny to slip intermittently? The only time it happens is if I am traveling at a constant speed at least 60 mph or above for an extended period of time (over 15 to 20 minutes). Then if I slow down for example to merge from one interstate to another and accelerate in the merge lane it slips for a fraction of a second then grabs and goes. I serviced the tranny myself and found no metal shavings on the pan, what could it be?

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

The auto trannies are notorious for failing in our CL's, they have bad bearings and faulty torque converters, I would take it to a tranny shop anyway even without metal shavings, because they will show up sooner or later

WineRed2.2CL

time for a new tranny bud or a rebuild.

But thats not normal. If you said that it shifts into gear pretty ruff i would of told ya thats normal.

How2

I drove one today and was not impressed with the tranny. Where the torque conv and tranny issues fixed in 02?

iansanderson

If by "service records" does that mean regular transmission fluid changes every 45K miles? You could just have a problem with the shifting solenoids or a speed sensor. First thing to do is check the fluid level. Second, see if there are any fault codes stored in the PCM. You can use an OBDII tester or short the diagnostic connector under the glove box, turn the key to ON and watch the D4 light or Check Engine light for flashes.

If there are no codes, I would check the throttle cable and transmission control cable (black cable to the left, going into the transmission from the throttle body) for smooth operation. There are a few "hidden" screen filters that should be checked too. Two of them are located under the shifting solenoids (the two cylindrical things on the front of the transmission in the picture below).



If they get clogged, they can cause surging problems. Or you could just genuinely have internal problems in which case, I would replace the transmission.

1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

Where can I go for a good rebuilt tranny? Any suggestions?

iansanderson

car-part.com

1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

Ok, so I went to a tranny shop this morning. He plugged in this massive code reader and we went for about a 10 minute ride. Stopping, accelerating hard, deccelerating. It never slipped once, figures. He used to be the service manager for the local Acura dealer and claims that my tranny was fine. He thinks that it is a hydraulic problem and not electronic problems. What do you guys think, does he sound right? He said if I can come by again and it slips when he is driveing it, he may get a code thrown to his computer. He also quoted $2200 to rebuild it, worse case scenerio. Does this rebuild price sound good?

Tehvine

You can get a used one with a warranty for about 500 - 600, putting it in may be the expensive part if you cannot do so yourself.

CLeanLooking

is there a better tranny to but in instread of a stock one? for a auto

DoubleSh0t

iTrader: (1)

The best thing to do is to get it rebuilt with better clutch packs and a better torque converter.

1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

I syphoned 700 ml of fluid out last night and put a 700 ml bottle of Lucus in and the slip immediately went away. I drive it to work today, approx. 30 miles and it never slipped where as it usually would 4 to 5 times. What are you thoughts, band-aid to a broken leg?

1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

I also stopped at the trans shop again yesterday and he said I could remove the two solenoids stated by ianderson and clean them with some throttle body cleaner. Would anyone recommend this as well?

stevo326

hows that tranny holding up?

1997 Acura CL 2.2 Premium

Ok, but needs a rebuild. The slipping is gradually getting worse. I hit 180K this morning.

stevo326

210 on mine, i'm about to change the fluid this weekend its a lil ruff at times but i think its manageable..

stevo326

put about half a quart of dexron III in before I knew it was the wrong thing to do.. now I'm hoping its not the beggining of the end.

Tehvine

Luckily a DIY trans swap is not too bad in our cars. I did it in my 96 accord which has a tighter engine bay with the same motor, unfortunately I was sold a dud trans that only goes into 2nd and 4th. Probably going to sell the car off in the spring if it's not just a bad solenoid pack. I had no motor / trans work experience ever prior to that. I just printed out the service manual steps and had at it with some wrenches and a floor jack in my garage one day.

My slipping started off slowly and progressively got worse to the point where it was popping in and out of gears and all kinds of nastiness trying to limp it home for the last time. Was a sad day but ultimately worked out much better as I have now become a part of this forum.

Tehvine

Yeah got off my ass today and went out to swap the solenoids on the accord. Trans shifts like new now.

stevo326

so vine, can you make a diy on swapping out solenoids..

OttaWacK

I assume this is for a 4cyl. Does anyone know anything about a solenoid swap for a 1997 3.0?? No luck in searches.

Tehvine

That reply was meant as an update to my post before it. Solenoid swap will not help with your glass transmissions unfortunately.

MoSp33d

just go to AAMCO.