New topic time because this might open up a whole new area of investigation.

Please read this post:
http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...871#post609401

So maybe it's a computer problem. It fits the way people report them dying: randomly starts mis-shifting, eventually bangs a few wrong gears in a row, killing a gear or two completely.

Any thoughts?

 

I think you may be right. I also always thought it might have something to do with the computer/electrical system since many CLs with failing trannies have given the code to replace the shifting solenoid.

 

Well, that might explain why it happens most to people who use D5 mostly... but what about the SS people like myself? Hell - I only use D5 when I'm on the interstate, which is EXTREMELY rare.

Also - how would it explain the intermittant slippage?

I dunno - it seems more like it's a clutch problem with 2nd or 3rd (each gear in an auto has its own clutch) or a problem with the planetaries themselves. Clutch seems more likely to me, and that clutch problem may harm the planetary.

 

JRock-I dont know much about the cars ECU but it seems to be a pretty good theory. It all sounds correct. Anyone know a way to prove this?

 

Stop reading www.howstuffworks.com cuz it's painfully obvious.

Quick lesson: If it was a problem with the clutches or planetaries, there would be excessive heat. Heat leads to fluid breakdown = black goo......which doen't happen in these failures. It's not the clutches or the planetaries themselves, but rather the clutching of the planetaries. There's some doubt in my mind that it is a lack of hydraulic pressure in the Type-S application combined with the mapping in the PCM flash leading to mistiming of shifts (there is no "fuzzy logic" by the PCM). There was a simmilar situation with the Toyota-supplied trannies in the old Jeep Cherokee/XJ when the mated it to the 4.0L I6. There was too much torque for the mapping to handle. Keep in mind......it's not too much torque for the internals itself, but rather it's tuning for a particular application/powerband.

FYI, there are few standard J32 to tranny failures.

 

another example of the "weakest link" syndrome...a fairly worked engine from the factory and...the same damn trans that's in the cl-P doesnt make sense...

 

I'll vote for this idea too. It makes sense with the total randomness. Plus didn't someone post that Level 10 checked out the trans and said it was built strongly? I usually drive in D4 in the city and save D5 for highway figuring less shifting and more in the powerband for quick lane changes, evading cops etc..

 

But what do you expect Level 10 to say in order to sell more? Plus, it seems that even Level 10 trannies aren't as stong as they claim from the lawsuit they may be involved in.

 

I've refused to even give Level 10 thought after the FIASCO on ClubGP with them..... One member got a tranny from them and it failed within days. (and he was lightly modded compared to the GP's on the boards now!) They refused to admit it failed due to something they did wrong. After he tore it down AND PROVED one of their 'strenghtened' componenets failed, they immediately turned around and blamed it on some other company, saying they didn't make that portion of the tranny but X company did. They still refused to replace it for him. Finally got a lawyer involved and they took it back and gave him his money back. When the lawyer asked what they'll do with it, they just said replace the broken piece and re-sell it to someone else.

Nice ethics huh? THey do make some good products (like for the LS1's etc.) but for the smaller markets, like the GP's and the CL-S', I'd be VERY weary of them....

 

Not to mention their fiasco-in-the-making with a Supra owner that was posted over at supraforums.