Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to do an auto-to-manual tranny swap in an '01 CL-S? I need some help BAD from ANYONE WHO CAN GIVE IT. The 1st tranny in the car went out at 71k and now I'm at 112k and the 2nd one is crapping out. I've tried to trade the car in for both an escalade and an inifnity QX4, but couldn't get financed... I recently got married and spent a LOT of money. It's going to cost me at least $3,000 a pop every time now for the auto tranny, that's what Acura quoted me at a few minutes ago. I'm thinking it will be funner to drive and be a better decision since the 6 speeds are way more reliable than the 5ATs. I'm thinking of letting it sit for a few months until I can afford it if it will cost upwards of $5,000. Any ideas / help what-so-ever is MORE THAN GREATLY appreciated!

 

lease an accord v6 mt. attempting the swap will cost you about 2 years worth of payments on the lease.

 

I would imgaine $5k is a pretty good ballpark figure if you have people who can hook you up with parts or labor for cheap. Might be better to get something less pricey for a while.

 

Another thought, correct me if I'm wrong, but the headers I currently have won't be useable if they do the tranny swap, will they? =(

 

See thats the whole thing, I won't be able to sell the car unless I get the tranny fixed. And if I trade it in, I'm going to be going about $3,000 upside down on it... So right now the options are A) Let it sit and make payments on it, or B) Fix the fucking tranny.... I'm so fucking pissed....

 

Nope. The 6MT headers have a bend to clear a motor mount that the manual has that the 5ATs don't.

And if you want to make the car last, look into a built transmission from Speed Distributors. Their trannsmissions can take close to 500hp I belive and will last the life of the car probably. Once you get a rebuilt transmisson (a stonger rebuilt than the factory crap), the car should last a long time.

Oh and the Speed Distributors trans is like 3.5-4k bucks maybe, a manual swap would easily be in excess of 5k not to mention its never been done and may not work.

 

Have you contacted Acura customer care and tried to negotiate w/them on a replacement tranny?

 

i also would recommend getting the speed distributors transmission. beefed up internals and efficient TQ converter... but same gearing so dont expect any changes there.

 

The swap can be done, it has never been done before, but it would cost upwards of $10k to complete. Also you car wouldn't be street legal, and would be virtually worthless if you ever wanted to sell it with the exception of totally parting it out.

In other words. You could replace your automatic transmission 3 times and still not spend as much as you'd pay for a manual transmission conversion.

 

I believe it is much less than that. Like under $3k.

 

With shipping it would be close to 3, or 4 for the stage 2. Plus it needs to be installed in the car.

 

Excuses, excuses :P

 

I really feel for ya -- my first went out at the exact same mileage as yours, and the second one is holding up fine at 109k. I'm gonna be scared in 3k more!!! I haven't figured out what I'm gonna do if I have to replace it out-of-pocket. Please keep us informed on your decision, what you paid, where, etc. I'm sure I'll eventually look this thread up and use it!

 

Well I'm sure this is going to come as quite a shocker, I nearly pissed myself after I got the news that I found out about a week ago.

Turns out, I'm getting a new transmission, put in by acura, at the dealership, but FOR FREE. Thats right, I called Frank Leta Ac in St. Louis (where I get the car serviced) and talked to the service manager, told him my situation, and he called someone (his boss I'd say) and turns out I'm getting a free acura tranny... I'm not expecting it to last, as none of them do, but hey, it's free... And it's got a 1 year 12k mile warranty on it. So I'll probably end up driving it a little over the next year, try not to put many miles on it, then sell it. =( But I absolutely could not believe that I got the tranny for free, since my mileage is 112,650. I believe the St. Louis dealer when they say their customer service department is the best in the nation now....

 

That's awesome, I love Frank Leta. They are 10x better than Dave Mungenast. Good to hear they are taking care of you.