SiGGy

20k on her.

My trans was sticking in 2nd gear (couldnt even shift it in manual) and hard into 3rd (slipping). Drivers and passenger window motors bad, drivers window seal bad, A/C-Heat blower motor bad. Warped front right disc rotor. Moon roof rattling. And all of the rattles comming from the back deck by the speakers. Not not mention the cheezy (mainly due to the govt.) paint job. Ohh ya, and the powersteering pump that sprayed fluid all over the engine compartment!

I don't care if the car has a few problems, but the tranny?!!?

I dropped the car off at the dealship. They had no problem fixing all of the minor problems! (not that they have yet!) But when they took the trans fluid out it was black!! (looked like used motor oil black (VERY USED)) anyone else have this happen?

Or any of the rest of this crap? All on the same car?

I've read a few posts on various problems others have had (moon roof). But the trans has me a little worried. And all of the other things are just adding up at this point. Needless to say I'm not very happy! But, I'll be totally happy with Acura if they get it fixed right the 1st time. I'm really starting to feel they cut some corners making this car.

EricL

A tranny fluid flush may help (I know someone who did it – it helped somewhat …probably just delaying the replacement )

Black ATF is not a great thing. Jens, a well-know and reliable Acura technician, mentioned how the failed trannies had dark, smelly fluid (something about draining them prior to shipment to the Acura “rehabilitation center”.) Add the slip (flare) issues, and I think your headed to the 5th circle of transmission hell.

You tranny is showing the classic, "I think I'll be limping home soon..." syndrome

Fabvsix

Your transmission is fried ! Join the list of folks waiting for their transmissons ! I've heard 30 days plus waiting period.......All your other complaints are common. Once you have them fixed, you be alright. Just stay on top of your transmission issue !

AND keep us posted !

ShadyUpInSmoke

whatever it is...it cant be good.

Jens H.

Sorry to hear of another customer with the trans blues.try not to worry Acura is doing all it can and then some to get this solved meantime look on the bright side ,warranty will fix it !!! Jens

Moog-Type-S

What are your driving habits? It seems strange to have the Trans start to take a dive at your mileage...you would think it would have gone earlier.

Type S

wow.your cls seems haing a lot of problem .do u get it repaird by warranty one by one? must take u a lot of time run in and out of acura dealer ...

SiGGy

I don't beat on the car at all. The trans problems started showing up (I could tell) at about 14k. The 1st sign was that it was slipping into 3rd gear! Then after about +3k miles it started sticking in second gear! But only when I went around a right hand turn at about 10 MPH, it would downshift into 2nd and just hang in that gear! *VERY* embarissing when I have people in my car! And a safety hazzard for anyone else on the roads! Because I can only go so fast in 2nd! :-P

Now I'm in a 2002 RSX. The dealer called me this morning and told me that they could get the trans, and have it installed by friday. I'm feeling a little skeptical about this,as everyone else has had approx. 30 days of wait time to get one.

(any absolute Acura fans who are being ignorant of the obvious engineering problems might not want to read past this part)

I hate to say it but this car is a POS! I have owned 12 cars now. And this is car is #1 in problems next to my Jeep Grand Cherokee! Which was new, and I traded that in because of tranny problems! Here I am thinking Acura was a reliable car! HA! I really hope it takes 30 days to get my tranny. I want my money back and I'll put it into something else this time! Yes, everything that is made by humans is going to have flaws! But this is not a FLAW! Its a design/engineering problem that needs to be addressed by Acura, recalled and fixed!

There is a ton of other charector (cheap) flaws! The cheap mounted door handles! Which arent even close to being solid on the doors. Cheezy leather/seats... The "Oh sh*t handles" for the passengers in the back aren't even mounted solid to the car! They have a ton of play in them! Cheezy plastic wood! (I'll admit I knew it had that before I bought it) And all of my noted problems above! Which unfortunetly seem to be common. Well be happy I don't diss this car to anyone who asks only because I'm embarrised I paid 35k for a poorly engineered car! I tell people who ask that this is a minor problem and it will get fixed, but the only thing I'm accomplishing doing that is lying to myself....

I assume Acura just sent this model out the door a little too quickly, as their other cars seem to not have these problems.

2001
CLS - Navi
Black/Emparchment
Full Wood Trim
Moon roof Visor
Splash Guards
2x10" JL audio
Phoenix Gold ZX series amps.

typeR

my fear is acura will engineer a fix for the problem but those of us that dont have tranny problems will still have this slow ass shifting slush box and you that get a replacement will get better quicker firmer shifts...

EricL

I don't know about the firmer shifts...

However, if you really want a "new" box that bad... You could

a) Call Jens for some of that "used" black goop pretending to be ATF, and put into your tranny for a few thousand miles..

2) Mix up some magnetic material (think small iron particles). Toss in the ATF to confuse and jamb up the solenoids, and you should have dueling clutch packs in no time (smoked city)...

spiroh

Sorry, but I have to agree with Siggy. Aside from all the damn rattles everywhere including one from the sunroof that the dealer was unable to fix. The weird noise coming from the vents (like paper is stuck in there) If my tranny goes I will consider getting rid of this car. I really need to take it to the dealer and take care of the small stuff. But I dont think I can handle another Honda tranny going out in my family.

louisn

Siggy, did you not even inspect, look, or drive your CL before you bought it? Besides the transmission all your complaints were discoverable by a buyer who used due dilligence.

spiroh

Bullshit..None of the problems I'm having were there when I first bought the car. They all started later. Do you honestly think half of us would buy our cars if we knew about the rattles, and othe rminor problems? I would of gone with a car a little bit more solid.

SiGGy

RE: Siggy, did you not even inspect, look, or drive your CL before you bought it? Besides the transmission all your complaints were discoverable by a buyer who used due dilligence.

Uhh ya, DUH!

Please sell me a car for 35k and that rattles! I'm not a complete dolt. I spent 8 months looking at cars. It's just the Acura was definetly the most bang for your buck! None of my problems existed at the time of purchase. Or even the 1st few months.

How are you supposed to spot a bad tranny at the dealer?

Bad windows seals?

Bad window motors?

Soon to be warped rotors?

And a soon to be rattling moon roof and rear shelf?

SiGGy

Well... as everyone has said. The dealer called back and said it was going to be 3-4 weeks before they *might* have it. They offered a full size car from a local rental place. But I'm going to stick with the RSX they gave me. Bah

mackdaddy

May the force be with you siGGy.....

Spiroh - you've actually got the ballz to take your car in for rattles with all the Comptech goodies installed? Props to you bro, as I fear my dealer is going to tell me to get bent. Early on in the game, I asked them if they installed Comptech products (logical question.) They looked at me as if I were a lepper. "We don't support any of those aftermarker parts manufacturers.."

Stupid fuckers.

CLS899

SiGGy,

File a Lemon Law claim. Get your money back and buy another car. Good Luck!

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Yeah and i bought the car cuz I thought it was reliable.
LOL
my tranny was slipping but dealer just flused it , its a lil better still griding a little.
All i had is bad luck w/this car..

Bluto

I'm with you spiroh. If the tranny goes, I'm getting out while the get'n is good. I have a 17k trouble free miles on my car. If the tranny goes, my first stop after the a new tranny would be Carmax for an appraisal. This is my first Honda/Acura. I don't any brand loyalty. But, this is the plan until I'm convinced Honda/Acura has solved the tranny problem.

Bluto

My dealer said they install anything, as long as it is Comptech. I was a little suprised because of the general attituide I recieve there. So I can't complain.

spiroh

I was screwed big time by a dealer with my GS-R, because of mods. I promised to myself I wouldnt mod this car. Oh well shit happens I dont mind taking my car in for rattles, because I know and they know that rattles cant be caused by perf mods. Especially if people are experiencing the same probs without mods.

JRock

For about the past 5k miles or so, after a hard, one or two gear redlining acceleration, once I've returned to normal driving style, I smell a faint faint FAINT burn-ish smell. Like when a car burns a little oil maybe? No, nevermind, not like that at all. I can't explain it. It's just an odor. I dunno how to describe it.

Anyway, point is, I've started wondering if I just have some burned up tranny fluid in the tranny or something.

Oh well I'll have to check my tranny fluid I guess and see if that's the case or not!

JRock

Well I just checked my fluid. Looked nice and clear. Very very faint reddish tinge. More like clear than red though. And it seemed pretty non-viscous so that's good.

Fabvsix

JRock,
I know what your talking about, I've smelled the same. I've checked everything, so I don't worry about it. Just one of things....

mackdaddy

Good point. I'll use that in my defense if needed on the rattle issues. They're really not that bad (most of the time,) but other times they drive me crazy.

Again, you're right about the others experience with this unmodded. Thanks for the confidence boost!

Jim

Jens H.

JRock:something quick for you to check ,take a look at your exhaust and see if there is anything stuck to it.I have seen more than a few instances of plastic bags getting stuck on the exhausts of cars and an odd burning smell getting into the car.Jens

SiGGy

Well, a bit less than a month later (3 days less) I did get my car back!

New tranny, blower motor, roof rack rattle fixed, power windows fixed, some part on the intake manifold, and a oil change.

So.. now you have to wonder... did they totally flush out all of the tranny lines? to remove all of the contamination!?

If that stuff isn't 100% clean I can only bet the second tranny will fail! Unless they had them replace everything related to the trans. I know they left the computer alone.

It shifts great again! I only hope it stays this way now...

I'm going to pop the hood and check the fluid color tonight. I hope its nice and red!!!

A+ for Acura on their service center (Superior Acura, KS)! They nearly bent over to make me happy! Even with the problems I've had with this car, I would purchase an Acura again in the future. However I'm not at all satisfied the the craftsmanship of my CL-S. And currently they do not make another vehicle that appeals to me. So once the waranty is gone, so is my Acura! But who knows what the future will bring.

I'll post another message if anything new turns up...

BSK181

THE moral of this story is the level of service you receive. it seems you were well taken care of. most of us usually are.

i dropped my car for service and was treated very well as usual by acura of valley stream. i complained of a rear rattle and they found it in the rear brake lite. they also did the sunroof again and the car is tight as a drum

i refused the 15k service bullshit($300) and got a $26 oil change. i did ask them to retorque the suspension and they did not charge for doing it.

all in all, service with a smile without spending big bucks. i guess they want me back again.