whats up? new here, hoping to get advice from the pros on this car. my 2001 cl type S has 160k miles on it and its been slipping from 3-4 and sometimes 2-3 gear. (the car revs high for a sec before it goes into those gears). sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesnt. the trans fluid is black! i dont notice any smells, but what im hoping to get here is should i drain and fill the fluid and change the filter? my friends who work on cars tell me not to, that the old black fluid is the only stuff holding it together. i really want to give the car some fresh fluid, since it probably hasnt been done since it around 90k miles. please advise! thanks

 

How long have you owned the car?
It's 'giving up the ghost' before your eyes.
I'd roll the dice on an DW-1 ATF 3X3 change with new filter and do the screen cleaning described below:

If that does not help, prepare for an 06-07 Accord V6 BAYA transmission swap if you decide to keep the car from the crusher?
Good Luck.

 

thanks for the reply! ive owned the car since 2011, ive only ever changed the oil regularly, spark plugs, brakes etc. i wish i would have checked the trans fluid!!! i never beat on the car, i drive like an old lady. my best friend had it before me and he took care of it like a baby, literally worshipped the car. i let it sit in the garage for a few years and only ever driven it locally. like a 7 mile radius. he still gives me crap about it. i dont blame him.

im definitely considering rollin the dice. i saw that vid about the solenoid screens ill do that too for sure if i go through with it.

the problem with that accord swap is no shop around me will do it. they will only swap it with the trans that came with the car(used cls trans from the junkyard)

 

Not sure exactly where in New York you reside, however, if it is close to Clifton, New Jersey there is a guy named Paul who is well versed in Acura / Honda mechanic's as discussed in the thread below.
I don't think he'd give you any chicken sh!t static about an AV6 swap for your CL-S, though, you'd have to inquire, of course.

Paul, Our Star Master Mechanic in Nawth Jerzy Mechanic Strikes Again! - AcuraZine - Acura Enthusiast Community

His number is given in post #20 if you feel compelled to investigate?

 

im in long island, not sure how the car would do for the drive out there. im definitely going to follow that video for the solenoid cleaning. will give Paul a call this week and see what he says. the accord trans that ive seen so many talk about on here would be nice because not only does it appear that its more reliable, but its WAY cheaper than the trans that came with the car! thank you for the info i appreciate it a lot

 

We bought our ‘03 in 2006. Acura replaced the transmission under warranty but the new one began slipping after the warranty expired. We just lived with it since it was occasional and fairly minor. A couple of years ago, I tried the full fluid swap and changed the spin-on filter and that solved the problem. Didn’t clean the solenoids b/c I wasn’t aware of that at the time. 5K miles since and still drives great at 145K.

Good luck and looking forward to an update.

 

thats awesome to hear it worked for you, from what ive read so far its a 50/50. either it will work or it will break it. im going to roll the dice and try my luck with the drain and fill with the filter replacement and solenoid cleanings soon. I will post back after with an update.

you have the 03? those are manual right? i was under the impression those werent affected by the bad trans of the 01-02 automatic models. i wish i had the manual!!

 

He has an automatic CL-S, they made them in 2003 along with the CL-S six speed, I have one of each.
The six speed was bought new and the S/C'd automatic was purchased at the end of 2019. It was a New York State car.
S/C'er was subsequently removed and sold in the Black market to another forum member.

 

so i changed the trans filter, cleaned out the solenoid screens and they looked pretty clean already, i didnt see any gunk in them and when i went to drain the trans fluid, the drain plug was on there insanely tight, i ended up stripping it. any ideas on how to get that thing off?

 

You actually stripped out the 3/8th socket end part trying to remove?

 

yes! it was pretty chewed up when i got to it, got the ratchet snug in there and gave it all i got i could NOT get that thing off

 

 

Got the bolt off with vice grips, got a new one ready. This is before and after I wiped the plug

 

I know this thread is probably dead, but I just wanted to report after the fluid change the car is already driving better than it has in the past two years. I still have two more 3 qt replacements to do but holy smokes she’s shifting amazing. No jerking, nothin but smooth sailing so I hope people try the above mentioned course of action by ‘zeta’

 

^
Good to hear the ATF / ATF filter change / solenoid screen cleaning is helping make it shift better.

 

I did the AV6 swap. Car still going strong, though not mine any longer.

 

yea man its so much better, there is still a small almost unoticable slip between 3-4th gear. i have yet to do the next two changes, the 3 x 3 is supposed to be done all in one day, correct? 3 qts out, drive for a bit, then repeat for the next two changes?

 

^
When I did mine I started early one day and did all three ATF changes with short 50mph drives in between.
Changing the ATF filter at the third ATF change, IIRC'ly.
That way, most of the old dirty ATF pretty much cleared during the first two cycles.