2001 Acura Cl Trans slipping
 

I know I'm beating a dead horse about the trans here since so many threads have been made, but I'm out of options. I've been without my car for 3 weeks now and it's killing me; Borrowing my moms car or getting a ride from my sister is very frustrating and depressing, I can't enjoy going to work anymore. Started a new job at Amazon, first day I get out of work and drive I start losing power. At first, I assume it's because of the traction since it was raining a little (drizzling basically) outside, but then I realized I can drive perfectly fine in the winter and I have recent tires ~1 year old. So I park on the side of the road, wait until cars pass, and try to drive but my car won't move at all, try reverse but does nothing. Sit for 5 minutes, drives perfect for about 2 miles before same thing happens. Tell my dad, looks at it, automatically knows the trans is slipping. Take it to mechanic, he knows right away it's the trans. We look up cl trans' on ebay, more than 1k for good ones. We 3 debate about it because it is a 16 year old car, but has a new engine and a lot invested into it so obviously there are pros and cons, but we say it's not worth to fix it. I can drive a 20 mph or 60 mph, even let the car coast at 5 mph, I just lose power randomly and the car starts redlining about 6500+ rpm until I let go of the gas. I'm at my wits end here basically since I already am drowning in debt (20k+), so I literally am loosing my mind.

I want to lease something like a 2009+ Acura TL (once you have the taste of a luxury car you CAN'T go back imho), but I have no cosigner and no credit. I keep reading about how the solenoids could be gunked up and cause this but how can something so simple just fix it? How hard is it to clean them, as I have experience in car audio but not mechanics really, or is it worth to invest in a new tranny and hope for the best? My dad told me to put it on Craigslist for 1800 obo, but not below 1400 (too much invested so we need something back), but then I still need a lot more for a downpayment for a new car (I don't want to just buy something that can break, I want to go with a trusted dealership). I read that Saturn Vue trannys, 3G TL's, Honda Oddy, Civs, Accords can all work, but is the gamble worth it? I love this car, best thing I ever had, but I have plans to move out within 4 months and realistically I can't do that if I get a new car to lease or finance (mental health reasons for moving out, don't hate my family, but I can't take being in this house). Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

LEASES are a horrible deal for someone like you!
Dont do it.

throw in an AV6 tranny, if you want to keep the car. (cheapest route)
if not; buy another $1000-1500 car in cash, BECAUSE you do not have the luxury to have another luxury car, despite what you said of you cant go back...Yes you can. if I were in your position, I would drop the notion of "luxury cars" cuz you simply cant afford it

once you get the car back up and running; you should consider keeping an Emergency fund, for situations JUST like this.

FWIW: Not only has Justinspace provided very solid advice regarding your predicament, his advice appears to be your only practical option. Since you favor the amenities this car offers, "cant go back", and you know it's general, overall condition,.investing in the AV6 will, most likely provide you with a great ride for many years to come.

I'd say drop in an AV6, it's insanely worth it if you can do the work yourself, but it's still a good option if you can find someone to do it for a reasonable price.

I used to live my life on credit, made good money but lived way beyond my means. Wife with expensive taste made things worse. Ended up divorced owing $90k in unsecured debt and unable to pay the mortgage. I decided no more, got everything paid off and I'm still driving the same car from back then. Tranny kicked the bucket 20k miles ago and I put in an AV6 DIY. Cost about $1000 all in, but I already had all the tools. I'm gonna drive this car until 300k then look for something else.

Word of advice because I was in the same position when I was younger - if you have no credit and can't pay cash, your tastes are irrelevant. People make poor financial decisions trying to live above their means. A nice car won't make up for that knot in your stomach when you think about your crushing debt at night.

I did set up an emergency fund before this, and used it to pay for a ticket (actually 2 (because cops are assholes and want to meet their quotas, and don't do shit)). I am not trying to live above my means lol, we all die in the end and never know when our time is up so a little greed is fine imo, I probably won't live to 30 anyways. I have no way to put in a tranny myself (I most likely have the tools considering my dad worked on cars for 30+ years and has over $5k worth of tools in our garage), but I would not be able to lower it enough and move the engine if needed. How hard is the actual swap DIY, whereas is everything compatible right off the bat considering Acura is just the luxury brand of Honda, but it's different generations we're talking about here. I'm not sure which one to get, I know at least a 3.0 considering the fact that it's closest to 3.2, and obviously automatic and not hybrid, but the coupe or sedan are the only options, and the CL is a coupe. I'm going to try to clean the solenoids to see if it fixes it shortterm, but already put $300 aside today (payday) aside for a tranny, trying to sell my grow lights (No growing on my property atm (Ignore the bookmarks, they're from years ago lol)), and try to think of some way to get more money.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...77692a07c3.png

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My 2001 CL transmission was slipping about 5 years ago and first I tried some anti-slipping additive - unsuccessful - then I priced rebuilding trannys. As I recall, Aamco wanted about $3500, another shop around $3000 and then I found this shop that would charge $1300. So I gave it to him but when done 1 week later, continued to slip, leaked oil and had to be redone. The problem still wasn't fixed. So they pulled the tranny a THIRD time. It seemed to work ok but didn't shift tightly like it was before, and still had a minor leak.

It was a disaster and I was without my car 3 weeks total. They tried all kinds of things to fix the leak, which added another $500, but never did and my car has leaked since. They [Chatsworth Transmissions/LA) f'd up my car. It was my single worst car repair experience ever.

My advice would be
- Love your CL? Get your transmission repaired. It's way better than new car payments.
- DO NOT go the cheap route - take it to Aamco, even the dealer.

I'll echo the "Don't go cheap." comments. Years ago I had the transmission going out on my SHO. Found a performance builder in Ohio and shipped it off to them. They cut the case pulling the CV shaft. Then they replaced the internals with those from a normal Taurus (different transmission). When they sent it back there was play in the stator shaft. We told them that was a huge issue but they insisted it was fine. So we put it on and within a couple miles it snapped it off (take a hell of a lot of torque to do that). They wanted me to send it back to them again (my car had been sitting on a lift for over a month) but we said no. Soon I got a call from their manager, who had left the company and he advised me that I should get my money while I could as they were likely going out of business. I filed a claim with Visa and they refunded my money.

Took it to a local builder, paid a bit more, got a performance kit installed (fixed the design flaw that caused the failure in the first place due to low lubrication) and had an awesome time with the vehicle.

Lesson I learned is always deal with someone somewhere you can walk in and meet them face to face. If something is much lower priced than everyone else, there's a reason and avoid it like the plague. While my situation worked out, I was still out some money and had to deal with all kinds of headaches for weeks. Not worth it at all in the end. Get it done right by a reputable shop you know will be around should anything happen down the road.

I'm thinking of getting the trans rebuilt, my mechanic knows a guy who will do it. I trust my mechanic considering he has been my guy for a while now and is fucking great, installed a new engine for me and only cost me $300, a 24 pack, and some treats for his dog lol, my entire family uses him and he is local, not some big company or "reputable" shop that overcharges, so if I do get it rebuilt, gonna cost me $1950 he said, and I trust his word for the guy he is referring me to, considering they've known each other for a long time.

Right now I'm trying to get to the solenoids to clean them to see if that is a problem like other threads say, but I can't get the dam bolts off the metal plating above them. Tried it by hand and with a powered drill (with hex attachments), so I have to find someone with an airgun/tool to get them off and see if that works. I really hope that's the problem, but if it's dirty, isn't the gears just breaking and creating that clog when it gets gunked in shit?

My 03 cl-s trans went out at about 125k miles, i swapped to a AV6 I believe.. trans from a 07-08 accord like was recommended. I did the job myself on jackstands... took me two solid days from 9 am until dark, it was a mf to do by yourself. you basically have to drop all suspension on both wheels, then drop the engine sub frame. i was not able to get to the bolts to remove the passenger cv shaft, it has a carrier bearing that is a pain in the butt to get out. when trans dropped it broke the aluminum bracket that holds the bearing... had to get it welded. also, one bolt on passenger side.. way up inside, the only way to get it broke loose was with about 5 feet of 3/8 extensions so far out that it cleared the side of the car so that i could break it loose. but after all was said and done, it only cost me about $550 for trans and fluid. The transmission is basically bullet proof now, if you ask me. 145k and no issues at all. only thing i did notice is the gearing seems a little different, i want to say the pickup and passing on the freeway happened faster before the swap. still it gets 0-60 in about 6 seconds. putting in new pioneer double din stereo in it today. *excited*

My 03 cl-s trans went out at about 125k miles, i swapped to a AV6 I believe.. trans from a 07-08 accord like was recommended. I did the job myself on jackstands... took me two solid days from 9 am until dark, it was a mf to do by yourself. you basically have to drop all suspension on both wheels, then drop the engine sub frame. i was not able to get to the bolts to remove the passenger cv shaft, it has a carrier bearing that is a pain in the butt to get out. when trans dropped it broke the aluminum bracket that holds the bearing... had to get it welded. also, one bolt on passenger side.. way up inside, the only way to get it broke loose was with about 5 feet of 3/8 extensions so far out that it cleared the side of the car so that i could break it loose. but after all was said and done, it only cost me about $550 for trans and fluid. The transmission is basically bullet proof now, if you ask me. 145k and no issues at all. only thing i did notice is the gearing seems a little different, i want to say the pickup and passing on the freeway happened faster before the swap. still it gets 0-60 in about 6 seconds. putting in new pioneer double din stereo in it today. *excited*

curious, i found breakdown on cl-s and accord gear ratios, automatic trans. wish was same gear ratio that factory trans had.
CL-S Accord
1st 2.563 2.652
2nd 1.551 1.517
3rd 1.021 1.037
4th 0.653 0.738
5th 0.470 0.566

final drive
4.428 4.438

i think that explains why dropping down to 4th gear had more spunk before.