R.Tosh

I cant find any threads about this for the TSX.
So the last few weeks I've noticed that driving my car around town seems to get the transmission to slip. There is ice/snow and the town is on a hill so I can see why it may get warm.
Tonight was a different story. I was doing the same thing, driving for about 3 hours and I noticed it slipping badly. When I come to stop you can feel it shift hard into first gear after 1 second. When I took it home on the highway, I wasnt able to shift out of 3rd gear for awhile. It would build up the revs as normal but then totally lose its gear, redline, and then shift HARD into 4th. I also noticed that when you put it in SS mode, the gear number wouldn't display any number, and I wasn't able to shift up or down regardless of my speed.

I guess I cant really explain, I have 2 videos I'm trying to upload of these problems. The specs on the car are: 2004 TSX Auto. I bought it with 92,800kms in July 2008 and it now has 123,000kms (80% highway). There are no mods other than a short ram intake. I have full extended warranty until 152,000kms but I'm 300km from the dealer. I just replaced the transmission fluid at 120,000kms and the level is normal.


Help?
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=100_6606.flv

R.Tosh

After restarting the car, I was able to get sportshift working again. but after about a minute it stopped working.
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=100_6607.flv

LukeaTron

Hmm, that doesn't seem too right at all. I'd probably have the dealer take a look at it. I assume you're out of warranty by now. I'm not saying have the dealer do anything with it but they're probably going to be able to figure out the problem better than some generic shop.

Good luck and keep us updated.

2K6TSX

damn that doesn't seem good..I had a somewhat similar experience in my 98 accord v6..but that tranny was on its way out. Once it went completely limp on the hwy (revving but no acceleration), I had to stop at the side and turn off the car. When I restarted it, it was fine and I drove it for another few months until I sold the car.

valeratj

Tranny ECU ?

carmagnut

He mentioned he has some miles left till the extended warranty runs out.

I like it. He comes with a video and commentary. Awesome.

Other than that I have not much advise. Local tranny shop (which someone recommeds to you) or bringing it Acura would be the best thing to do. Keep us posted of the outcome. I have been wondering slightly about my tranny lately. It does not feel right in sport shift mode particularly.

LuvMyTSX

That does not sound good.

Back when I was driving my mom's car, I once had a problem where the car wouldn't shift past 3rd gear (auto tranny). Turned out it was a tranny leak and fixed for about $250. However, this seems a bit different. I'd definitely take it to the dealer ASAP. Good luck, at least you are under warranty.

ZildJonKim

No you don't have much advise... you don't have any other adviCe either...

carmagnut

WOW. Huge grammatical/spelling errors. LMAO. Thanks for pointing that out. It always makes me laugh when a lot of people on this site write "break" for brakes and "loose" for lose and there I go.

human668

Go straight to dealer and bring the videos. Just in case that your car suddenly acts back to normal in dealer.

Um... oh. One thing you may want to try. I'm 90% sure it will not solve the problem, but it doesn't hurt to try. Disconnect the car battery for 30min (make sure you have your radio code before you do it). From what I've heard, the ecu should be reseted by this method.

human668

R.Tosh: I just read your "I Finally got my TSX!". My 04 Auto makes the same noise. From my research on here and the other forum. Usually it is consider as normal by dealer and the car still runs with out any problem. Some lucky people had their transmission replaced and the noise was gone. After seeing your sloppy transmission and knowing that your tsx makes that noise, I really think you should let dealer look at it.

BTW, I like the way you place your front plate. How do you that?

R.Tosh

I started it to go to work this morning and the tranny works much better, but its still pretty loose. It shifts the same as an old 91 accord. If you've ever driven one of those cars, almost all of the trannys are loose in them. But this isn't a 15 year old accord with 250,000km.
It seems like the longer I run the car in town, the worse the transmission gets. Right from a cold engine, it still takes 2 whole seconds to engage into reverse gear. For the past few weeks it has had a burning smell after driving up a hill.
I cant take it to the Acura dealer where I bought it because its 300km away. I have a Honda dealer in town. Will they do warranty work?

I need to get a transmission flush done, because I really dont think this car has ever had one. Like I said, I replaced the ATF with Honda oil 3,000km ago, but the drain plug looked like it was covered in black sludge. Sorry for the bad cell phone pictures. I'm pretty sure the drain plug bolt isn't supposed to look like this.

LukeaTron

The plug is at the bottom of tranny where any heavy gunk in the fluid is going to accumulate. I'm not sure if you what you are seeing is what should be expected as I've never owned an AT vehicle. The burning smell is a sign of something very, very wrong. I know in the US you can get some warranty work done at Honda dealers. For something like this, they're probably going to want an Acura dealer to do it. I would take it to the Honda dealer ASAP and have them take a look.


Wait, you didn't put that 10W-40 in your transmission did you?

R.Tosh

haha no of course not. I replaced it with Honda ATF-Z1 oil. I'm going to call Honda tomorrow when I have time.

LukeaTron

Phew. Those pictures had me nervous. Let us know what you hear.

curls

Definitely an issue you want to have Acura look at. What I'd do personally is call your Acura dealer, and let them know that you're having these problems, send them the videos via email even, and also let them know that it's a 300km journey each way to drop the car off. Ask them very, very nicely if they can authorize your local Honda dealer to diagnose this and if required, repair it. You bought the extended warranty (or bought it CPO and got the warranty as such) -- I would hope they realize this and cut you some slack with the travel issue, etc.

Good luck!

R.Tosh

Off Topic: My front plate. I just bent the top and bottom edges of the plate for it to fit, then I zip tied it in place. I think it looks better than the bulky license plate bracket.

Actually, now that you mention it, that noise has gotten substantially louder since I bought the car. Its like there's a supercharger whine or something.

I called Acura and they told me to bring it to them, but then I told them I was a 3 hour drive away, so they told me to call my Honda dealer. I did and they said it should be covered under warranty if its extended warranty, and that's what I have. (3 years/60,000km. I have warranty until 152,900km). But first they need to diagnose the problem and that would be my cost.

It seems like the problem is getting worse the longer the car has been running. It runs pretty good when its cold. When its warm it now takes over 5 seconds for it to engage into reverse or drive, from park. 1-2-3 gears shift fine when accelerating, then 4th gear has a 1 second lag before engaging (only when upshifting). 5th seems to be fine.

As for the drain plug bolt. I asked a mechanic and he said that the tip is actually a magnet and it just collects any debris in the transmission oil. It's normal for it to look greasy.

curls

I'd agree with the mechanic RE the drain plug bolt.

However, if they (Honda?) are expecting you to pay for the diagnosis, will the Acura warranty refund you the cost of the diagnosis if the issue turns out to be a warranty issue? Or are you on the hook for the diagnosis regardless of the outcome? I guess you'd have to weigh that cost against driving 3-6 hours with a busted transmission, and go from there.

Just another (although probably borderline fraudulent) thought: Do you have free roadside assistance w/ a tow to the nearest Acura dealer, as part of the extended warranty? Maybe you could *cough*claim*cough* that the transmission isn't usable and get a free tow to the Acura dealer 3h away.

R.Tosh

The car is still drivable. I booked an appointment at Acura for this Friday morning, and I'm leaving it there for the weekend as I have plans to go to Vancouver. I will be followed by a friend to the dealer and carry on from there. It will probably take longer than friday and saturday so I will find a way back to get my car.

I took more videos from today and I'm keeping them incase it suddenly starts working properly. Before I take it to the dealer, should I replace my stock air box? I have an AEM short ram intake installed.

Miamicarfan

Good luck. Keep us posted. Just curious, did you try to get loaner from dealer? But otherwise it is worth driving all the way over there and letting the professionals who deal only with Acuras take care of it.

R.Tosh

Yes I did ask, and the service tech said it would be illegal to give me a car since I'm 19. In BC you need to be 25 to rent a car.

visuelz

I have a feeling it's a sensor issue. Can you go from park to drive without stepping on the brakes?

R.Tosh

No I can't.

I have noticed that when I'm sliding, or spinning the tires and turning with VSA turned off, there is a loud whining sound coming from what sounds like the front right wheel area. Almost like something is rubbing but I know nothing is. This only happens when I turn left hard and spin the tires too. This does not happen when I turn hard on dry roads or in a parking lot. Maybe this is why my transmission is beginning to fail? I'm not sure.

I drive with VSA turned off a lot because I don't like the traction control for around town. It's very hard to get into traffic from a stop when your VSA light constantly flashes (ice/snow), and 10 seconds later your doing 10kmh in a 50 zone with a car quickly approaching behind you.

I also use sportshift quite alot, but I dont see how this would affect my transmission after only 120,000km either. I'm averaging 50,000km+ per year at the rate I'm driving so it's mostly highway.

LukeaTron

I suspect it's going to be either something wrong inside the transmission or a problem with the ECU, more likely the former. If it were a sensor issue you would probably have a CEL by now. My guess is it's probably a blown actuator seal or something like that.

R.Tosh

Alright, I'm back from the dealer and I ended up leaving it there. It needs a new transmission.
For the last week Reverse and 4th gear have been really sloppy and bad. This morning at 4:30am I left home and realized I had no reverse or 4th gear at all! So I needed sportshift all the way to the dealer keeping it in 3 or 5. By the time I got down the hill in Kelowna, the sportshift stopped working again so I only had 3rd gear! lol it was perfect timing I guess.
I have no clue how long this will take, but I'll keep it posted.

valeratj

Another issue on the account of 04 TSX's....

LukeaTron

You are a fucking moron. This is an isolated thing that in no fucking way can be attributed to an 04 problem. A single incident does not a pattern make. Please stop talking.

DJNile

Tosh,

Anything your can think of or that the dealer may have mentioned as the reason for why this happened to the tranny so prematurely? Driving in sports shift mode excessively? Or the hills? Just trying to figure out why this might have happened?

R.Tosh

This is not an 04 TSX problem. My mfd. date is July 04. What month did they start making 05's?

I blame the snow.

R.Tosh

I have no clue. The dealer never mentioned anything other than it will be their first transmission they've put in a TSX.
It's probably due to using sportshift with VSA turned off, and then city driving for over 3 hours. But then if that were the case, wouldn't many taxi's be in need of new transmissions?

I have never revved it in neutral and put it in drive or reverse. But I have noticed over the course of this winter that the longer I drove it in town, the sloppier it would get. It finally wore its way down to having no reverse or 4th gear. Why would I lose 4th gear of all gears?? I can see maybe 1st or Reverse.

Miamicarfan

your mileage is only the equivalent of 76000 miles? that is much too early for transmission failure

Miamicarfan

2005 tsxs did not go on sale until about october 2004

rastaman

I heard that my TSX had a more than a few people with transmission problems and was advised to change my transmission fluid more regularly that stated by Acura. Not that this will help your current problem but it will help those that haven't had problems yet.

When I had mine changed I also had them use a special pump that pumped out 15 liters of fluid out instead of the 3-4 liters that people usually take out when they change the t-fluid. This way it properly cleans everything. I was amazed by how dirty the 15 liters of fluid was when it came out. It cost more because you have to pay for 15 liters of t-fluid but this is a very important job to do to maintain your transmission. Good luck.

sk1001

hmmm, since you had your tranny fluid changed not long ago this doesn't seem promising....

is the dealer covering the gbox under warranty?

LukeaTron

Rastaman, Honda advises not to use those purging machines on their transmissions. It can blow out the seals on the actuators then you have to pull the entire thing apart at great expense.

R.Tosh

I didn't tell them I just replaced my transmission fluid, but I could smell the transmission burning before I did this. It also does not say in the warranty that I can't do this myself. Actually, right after I replaced the fluid I noticed the transmission to be smoother than before. That only lasted for 1 day until returning to the original symptoms.
I will have to call them tomorrow. They are waiting for a call from FCPP (First Canadian Protection Plan) to get the go-ahead and install a new transmission. It is covered under my extended warranty and I don't see why they wont cover it.

rastaman

Thanks for the heads up. I will remember that in the future.

R.Tosh

The dealer called and informed me that a used transmission (72,000km) will be sent from Ontario and should take about 6 days. They also confirmed that they're covering it under warranty.
All is good so far.

visuelz

That's weird. How come they are giving you a used transmission? I thought they would give a new one or rebuild it?

R.Tosh

That isn't what Acura chose to do. They told me that FCPP went with that instead of a new transmission. FCPP is the extended warranty that I purchased, its not factory Acura warranty.