Very happy with the car so far, as it's exactly what i've been wanting, even with all the transmission problems. Drove it home and around town a little before I found out that the girl who owned it before me didn't have the timing belt replaced (car's at 144k miles at the moment) so I immediately jacked it up and ordered a kit with a tensioner, timing belt, water pump etc. Those have all been replaced and as of now i'm just waiting on a front passenger side engine mount to come in as I found the one in mine to be broken. Anyways, now that you know a little about my CL i'd like to ask some questions.

1.) Transmisson, it's on it's way out far as I can tell. I keep it in D4 as it does not seem to grind gears and get torque converter shudder when prevented from going into fifth. Is there anything I can do to help extend the life of the tranny? I just bought the thing for 2,200 USD and I don't really want to spend another grand on a transmission so soon.

2.) Seat covers, I need em for the two front seats. I've tried universal fits but they don't seem to fit the type s's seats at all. Can you recommend any cheap ones that'll fit good in my car? Reason I need them so bad is that the girl left her dog in there one day when she went into the store and it tore the seats all up.

3.) Where can I get a new autodim mirror cheap? The chemicals in there have pretty much destroyed the mirror I have in there now.

Also any tips you guys can give on caring for the car are much appreciated.

 

You can buy new autodim mirrors for about 80-90 bucks from junkyard dealers online, or Ebay. I believe you can use an MDX mirror from around the same year. If it looks exactly the same than I think it works. Mine leaked internally and had a large bubble on the top so I replaced that.

I'm going to say that you're not going to find a new auto trans for a grand. With install you're probably looking at possibly $3500 new (you don't want a used trans). Without knowing what the body is like, and that you say the front seats are torn up, I think you overpaid for the car if the trans is going. Did you know the trans was going when you purchased the car?

I'd say definitely keep running the car in D4. A little while back I wrote up a post discussing what's wrong with the auto trans and how to drive the car to make it last. You can read it here: https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...75&postcount=6 Hope this helps.

 

accord trans swap.

go to junkyard and find some replacement seats.

 

Acura has the auto dim mirror and it is only 90$ when I bought it from them. I asked how it got cheaper.. They said people were pissed they had to replace the mirror so they sourced a cheaper alternative.. It's 100% identical to the original so... I would just go to the dlr for that one actually.

 

I agree that it's unlikely find a new transmission for less than a grand, but disagree with notion of not buying a used transmission so long as it isn't another one of our under-engineered, first-generation 5 speeds. It's possible to go the 7G Accord/3G Odyssey/4G TL swap route, though it obviously requires prudence in sourcing the unit and won't quite come in at a grand if one needs a shop to handle the labor. My swap cost about half of what you quoted.

 

Based on the limited (and scattered) information at hand across the forums, it seems like they MOSTLY fixed the problems with the auto transmissions after 2005ish, but that they can still go bust. Having had my first trans replaced under the lawsuit warranty recall and the second one die (not abused, just DD) after only 17,000 miles I can't recommend a trans that already has miles on it.

 

For whatever reason, I can't edit my previous posts, but I'd like to cite this thread (https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-transmission-recall-q-55/01-cls-shift-delay-reverse-drive-902631/) where user mpgilroy77 was quoted $6300 for a NEW trans for his CL, so expect to pay something like that if you go the new trans route through Acura themselves. That's more than the Kelly Blue Book value for a 105,000 mile Type S is worth.

 

Went to a junkyard yesterday and luckily found a mirror in good condition for only $25. Thanks for the info though, if this one goes bad i'll look into the MDX's mirrors.

No, unfortunately, I didn't when I bought it, got out on the highway and starting getting the torque converter shudders, grinding sounds etc. in 5th. I'm still happy with the 2,200 I paid for it though. I don't plan on taking it anywhere to get the trans replaced as I can do that myself. Looks like the transmission might be more expensive though than just a grand.

Body's in good condition, few small dings, repaint was done well.

Thanks a ton for the link also as i'll definitely be trying to make this thing last.

 

Also, unfortunately all the CL's i've found at junkyards are black interior while mine is the tan interior. One of them had VERY nice seats, however they were black =(

Anybody able to recommend any seat covers that will fit good? Our seats just aren't compatible with the universal stuff i've found.

 

Any used CL trans u put in their will die like the rest that is if its not already kind fucked when u put it in.

I would just rebuild ur broke on. Spend the money on the levelten.com rebuild kit and you will be fine..

I added a trans cooler and temp gauge to be even safer. i am at 60000 miles now and not a single hiccup. I also changed the to converter to a transtar and am happy with everything for sure.

Prior I had the trans rebuilt with stock components and no cooler and that last 26000 kilometres! So don't expect a NEW trans Per se solve ur issue.

The only reason my trans is holding together is cause the clutches are designed for high heat applications. These transmissions are proned to lack of fluid flowing over the clutch packs
Which generates a shit load of heat. So u need to solve that issue, do what I did, or swap the trans to the oddyssey or whatever it is people are throwing in them.

 

Damn only 26k km's? I'll check that out for sure though. I am not entirely sure what all rebuilding a transmission entails so i'll have to read up on that.

 

Any idea on what they wanted for that black drivers seat? Mines not in good shape. Id see if they'd ship it for a decent price. Seems all the junkyards around here want way too much for them. Its the downside of the internet: all these junkyards can look online and see what stuff sells for, no more haggling a good deal.

 

Sorry bud, I didn't ask, but I may go back soon and i'll be sure to get you a price if I do.

 

Oh, I just replaced the foglight bulbs by the way, and they are very dim. Is it supposed to be this way?

 

Yea they are just crappy incandescent bulbs. Get some small LEDs and throw them in. Don't get big ones tho cause hey do heat up and melt. Yes I have done it. 30$ bulb lasted 6 hours

 

Allright cool, thanks. Thinking about picking up some LED's for the interior as well so i'll do it all at once.

 

Congrats on the new ride. And yep, the foglights have no functional purpose...can't light up anything.

I'd also suggest replacing the sparkplugs...you'll feel a nice little difference.

 

Thanks yum, i'll be doing that very soon. I believe they were done on cylinders 2 and 4 though recently. Wondering how much time i've got left on this transmission right now to be honest, but I knew damn well when car shopping how bad they are in these cars, just didn't expect it to have problems so soon.

 

The harder u drive the car the more u are killing the trans. When summer rolls around it will be much worse as everything is much much hotter.

Both my trans failures were in the summer go figure.

What do u mean u had 2 sparkys changed and the other 4 not changed? That seems completely weird.

FYI do ur trans fluid.. If it comes out a nasty brown color you are in the trouble zone. It should reddish when it comes out and should smell like the new fluid..

But it may be brownish and smell burnt... If that is the case as it was for me. Prepare for battle

 

Sorry for late reply, real busy lately. Anyways guess i'll be driving it real easy then and trying to get as much out of it as I can.

Went through the maintenance receipts again and found the receipt for the spark plugs, looks like all 6 were done in mid 2012. Not sure why I thought only two were done as that would be weird indeed.

Trans is brown and nasty also. Just going to drive it till it dies and then swap in a remanufactured one or 06-07 accord tranny. Hopefully I can't get a month or two out of it with the cold weather we're having.

 

STOP! with 144K on the car do NOT drive it until you get the timing belt done. if that snaps you are FUBAR. This is an interference engine and damage will be done when the belt snaps. If this happens and you decide to repair the engine at an acura shop, you are looking at upwards of 3-4K depending upon what got messed up

Also, what exactly are your transmission problems? First thing I would do is change the fluid, drive it about 5 miles and change it again, drive 5 more miles and change it one last time. Dirty fluid causes these units to behave badly. If the transmission starts to behave normally, change the fluid every other oil change. Use the NEW Acura fluid, not the stuff specified in the owner's manual.

Next, are you SURE it's your torque converter? If it is, you would have problems in 3,4, and 5th gears...(this unit can engage the torque converter in 3rd or higher).

 

Thanks yeu, made sure to change the belt soon as I found out that it hadn't been done. Appreciate the response though.

Well my transmission problems just got much much worse. In fact i'm afraid to drive the car at the moment. It all started as I was about halfway home from work tonight, outside air temp 34 degrees, and I noticed vibration aswell as loss of acceleration and the check engine light would flash as I would push down on the pedal. Pushing down on the pedal would gain me very little speed but the rpm's would spike up. The vibration was very intense and when i'd shift gears it seemed to be much louder than usual. Also a smell almost kind of like burnt popcorn began to fill the car. Should I even attempt to try driving the car tomorrow???

 

trans troubles typically give you a flashing [D5] light. Burnt popcorn = some fluid is leaking out onto something hot. Do not drive car, get it over to a shop and inspected. a Flashing CEL usually indicates engine troubles. Check your drive belts as they are pretty much done at 144K. connect a scanner and reply back with what the codes are and we can help you.

 

Both my trans did not give a blinking d5. Neither was the engine light linking it was just on..

If it is blinking the car knows something is very wrong and should be addressed immediately. Sorry OP.

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