Well first sign of slipping started Thursday & today it's doing it all over the place. D3, D4, D5, all speeds.

If I really step on it the tach swings & the motor revs as it
slips & then a Hard shift as it engages the next gear.
It's like it slips & catches,slips & catches. Herky-Jerky!

The 2-3 & 3-4 shift seems really bad.

I'm at 7560mi & need an oil change AND my actuator is broke.

I called the service guy about noon at Gillman Acura to schedule an appointment. I first told him about the IMRC & he didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about. He asked me to describe the problem. I kept explaining the valve that opens the 2 stage intake on the S models & he said they'd have to test drive it & duplicate it!?! When I mentioned the Helm's manual he said "we don't use Helms manuals, we use Acura Shop manuals!" jeez!
He also added, " If you've modded the car it Won't be covered under warranty!" I told him it was bone stock except for their tint!

Funny thing is when I mentioned the transmission slipping he was completely familiar with that. He was like, "oh yeah, well that slipping transmission we can diagnose!" I asked him if they've replaced any transmissions on CL-S or TL-S & he said that Yes they had replaced a few.
Hopefully they're up to speed on the slushbox issue!

I bummed!

 

About the no mods for warranty, if you had some mods, they would still have to cover the transmission, unless you screwed with the trans.. I would think the actuator should be covered to no matter what..........damn, i need to check my actuator, well first i gotta do a search to find where in the hell it is in my car.

 

Take it elsewhere!


We need to BOYCOTT all this fucking dealerships that won't cover us if we're modded.


Fuck'em!


Let's cut their business off, and give it to the good dealerships!

 

From the front of the car, it's at the top of the engine. Stand on the driver's side of the car and lean over and watch it while someone revs your engine to over 4 grand. If you see something swing open and shut, you're all good. Kinda hard to see it sometimes. Look for the brass pulleys with wire-cord going from them to the little actuator motor.

 

Ouch.....well so far mine is doing pretty good. 4300 miles. I tried to send you a email but they kept bouncing back. I private message ya. Hope you can get it fixed....

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about

 

RE: MODS...


What about this:

D2/D3 slipping == beginning of the end. The mod vs. warranty stuff is BS...


1. One person has headers, pulleys, CAI, etc, but drives easily and takes perfect care of the car and has some idiot dealer tell them that the transmission was damaged from the mods.

2. Another person with a perfectly stock car drives the car to redline when cold; drives like a pursuit video; takes it to the 'strip as often as possible; and gets all of the trannies fixed for free...


Hmmm... Something is wrong with this picture...

Can you find another dealer?

 

Well just got home & going to/from work today it didn't seem to start slipping
until the car had been running for a while & was warmed up.

Maybe these things do need a cooler ??
It's been getting into the '90's.

3rd gear seems particularly bad.
Can't seem to engage or hold that gear well.
I hope I make it until my service appointment on Weds. morning!


Have any of the '99 TL 4spd transmissions failed ??????

 

RE: 99 TL trannys failed (I believe this is true). I have no idea about the how and whys…

I am really starting to believe that there is a problem with the heat. Another guy mentioned the heat. Scalbert (Steve) also mentioned something about the "tranny" feeling better in warm/hot stop-'n-go traffic (or something very similar); remember, he had installed that nice B&M tranny cooler in the “correct” location for optimal heat removal.

I'm thinking of adding/modifying the tranny forum with some additional polls (percent of mix of city to hwy driving). Average temps (or something) -- give me any suggestions over in the tranny forum if you think you guys are on to something -- OK.

cnatra: I'm leaving you a PM

 

dude, you should use the correct term. It's called "200(1)(3) 3.2CL Service Manual". People on this board have been calling it "the HELM manual" just for short. HELM Inc don't publish the manual, they just sell it. The manual is published by Honda Motor Co.

Like I said in the Houston meet post, give John Eagle Acura on HW6 a call and ask for Roman or bring your car in. I hope you'll get better service.

 

Correct, the book is one of many "Honda Service Manuals" and is a production of their Service Publications Office. However, the term "Helm" or "Helms" or "Helm's" has become so well associated with people in this forum, that unless a "blank" face shows up at a dealer, I think it would be possible to lay off the corrections. When I’ve mentioned the “HELMs” to dealer and other service people, they generally knew what I was talking about. (IMO, it’s a cheap-o IQ test…)

You are correct, but I am a bit wary of "industry people" that have trouble with "generic" terms...

I could site more examples along similar lines, but will spare you...

I could also tell you about some of the various publications that “blur” the receive full content from the manufacturer, but perform editing and other tasks that blur the line you mentioned…

BTW, my manual is the "Acura 3.2CL Service Manual 2001" (and includes info on the CL and CL Type-S)

They carry the:

2001 CL SERVICE MANUAL
2001 3.2 CL ELECTRICAL TROUBLESHOOTING MANUAL
2001-2002 ACURA 3.2 CL SERVICE MANUAL
…
…
2001-2003 ACURA 3.2 CL SERVICE MANUAL
…
1999-2001 ACURA SERVICE BULLETIN MANUAL (PAGES ONLY)

AND SOMETHING that they should definitely have handy

TSI15-Troubleshooting Customer Needs - video
TSI16-Troubleshooting the Angry Customer – video
ATI20-Automatic Transmission: Troubleshooting - Video
ATI18-Automatic Transmission: Principles of Operation – Video

 

Personal opinion, I know a Tranny cooler helps, but I rather not add one. It's something the dealer can blame for not proper cooling on the tranny if they wanted too. Then they can void the warranty which is bad on our trannies. I rather not and just let them die.

 

Also true and one of the reasons I'm a bit "slow" about just "doing it"...

AND

If someone did a tranny cooler install, and had one or more fittings come loose, causing a loss of ATF, they [Acura] would probably recount the story again and again...

If someone put a tranny cooler on the car and it "interfered" with the "warmer" part of the CLS' current transmission "intercooler" (actually a warmer and cooler using the thermostatically regulated coolant as its heat transfer medium, they could always "blame" a problem on ATF being too viscous and/or too cold.

I believe that Scalbert's tranny cooler pioneering with the B&M cooler used in conjunction with the "stock" cooler is basically sound. The B&M routes fluid around the "cooling" fins based on viscosity (temp control mechanism) and still gets a reasonably fast heat-up. If someone wanted to get "extra weenie" about this, they could probably spend the time to chart the stock temps, and then make sure that an add-on system DID not interfere with warm-up and only prevented the temperature from exceeding 175 degrees F.

Even with a well thought out design, there are always going to be dealers and others (take your pick) who will be happy to "blame" the cooler for any transmission failure. However, there could be some compelling reasons for someone to "design" a "plug 'n play" tranny cooler kit that could be installed and removed quickly in case of any problems.

You do realize that if someone wanted to get "nasty", they could simply void your warranty by saying that you "abused" the transmission by having a CAI or a lightened pulley...

I know a cooler isn't a panacea, but the theory (of how much heat is not getting handled) SEEMS to point at some types of failures…

If my car was out of warranty, I would already by online ordering the parts for the tranny cooler parts..

IMO, Acura could save face by offering a factory approved tranny cooler kit as a "heavy duty"/"hot climate" option.

 

Yeah, I thought about that a bit & realized that "Helms Manual" is a generic term here on the board for Acura Service manual BUT it does list Helms in the owners manual as the source for a Service manual. It obviously flew below the service guy's radar.
I plan on showing him my Acura Service manual & the info/pics I printed off the FAQ about the IMRC.

Tranny still slipping sporadicly.