Howdy! Coming here looking for some suggestions. I've tried to do my due diligence by researching things, Found some good info.

My son's 2005 TSX (Navi sedan unit) seems to have some issue with the tranny. Backstory. Purchased this car for a 16 year old 3 years ago with 160k for $4k. When we got the car I went through it with a fine tooth comb. I fixed the AC, replaced the tires, did the brakes all the way around with new slotted rotors, replaced one of the cooling fans and replaced the starter about 5 months ago.

Back, 3 yrs ago ( when it was at 160K) I also did a full engine service along with the automatic trans service including drain (didn't do a 3x3 at that time...3 years ago). Used Honda Genuine DW-1 trans fluid Repeated the same thing at 170k and changed the inline filter.

Car is a daily driver and the now has 193k on it and it's has started to have some transmissions shifting issues. Noticed a high pitch whine when idling when cold. When shifting from P to D, seems to have 2 distinct engine movements as it goes into gear. 1 then another.

Hooked up my ODB reader and ZERO DTCs are listed. Currently on step 2 of of being in the middle of a 3x3 trans flush. The first drain, the oil smelled burnt, removed 3 quarts(along with removing the trans cooler line to pump out any excess). After draining the 1st THREE quarts and the 2nd THREE quarts, sounds much better. Now the idling trans whining has completely stopped But the shifting is still affected. Slips between 3rd and 4th gears, revving up high.....almost to the point that the car goes no where until I slow down and let it downshift. I know this car has trans solenoids. I think I found 2 of them, see the pics. Which ones are these?

Seems to drive OK in Manual though. Any thoughts on what's happening?

 

To all, please don't personalize these comments. No judgment, just generic. It may be a function of my age, but I have to wonder why many of you try and chase something like this. I know it can be expensive to farm some of this out, but the key is knowing when you need to do that. Take the car to a Honda dealer, or perhaps to a shop that specializes in automatic transmissions. These cars (and this transmission) have been around for a long time now, and I'd bet they could diagnosis it in minutes. That said, you mentioned a slippage issue, which in my opinion, means it almost has to be a mechanical problem (versus electronic, so it's highly unlikely that it's a solenoid). The whining is a second clue of problems brewing (it may be gone now, but I bet you it will come back). The "2 engine movements" sounds weird. These cars have had motor mount issues, so you never know. Having a 15 year old car (and one that had some pretty advanced features at the time it was introduced) can be an adventure (kind word).

 

yes, if you're in the middle of a fluid swap and it's not getting any better,perhaps something internally in the automatic transmission is worn out.

 

Ya possibly. Strange it would go all of a sudden. Has been perfect for 190k miles. I do have one more 3qrt fluid change to do. Was considering taking to AAMCO to see if they can give me an estimate of what it needs. Any suggestions?

 

You should switch to Valvoline Maxlife full synthetic ATF instead of using DW1 and replace 100% of the trans fluid. Maybe try a shot of XADO EX 120.

 

Hmm just dropped 100 for HONDA DW1. Was going to do my last change of the 3x3 change.

How to remove 100% of the oil when much is in the torque converter? Another 3x3?

 

Do the stop n go while doing the dump n fill.

You will know you have changed 100% of ATF when fluild is clean and not dirty... ATF is similar to new ATF color, probably around 5x3 but only the Stop n Go will purge torque converter too.

 

No need to use Valvoline instead of DW1.

DW1 is fine, it was the Z1 fluid that was garbage.

Continue with the drain and fills until fluid looks clean and change the solenoids. Only around 120 shipped for genuine Honda parts.

You say it shifts fine in manual mode which leads me to believe the solenoid change may help.

You spends more than the 120 just to diagnose it at the dealer.

 

Turned the car into a transmission place today. Got gradually worse over the past week or so. Could barely drive it, wouldn't go over 25 MPH. Think the trans is toast. Waiting on the estimate. I'm sure it will be 2500+

 

[QUOTE=kihon;16535434]Turned the car into a transmission place today. Got gradually worse over the past week or so. Could barely drive it, wouldn't go over 25 MPH. Think the trans is toast. Waiting on the estimate. I'm sure it will be 2500+[/QUOTE

I also have a 2005 Acura TSX with Navi. Bought it new. Transmission failed at around 165,000 miles several years ago. I babied car but did a lot of stop and go city driving. I am sure that it would have gone way over 200,000 if I did more highway driving.

I decided to get my car fixed since a lot of owners have gotten over 300,000 miles on their original engines. Car had a lot of life left. I know of one person with over 500.000 miles on their TSX. I decided to get a used JDM transmission imported from Japan. These supposedly have up to 62,000 miles max. I have been very happy with it. Price of used transmission and labor was $1600.

 

Yeah it would make more sense to get a lower mileage transmission than going through with a rebuild.

As for the movement after shifting into d, it sounds like a motor/trans mount is shot. I had the same problem on a previous Honda. Might want to have that checked out as well as your other mounts while things are more accessible.

 

[QUOTE=Miamicarfan;16535580]I'd agree with all of this. I had an 05 that I sold with around 170K miles on it (original owner). Miles were all highway, and with proper care (3 qrt. drop and fill every 30K miles), I never had any trouble with the trans. It still performed as new when I got rid of it. I still have the 07 (original owner). 240K miles, all highway on this one too (so far), and similar maintenance for the tranny. Still works great. Both of these cars were/have been bullet proof, with just maintenance and wear and tear items since new. I agree that many are probably worth doing what's necessary to keep them around. Being the original owner of both of mine (and knowing the total service history) are huge pluses. That said, I also realize that with 240K miles on anything, anything can go wrong at any time.

 

Wanted to come back and fill you all in on how this went. Ended up with a new rebuilt transmission installed from an indy local trans only shop. Ended up needing 4 new motor mounts as well. I did verify they broken. All for $3500 total. Yes, we're in expensive Southern CA. One thing that happened was that they called me prior to checking out the trans to tell me that the engine was missing. I went over to the shop and sure enough it was missing. They allowed me to run an compression test in the parking lot. All cyls were 210psi and above. Pulled codes, misfire cyl2. I ended up ordering a new coilpack and installed it. Ran good, cleared the codes. Back to the trans.

Ended up paying for the built trans with 24k/2 year warranty. Service mgr told me that usually Honda/Acuras only get around 125-150k on their trans. Originally only bought the car for $4500, checked out other used forsale and they were around 3-4 k with 130k on it. AKA maybe needing another trans.

Long story short, car runs PERFECT now. They will drain and refill trans at 1 month and they recommended doing it every 15k, single oil change.

My son is happy with his car now...

 

Glad you fixed your car and will be keeping it. :-)