Ellakameleon

I have 85K on my M/T. The clutch and Tran were replaced by acura at 56K. Today just after I got off the interstate my 4th gear started grinding. It is only 4th gear that is messing up. But once it is in 4th it does fine. If I go from 3rd to 4th it grinds or from any other gear to 4th it does this. However if it is in 4th then I put it in Neutral then back in 4th it doesnt do it. I am planning to take it to Acura 1st thing tomorrow. Just wanted to see what everybody thought.

ck123

if they cant help, replace the mtf with GM synchromesh friction modified

Ellakameleon

Just talked to the dealer about the gear problem. They said because the tranny replaced at 56K was goodwilled and i did not pay for it that it does not have the 3/36 remanufactured warranty. It actually has NO warranty! If I had paid for this replacement then it would be covered. I have a M/T with 28K on it and it is only 10 mos old and the 4th gear synchro is bad and the dealer is more than likely not going to help me out on this 3rd tran. I am a female and do not drive my car hard at all. I am supposed to take it in on Wed after talking to the service manager. He said that he wants to see it and we will go from there...But he did inform me about there not being a warranty on it. I really feel like I am getting screwed and dont know what to do. I called Acura Client Services about the warranty thing and they did verify that there is not a warranty on it. I need some advice! PLEASE!!!

WlcTL

nothing they can do, they already help you out once before....i dont know maybe its the way you drive haha j/k but i dont see many people needing their trans rebuilt so often. All you can do it just pay for it goodluck

Simba91102

Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you. Looks like the bear got you on this deal. I hope Acura will help you out on this, but I'll be surprised. I can't speak of the TSX's reliability record for its' 6-speed, but I'm sure there are plenty here that can. You made out I guess on the first replacement (although there's no excuse for needing a transmission at 56K miles), Too bad they didn't mention the catch (no warranty). I wonder what they installed 28K miles ago (again no excuse for the bad 4th gear synchro now). Unfortunately, you really have no leverage here; you're more or less at their mercy. I'd suggest fixing it no matter what, drive it for the winter maybe, and then plan on replacing it in the spring (considering the miles, you may be planning this anyway). I hope you make out.

As an aside (no criticism here), if you're driving that many miles (80K miles so far on the car and 28K miles in 10 months is allot in my opinion) you really should consider buying an automatic. The manual trans models are harder to sell (you may hear differently from the m/t crowd, but ask your dealer; he'll back me up) and compound it with high mileage and your going to enjoy noticeably lower resale (assuming you care). Also, you should (notice I say should) have less transmission worries with the high miles you evidently drive. I always enjoyed driving a stick, but it my opinion they're warranty cars. IMHO, an automatic is the only way to go if you're going to pile on the miles.

Mskierki

I definitely agree here. Lots more parts = lots more reliability. K.I.S.S.

Ellakameleon

THank you for the advice. After buying this M/T i do regret it because I do drive so many miles and it can be a pain at times. I just still dont understand what would cause a synchro to go out after only 28K and the dealer not cover it. I am very grateful that they helped me so much the first time with my tran but I just cannot understand that they would not consider this a maunf defect possibly. I dont know much about a synchro and what would cause it to fail. Can someone explain this to me? I do not drive it hard but just say i did wouldnt the clutch be the first to go and not the tran?

LukeaTron

Have you ever seen the innards of an automatic transmission? It's an order of magnitude more complicated than a manual.

Ellakameleon, I can't think of anything that would cause a synchro to fail like that other than manufacturing defect. I suppose if you frequently skip 5th and go straight from 6th into 4th regularly it would put more than average wear on the part but to have it so suddenly stop working completely seems strange.

Of course it could be something other than the synchro like a bent shift fork.

Ellakameleon

I dont skip gears. I do downshift but i match the rpms and do not over rev the engine. And after finding out that the goodwill tran would have cost me over $5000 i have been especially careful with it since it was replaced. I would not do dumb things that I would think might harm that new tran. I am going to be as nice as possible when I go in on Wednesday although I am very pissed and do think I have a manu def in it. If they do decline to cover the whole amount do I have a case at all? Im trying to think ahead with this because I feel like it is going to get nasty with the dealer.

nbtx

It's possible the dealer installed a remanufactured tranny instead of a new one. If so, it may not have been rebuilt with correct tolerances or with a defective synchronizer on that gearset. New or rebuilt, the failure should not have happened so soon. The synchronizers are "clutches" between gears which match the speed of the gear being engaged with the toothed ring that the shifter fork is moving. Manual trans oil is specific to the application and it is possible the dealer didn't use the right stuff. There are many other possibilities for the failure. BTW, what failed on the original transmission might be a clue to what's happening with the replacement. Another possibility is a defective input shaft bearing in the crankshaft, or the mechanic damaged it when installing the trans. Good luck.

Ellakameleon

Is there a way to test the fluid to be sure they used the right thing? I know when they replaced the last one when I picked it up it wouldnt go into 1st gear at all. I could not believe this. I had to leave it with them to fix. Also about 2 months after it was installed it started falling out of 3rd gear. I took it to the dealer and he said they bled the lines but didnt change anything, and it never fell out of gear again. I have no documented paperwork on those 2 times because I really didnt think it would become an issue. I feel like someone was installing it that didnt know what they were doing. BTW it was a reman tran.

EJH

Since you're saying you had other problems with other gears in the past it could be the shift linkage, maybe it needs to be adjusted. I wouldn't go to the dealer to do that though since you have reason to question their ability.

nbtx

The dealer told you the job had no warrantee. Well that's a flat out lie - all remanufactured parts have some warrantee, usually 12 months or 12,000 miles whichever comes first. It's clear the mechanic botched the installation and the shop never wants to see the vehicle again. Call the dealer and insist they give you the details of the parts warrantees. Escalate to the general manager or owner if needed. If the tranny is still in warrantee, the rebuilder will provide a replacement, but the dealer eats the cost of replacement, so forward progress will not be easy. You might be able to negotiate a 50-50 payment agreement if the parts are out of warrantee.

Simba91102

In theory this may be true, but you're still at the mercy of the servicing dealer. Aside from the potential loss of a future sale, there's no reason for them to stand firm and say either you pay or go away. I had this experience with a Cadillac dealer once (on a used BMW actually) and your only real recourse is to explore legal options which are a hassle, time consuming, and could cost money (and they know this). And of course never buy a (insert brand name here) again. Also, I assume the re-builder here (again in theory) is Honda/Acura (I believe the dealers return items replaced under warranty to Acura for inspection and for all we know repair/reuse if possible). You can chase the servicing dealer and Acura all you want but they hold the cards. And for those of you that hold extended warranties in such disdain...................

Simba91102

This is true, but you have virtually none of the operator variables (which is a huge variable) that exist with a manual transmission car (and nothing designed to wear out under normal operating conditions like the clutch)(I know, everything wears out, but I believe there's nothing in an automatic transmision other than the fluid that is designed to wear out under normal operating conditions)(with regular maintence). My opinions were just that. If you buy a car for regular use and pile on allot of miles, and intend on keeping it till your up to 100K miles or more, in my experience the automatic route is a no brainer.

LukeaTron

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with your assessment of the fitness of automatic transmissions for vehicles intended to go the long haul. As you said, they remove main flaw with manual transmissions, the user. Mechanically though, they are way more complex.

I guess the only wear 'part' in an automatic transmission is the fluid since most of the time the coupling is happening in a viscous manner. I don't know how the whole lockup feature works though. Does it use some form of clutch? Either way, it's probably not going to experience much abuse since both sides of the tranny should be pretty well speed matched by the time it comes into play. As long as you take care of the fluid, an auto transmission should not need to be messed with short of random mechanical failures.

But I digress, this has mostly been out-loud wondering to myself.

Mskierki

I disagree that there is little wear in an automatic transmission. Yes, the power from the engine to the transmission is done via a torque converter and that probably has little wear on the veins. There is a separate clutch for each gear. There is also many more seals to go bad, there is at least three for each acutator and in reality many more for all the junctions. These can go bad based on time and heat.

The torque converter lock does use a clutch mechinism. However torque converters tend to be efficent at higher speeds so it only helps provide slightly more power to the road.

LukeaTron

I'm confused, isn't that exactly the opposite of what you said a few posts back? Anyway, keeping the fluid in good shape should keep the seals well conditioned but there's always the chance for a defect to cause a failure.

Cool. Good to know.

Mskierki

The comment about more problems = more reliability? That was sarcasm hence the KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

Keeping the fluid in shape will defenetly help with the longevity of the system. Just like changing the oil will help with the longevity of the engine. But, there are still more parts that could fail. The first post says in this thread sums it up. Here there are grinding of the gears when going in to fourth, but it is still usable. If a similar part went bad on an automatic, there would be no fourth gear.

Yep. Glad I could help you out.