Im down for a meet any time.

I wish we were able to organize something similar to what my motorcycle forum does. We pick a location somewhere central in the country and everyone meets.

Granted, for a AZine meet that would mean ~70k cars, but still epic none the less.

 

hey guys, i'm completely new to this forum (jus registered) but i've actually been readin these forums for a pretty long time.

i was in the market for a 05-06 rsx but i stumbled upon the cl and i must say, i was crazy impressed with its looks and its low market price. however, i did my research and soon realized that cl's and 2nd gen tl's were plagued with a history of auto tranny problems. only recently have i found this helpful fix thread (thanks pdiddy!) and readin this has rekindled my desire to drive one. that bein said, because auto cl-s are relatively cheap on the market...i was actually thinkin bout buyin a cl-s auto cuz they go for approximately $7k-$10k here in my hometown vancouver canada, and then buyin a used, hopefully in decent shape, oddy tranny and find somebody to immediately do the swap. my rationale for this is based primarily to save money (market price for rsx is about $14k here and my insurance quote was a biatch $3k even with no history of claims or accidents!!!!!) because im on a pretty tight budget as a full-time uni student workin only shietty pt jobs.

sry bout postin this longass life story but i would really much appreciate some thoughts from the pros here. my knowledge of cars is very limited, and hopefully i can learn a thing or two around here.

also, if possible, could i get an update on the new proud owners of the recently swapped auto tranny cl's? everythin still good?

 

well first off welcome. i wouldnt do the swap until your tranny actually goes out. you never know you might be able to get another 30,40,50k or more miles out of the tranny. you know what they say dont fix it if it aint broke. i got 46k out of my tranny before i started having problems. as for me my 3g is running strong no problems.

 

thanks for the reply man! i was thinkin, the reason for the cl's and tl's bein so cheap around here was that the previous owners have already begun realizin the tranny startin to act up. i understand wat ur suggestin, but for me i wouldn't feel too comfortable drivin a car with the looming expectation of tranny failure on the verge of happenin any sec. although i dont drive often, my only treks involve drivin to school which is quite a distant and requires navigation through busy roads...the prospect of breakin down in these situations scares the shiet outta me.

 

yeah never know when the tranny will let go completely, so my as well just drive it till it breaks and maintain it just like normally (changing fluid at a bare minimum every 30k), and quite often as long as you pay attention and stuff it will give you some warning as to when it will fail (not always though), which would mean that you have to take it straight to a shop to be replaced/fixed, no ifs, ands or buts (to at least be checked out)
also maybe find a car that the tranny is already completely jacked and low-ball them, (because of the screwed tranny) and just have it fixed right away


and hell my tranny has already lost all its fluid once, got refilled, flushed, and is still going strong, even 12k miles later (so just make sure ONLY Honda ATF goes into the tranny, was probably something with the fluid not having enough anti-foaming additive, even though the manufacture said it meet Honda's spec)

 

i see....so general consensus is that i should ride it out until the tranny breaks down completely (or begins to). im jus worried that i won't be able to discern the early signs of tranny failure jus because my car knowledge isn't the greatest. for instance, i dont think ill be able to tell when the tranny starts slippin.

i dunno, i jus want to find the most cost-effective way in purchasin a car. i currently drive a 94 plymouth colt that tops off at a grand total of 92 horses. ideally, i would like a 05-06 rsx, but the cl-s has grown on me...and it's considerably cheaper (reflective on the auto tranny problems). i was thinkin bout buyin a cheap, possibly dyin cl-s, and replace tranny and then look sexy drivin it.....while the total cost of everythin (labor, parts, car) will top out to $4-5k less than buyin a rsx straight up

 

, anything is better then that


or maybe look at a 6-speed CL-S, no tranny issues with that , but you gotta shift on your own though

 

hahaha u got that right....goin uphill is probably the scariest moments of my life cuz it feels like ill be goin back down backwords. actually, on the upside, because it's such a pos weak engine, it's incredibly, INCREDIBLY fuel efficient...no joke!

 

yeah probably because it can never go fast enough to take into account aerodynamics (aka highway speeds)

and i guess you could call a reliant K even worse, but still a Chrysler




btw: what do you get as far as MPG goes on the pos???

 

i would absolutely love to own a 6sp cl-s, but those are rare here in canada and are a good 2x the price of it's auto counterpart. the main, and ONLY, reason i'm lookin at an auto cl-s is because they have the infamous pos auto trannies, thereby makin them affordable given my current budget constraints. i also figured a tranny swap fix as outlined in this thread was an endeavor i'll be able to afford.

wat do u guys think? tough it out for another 1-2yrs rockin my 94 g-colt (that's missin a hubcap and takes 15min to actually blow hot air) until i could afford a sexy rsx...or go for the unreliable cl-s auto, tranny swap fix, and rock that within several months?

 

lol

i'll have to get back to you on the mpg...i've always wanted to accurately calculate that myself one day. but i assure u, if i ever do get around to sellin off the ride, my main sellin point is fuel efficiency...it's dope!

 

CL-S you will love the power of the V6 (gas mileage is actually quite good considering it's a V6, but still sucks compared to a 4 cylinder)
but first are you looking at a Type-S RSX or not, cause that would help to decide also



also for your current POS, sounds like the thermostat is stuck open (at least partially) and needs to be replaced, cause coolant is flowing when it should not be, so the long warm up period

 

put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. should speed up the heating

 

??????, it's just amount to fillup the tank (with NO clicky clicky after it self shuts off at the pump, [with EVERY tank you should not do it anyways, it can damage emission components on the car , let alone possibly spilling excess fuel which is money down $$$ the drain]) TIMES miles driven on that tank

 

also, every time it goes CLICK ur wasting money. some of the gas goes back into the handle. but a few pennies a week (depending on how u drive) adds up to a lot in a year or for however long u own the car

 

ya sry that's wat i meant: i dont keep a tally on the miles (well, km's) i drive.

but i jus checked online...apparently it's 29mpg city drivin, but some sites say 26

 

fixed, actually i need to do something for these bitter mournings that have been here, and my thermostat is still good, warms up no problem when it is say even just 25 degrees out, compared to 10 degrees or so


BTW: f***ing Honda has discontinued the block heater for our cars

 

that's under TEST conditions, and does not take into account wear and tear (or poor maintance, if thats the case, IDK how you maintain your car)

and for me checking my mileage, i just reset the trip meter every time i fill up, to keep track of the mileage, pretty much habit for me, cause i check it every tankful (about once a week)

 

Welcome to Azine,
Im completely satisfied with my tranny swap everything shifts as it should and drives strong. as for me telling you if its as good or better than before the tranny went up i can't, because thats how i purchased the car with a bad tranny thats why i opted to do the swap but, for sure it runs great.

I decided to go and get a 06 honda accord tranny but, you have options
oddy tranny, 04-06 3g tl tanny (and if you want to roll the dice some 07 3g tl trannys might work). i purchased one but it did not come out like i wanted. It didin't fit.

 

whoa shiet, wat's this on the clickin? lol man, i always do the click click, and maybe even that third CLICK. how does it damage emission components?

also, my thermostat is open? maybe i'll get it checked....but how does coolant flow in?

ideally i would like the type-s, but once again, i'm a poor fellow and gettin a type s would equate to more years of waitin and accumulatin $$$. i cant stand my pos anymore!

 

u know what. i took out my outside temp gauge (FMI sits thier) and it still reads temperature. yesterday it read -1 and 10 today 25 and 58 lmao.

anyway. ur gonna put the cardboard in front of the radiator the stop and take it out. shit. id let it sit for another 5 min and warm up than getting out of a nice warm car.

 

problem solved? i think i'll really take u up on that and try it out...thanks!

 

Well, I can usually source the parts and do the conversion for around $3500

 

thanks man!

ya lol sry to hear bout the incompatible tranny. were u able to sell it? are u still cruisin in ur cl or is that ur tl in the pic?

 

i would do it in a heartbeat man, but im livin out all the way in the west coast, canada

 

click click thing it can put raw fuel (not just vapors) into the charcoal canister which is not designed for it
but it is because the level fuel level can get too high (especially considering the tilt of the car at the pump) cause the fuel to spill into lines it should not be in, in the first place
also on our cars, our charcoal canisters are below the fuel level when full, so the fuel would just drawn straight into it with no resistance
but also with too much fuel, it can also cause the actual tank to bulge, and in the most extreme case to actually burst (which you can understand would be no good), because that extra fuel is actually taking away the airspace designed into the tank to allow the fuel to expand when it warms up, causing increased pressures (tanks are only designed to take 1 psi at max on a regular basis (might actually be even less IDK)

 

thermostat open

is that, once it warms up it should be allowing coolant to be circulated, but not when it's cold

no type-s RSX (or even longer wait, makes the decision even easier CL-S

 

Welcome

I had a guy ask "what kind of car I was driving", I told him it was a CL type s, he siad "is that from japan ive never seen that car before" and I live in canada thats how rare they are (or how stupid people are).

But if you want a nice car thats unique get a CL but plan on doing the tranny when you make your decision. Personaly I dont like the RSX its to small

BTW mytranny was pretty cheap to do

 

i was just going to cover up like half of it, so it blocks some of the cold air flowing over but not all, so it can still cool efficiency, since it is getting such cold air from it be winter, then in the summer take it out

and rather not have it just sitting there idling, and also no time in the mourning just to let it sit there anyways, by time i get out of bed to leaving is only 5 minutes anyways, so i be doubling how long it takes me to leave , let alone wasting gas just idling

 

some people are just stupid i guess lol

but yea about the cl-s who knows he might get lucky and not have to do a tranny swap
i got 140 000 kilometres (90 000 miles) on my tl-s and havent seen any problems in my tranny or anything (knock on wood) and i drive my car pretty hard lol

 

It may not need to be done ever but consider it a bonus if it doasnt go! but I would expect to do it eventually

 

exactly how i bought my car, knowing it will eventually need to be done, but it is still good for the time being though

 

No not yet i hope i sell it soon. right now i cant really do to much cruisin because of the nasty blizzard streets are all covered with snow, But yeah i also have a 3G TL.

 

well theres no way i'd drive my car there with a messed up tranny.

I'd either ship it to paul or ship paul over here lol

 

a mechanic isnt a mechanic without tools. so ur gonna need to ship some big tools over. not worth it. i drove my tl with no 3,4 and sometimes no 2nd gear for over a year. and would occasionally drop into 2nd gear on the highway. what fun was that.

 

dipset had uhauled it to pual (i think) so there was no driving it


and it's not ike you have to pay for the screwedup internals anyways , send it to honda and thats that, done with it

 

hhaha ya i think that's a testament to how rare that car is here in canada. i've realized, well...in vancouver, that people seem to settle with shiet cars, and they're happy as long as it goes A to B.

that's exactly wat im worried bout, seems like an overwhelming majority of cl's experience tranny problems...if i do purchase a used one i'll fully expect to fix it sooner or later. preferably sooner cuz the thought of drivin a car that's notorious for problems is disconcertin.

that's been a major question for me: who would be able to do a swap and what will the labor to do so amount to? how much did u end up payin for at the end of the day (ie. parts, labor, etc)? also, did u find any mechanic? unfortunately, there aren't mechanics like paul around every street corner...im worried i won't be able to find one as skilled or as trustworthy

 

The guy that did mine gave me a really good deal because he been doing alot of work on my 80 TA mine ended up costing coniderably less than a rebuilt one and my mechanic does alot of custom work so ha had no problem doing this. But you go to a dealer there going to charge you up the a$$ if they do it and if you go to brake and suspension shop its going to be the same story. you need to find a good custom shop

 

i just do it myself, but you are probably not able to though

cost, i would say including labor, be around what a normal replacement tranny be, maybe a little cheaper, so basically i would say plan around what a regular replacement would be

and a trustworthy auto tech, call up the local tow trucks (especially the bigger ones for the voluming) they should have a pretty good idea of what kind of works each shop does, also tool dealers (like snap-on, matco, mac, cornwell) will have a good idea, they talk to each shop alot of times at least once a week or so, and get a good idea of their dealings (FYI: the chain shops like "brakes plus" and such genially are the worst due to them having to make a quota for corporate)
thats not the end all to finding a good shop, but will head you in the right direction

also for your current car, start taking it to different shops for oil changes, to get a feeler of the various shops around, so not much money is on the table at the time, you will get a good feeling of how they treat there customers and stuff just from that (also sometimes they are extremely busy, which might not be normal, so give some shops a second chance before you completely make up your mind)

 

good luck with that buddy! hopefully it'll be gone in no time