I just got a 2003 black CL-S 6-speed with Nav. Since I have been hearing many things negative about the automatic transmissions, I figured I would ask about the manual. Has there been significant problems that I should be concerned about?

Since I have had the car I have noticed a couple things. Shifting seems a little notchy (probably a combo of clutch and close gear ratio) and does not always shift smoothly into second gear. Is this common?

Thanks.

 

Congrats you got 1 of 185 black/black?? 6MT Navis made.

IMO, extremely reliable transmission. I have had 2 CLS 6MTs. In cold weather the shifts to 2 and 4 can be a little notchy. Haven't noticed it on my current CL, but it's not that cold here in Texas. Honda makes great shifters.

 

I have to agree with 123456Speed on the CL-S 6-speed's shifting in cold weather. Seems to have let up when the weather warmed up. In dead of winter I took it to the dealer, and have them do a ride along with me. I told the service manager to feel this (the stick) when I shifted. He said he didn't feel anything wrong. Then I asked him if he'd like to drive it, and he replied he didn't drive stick. WTF? How can you tell if it doesn't feel good if you don't even drive stick?

Cold weather is approaching...hmmmm

 

and if you still have warranty.....have your dealer to check the "rear main seal" might be leaking on the manual Tranny....I have 40k miles and I just got my rear main seal replaced and not to mention two of my Headlights replace also because it was fogging , all under warranty.

 

I believe two members here have had 6 speed tranny failures... To what caused it I'm not certain.

 

I believe someone at my dealer told me that a woman blew her tranny when driving it because she didn't know how to drive it. I am just under 96k miles and only have the occassional notchiness in winter and a couple times I couldn't get the car in 1st or reverse for some reason.

 

Anyone had to replace their clutch yet? I'm at 57k and no problems.

 

Anyone know how much the conversion costs and who sells these 6spd trannies?

 

No problems at 96k and several people including myself have learned to drive on this car.

I believe allmotor replaced his with a comptech setup but was unhappy with it for one reason or another. I don't believe it was due to wear.

 

I'm at 118K on my 2003 and no clutch problems except one.

I have a vibration problem going from 2nd into 3rd. But only if it's cold out and only at certain times. It's been a problem since the car's first winter. I took it to the dealership and they were going to charge me something absurd to look at my transmission. The problem stopped for the summer so I forgot about it.

It's back now, but only every so often. Any advice?

 

I had the clutch swapped out at 30,000 Km. The dual mass flywheel collapsed...

And that tranny rear seal was leaking too. Definately a good thing to keep an eye one (if off warranty). Soak the clutch disc in oil, and you'll be doing a clutch job...

 

Congrats on the CLS 6MT. Notchiness in shifting is normal, but you'll get use to it. In fact, it will force you to become more precise with your shifts (gas, clutch and shifter timing). The dual-mass clutch/flywheel is probably the biggest contributor to the notchiness because they will hold the RPM's up momentarily when shifting. So you will have to adjust your foot-work and shifter timing to compensate. I've driven a few CLS 6MT's with the lighter CT clutch/flywheel and noticed shifting is a bit easier. However, there have been some issues reported about the CT clutch/flywheel.

I've got over 52k miles on my CLS 6MT with CT everything (i/sc/h/full-catback/...) where the OEM clutch and tranny aren't showing any signs of excessive wear.

Whatever you do, DO NOT put in any other type of tranny oil other than Honda factory oil with the hope of making the shifting smoother. The Honda factory oil is a lighter oil than most gear oils. I've talked with a couple of different Acura tech's who have worked on 6MT tranny's that had been running heavier oils. Each tranny had excessively scorched/worn gears and syncros and developed leaks in all seals because of over-heating.

 

I still get grinding shifting into 2nd when the car is cold. It has happened since day 1. I figured it would go away, loosen up, wear in, etc... with 10k on the car now but it has not... I am considering taking it in under warranty (sans turbo kit of course).

 

I'd take it in. Could be an issue with the synro for 2nd?

2nd gear is a notchy when cold for me (1st gets really tight), but I never had any grinding issues. Good idea to lose the turbo first though.