trsman

This just started yesterday.

First symptom:
Put car in drive and it appeared to pop in out out of 1st real quick as I pulled away. I thought it was because I pulled away rather quickly.

Second Symptom:
I can make this happen!
Only when slowing down going to make a rolling right turn and after the turn getting back on the gas.

The engine revs and then goes into gear. No clunk though. If I come to a complete stop at a stoplight no issues accelerating off.

Car has been owned by me for 8,000 miles and it currently has 83,000 on the odometer. I have no idea if anything transmission was has been done to the car.

Thoughts?

Regards,
Jamie

huludicidal

Does this seem like the clutch is slipping or is the shifter snapping back to neutral from gear?

trsman

I should have added the important point that this is an AUTO, and now it is not drivable.

I took it back out today to test more and it was having trouble going into reverse and 1st. It also was reluctant to shift into other gears also. I almost did not get home. Interestingly enough it did shift after resetting the ECU, but it did start acting up again. This is odd to me.

I have called Acura, which is almost 2 hours away and they are going to see about some goodwill. They told me they have never had to replace one of these transmissions.

Funny thing is I got rid of a great 03 TL because I was worried about a potential transmission failure on it, which never happened.

mrgold35

I made the mistake with a 97 Honda Accord 4AT a few years ago and did one of those 99% tranny flush and replaced with non-Honda ATF at a quickie lube place. I had the same symptoms about 8-10 months down the road until the car would not go into gear at all.

I was able to find a used transmission and it cost me about $1100 to fix. It is very rare to have 5AT failure on the TSX. Even if you never changed the tranny oil, I think the normal service interval is +90,000 miles.

Maybe the previous owner did a tranny flush/replace with non-Honda ATF. I'll say be very nice to your Acura service department. I could see a replacement 5AT costing +$4000.

trsman

I have been on the phone with the assistant service manager at my not so local Acura dealer and he is working on some good will.

It sucks because I bought the car used 9 months ago and I have only put 9000 miles on it. They car was a local trade and was bought at that Acura Dealership.

It is weird because I got in the car last night and I could in the driveway get it to shift back and forth between drive and reverse, but after 4 or 5 times it was not to happy about going into drive. The transmission fluid is not low, it is not red, but a light brown color.

Miamicarfan

Normal service interval, according to the owners manual for 2005 Acura TSX, is 110,000 miles or 6 years.

trsman

Well the Acura dealer said they would have to inspect the car and would need prior service records. This is coming from whom ever he contacted. If the tranny does not need servicing until after my current mileage (84000) then what the heck do they need service records for? I of course don't have any service records since the car was bought used. I asked for them, but none were there.

Acura is 50 miles from my home.

Simba91102

I can understand the dealer asking for service records, but since they sold you the car, and they don't have access, then it seems unreasonable of them to think that you might. This is the dealer you bought the car from, so they would be in the best position to try and locate any service records that may be at another dealer or the dealer who sold the car originally (service records are kept on file only at the servicing dealer, not on a central Honda network)(warranty work would be available though). This has always irked me by the way. In this day and age you'd think it would be pretty easy for them (Honda for example) to have a service "clearing house" or some such to make it easy for another dealer to access a car's service history (for work performed by any dealer that is). If nothing else, this could be a selling feature for a dealer's service department. I digress.... Since you've enjoyed little success to date with the selling dealer, unless you could make out financially (like they'll fix it for free), perhaps you could think about finding (and using) a (more local) Honda dealer. They should be able to service your TSX (let's face it.... it's a Honda) and maybe save you the 50 mile drive (they might be cheaper too).

At first I thought this might just be a fluid issue, but after reading your posts again (and again), I'm inclined to think now that it's the transmission itself. Sounds electrical (which means little since the whole thing is controlled electronically; the fluid just does the work). I'm not at all familiar with the transmission, but there may be a shift module or something along those lines that's acting up. Maybe someone who knows more about the AT could chime in.

trsman

To be clear I did not buy this car from this Acura dealer. I bought it used 8 months ago from a non acura dealer. It was originally purchased at this Acura dealer though and it was a one owner local trade with a clean car fax. Since this person also lives 50 miles away from Acura I am not surprised they did not take it there for every service

I am thinking about just having it towed to my local Honda dealer which is much closer than Acura and let them tell me what is wrong with it. I trust that my Honda dealer would hopefully find the real problem with the car and not just say I need a rebuild, like I think a local transmission shop might just say.

I too am afraid that it is the transmission and I don't even want to know how much it is going to cost.

I am thinking about calling another Acura dealer 1 hour away in the other direction.

nj2pa2nc

sorry to hear of your problems and hope everything works out for you. I own a 06 tsx. I have all the service done by acura dealers. While having my car serviced one time at the dealer in Pa I asked to see the carfax on my car. None of the service I had done showed up so if someone were to look at it-they would think it was never serviced. I found out that dealer or the one in NC does not share info with them. I do get the maintenance book filled out, stamped and I keep all receipts. Good luck to you The dealer near me in NC is about 35 miles away and when I am in NJ the Pa dealer is about 125 miles.

LuvMyTSX

Any updates?

Sucks that you don't have any service records for the car. When I traded my 04, I handed over a huge folder with every single service receipt from my ownership, including any copies of TSBs or recalls that were done, attached to the corresponding receipt.

trsman

So my TSX has been sitting in the driveway for 2 weeks now. I can start it, shift into drive and reverse just fine, but I am not going to take it out on the road.

My neighbor, who is a mechanic says the symptoms sound like a clogged filter. So I am willing to change the fluid and the filter to see if this helps or solves my problem. I am a bit confused though as some people have referenced this link as bing the filter :
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...5&flexid=&cj=1

But, I have found this link and it shows a round inline filter, which I have visually located under the hood. #4 in the diagram http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...s=&view=normal

Which one is it?

Simba91102

It's #4, but it's not a serviceable item. What I mean is there's no change interval recommended by Honda (lifetime I guess, though I changed it in both of ours). You could try a fluid change and see if that does it. The fluid change is kind of a pain in the neck, but fortunately it doesn't need to be done too often. This is much easier if you pull off the belly pan (see.... pain in the neck). Warm up the fluid, drain it, fill the trans. w/ new fluid (3 quarts, and I put it in through the dipstick tube), run it, then repeat two more times (3 drains total, and shift it in and out of gear a few times before you drain it again). Don't forget to get a new washer for the drain plug (and yes, I learned from experience that it does (or at least can) make a difference. You don't want to get everything back together and find a leak)(the belly pan thing, remember?). That should do it. Try it out and hopefully it will shift better for you.

trsman

I have ordered 9 quarts of ATF-Z1, a crush washer and the filter from acurapartssource.com. Total came to $77 with shipping.

trsman

Drained and replaced transmission fluid 3x and changed the filter. Drove the car and it shifted trouble free for several hundred miles and then wham. Same problem as above. D4 light flashed along with Check VSA, Check Emissions, Check Transmission. I shut it off and had it towed home.

Not sure, but I think my next step is to have it towed to Honda.

jmathew34

Just an FYI, there are two sensors on the back of the transmission that may need to be replaced; I dont have my Helm's manual handy but I will try and look them up and post here later today. You might want to pull the diagnostics code if your check engine light is still on...

I had the problem in which the D4/VSA/Engine/ lights on the dash went crazy. This occurred when I would be driving in auto-mode and sport-shift mode...I haven't changed the sensors as of yet but a scantool pointed me in the right direction...

trsman

jMathew,

Did your transmission act up like mine or just flashing lights?

stevejojo

If it's just flashing lights, there's a chance it might just be the ECU

jmathew34

I did not notice the symptoms your car is having but there were times when i was in sport-shift mode and went to upshift or downshift there was no response. The dashboard would then light up like a christmas tree and I would lose the sport-shift functionality until I turned the car off and back on again. FYI this started happening around 110k miles for me and I'm at 176k now...

trsman

It is getting towed to a shop today. I will keep this thread updated.

trsman

UPDATE:

TSX is in a local Honda Acura Transmission shop that was referred to me by 2 people I work with that take their cars there. I had it towed there and they said the pressure was down and there was metal in the transmission screen meaning something is coming apart. I am getting a used transmission (they said from Japan?) that has 37,000 miles on it. 6 month unlimited warranty on the transmission. Should be ready next week.

Transmission and parts $1500
Labor and tax $800
Total $2300 Ouch, but not as bad as Acura, they told me 4 G!

I also asked him to check out the steering rack, since he would have it off. I hear mine squeaking when turning at low speeds

It is funny, I got rid of a TL at 100,000 miles so I would not have to deal with a flaky transmission, which never gave me a problem, only to end up with a car with a blown tranny.

I will update when I get it back.

trsman

Ok, I have a concern and I need some advice.

Background.

Two people I work with now, who have a long history of owning Honda's suggested this Honda / Acura garage to me. I trust their word 100% as I have worked side by side with them for almost 3 years.

Yesterday I got a status update from the shop owner and he said he was "waiting on delivery of my transmission and it should be ready in a few days." Fine, no problem. Then he went on to say it was more work than he anticipated and he "pulled the engine and transmission out together." I was a bit thrown off by this, but at the time did not think too much about it as I was busy at the time of his call.

I am sure he had reasons to pull both out, but should I be concerned that the engine is also out of the car? To me it seems like I should be.

The entire job is warrantied for 6 months unlimited miles which is fine for the transmission, but I may have trouble linking something else to this job if something goes wrong with any of the other components engine related.

In the end what is done is done. The shop owner told me he has replaces hundreds of Acura and Honda transmissions. eh has also done some major work on my co-wrokers Hondas and they have no complaints.

I guess I will get a better idea once I get the car back. The question now is this car worth keeping?

What would you do?

Simba91102

It seems to me that the engine and transmission/differential are more one unit than not, so I'm pretty sure that pulling them as a unit is the only practical way to get one or the other out. It sounds like your guy has done this before (always a good thing), and the motor is already out, so..... wait and see I guess.

trsman

I hope so. I have had another friend of mine tell me the same thing today, so maybe it is ok.

This video is interesting and also what made me think that it could come out without the engine. This might be an Acura dealership though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoP5Qx34kL8

Simba91102

Cool video (sucks watching it in 5 second increments though), and I see what you mean. But..... by the time they removed the transmission, the engine was pretty loose in there (for all intents and purposes), plus gees, they pulled virtually the whole front end of the car off. I think I had rather have just the whole unit taken out (from above) and see maybe just the hood taken off instead of the front subframe and suspension (I'm guessing that by taking the engine/transmission/differential out as a unit, he/they could pull it out from above). And there may be a difference in labor cost by doing it that way (you're saving about $1500 and some of that may be labor). But.... it's all after the fact, so stop torturing yourself about how the job is being done! Just look at the positive and think of the money you're saving, and hopefully your car will be fine when you get it back. Remember.... we're not shipping a man to the moon here!

Miamicarfan

Guys:

Wouldn't the transmission (part only) have been considerably less than $1500 if obtained at a junk yard?

Trsman: Do you have any Aamco near you where you live? This is a nationwide transmission place.

PaHonda

If you look at a site like car-part.com the price ranges from $400 to $2000, so the average is around $1200.

That doesn't take into account if the replacement transmission for $1500 is a rebuild, has a warranty, or the miles on the transmission.

trsman

Simba91102: He mentioned he was dropping the power steering rack, so I assume it all came out from the bottom.

I did find a local (45 miles away) transmission through car-parts.com for $1000, but it had 57,000 miles on it and it was warrantied, but as a transmission not as a whole parts/ install warranty. Also,I should mention that the transmission was actually $1400, with $100 in extra supplies, which is understandable, fluid etc.

I wish I could get by there to take some pics, but I work out of town and he is an 8 - 5 shop.

trsman

Picked up my car yesterday and all is well.

I found out the transmission is from Japan and came out of an unwrecked Accord with 37,000 miles on it. He said that over there they only put so many miles on a car before discarding / recycling it? Interesting. I sure am glad to have my car back though!

Simba91102

That sounds kind of odd, but who knows? I'd be surprised if they'd take a Honda with 60K KM on it out of service just because of the mileage. That's just getting broken in! That's sucks having the trans. go so early, but good luck with car.

Monkey69

Gotta luv Japan. How common are transmission replacements in 2004 TSX AT?

mrgold35

Japan has really strict and increasing emission testing/laws. I've read folks pretty much have to replace their cars every 5-6 years to be current. It would be too expensive to export right hand drive cars to North America or other markets and covert to left hand drive. Japan just parts out the cars and they can make more money selling parts to the rest of the world compared to selling the whole car.