ive had my 01CLS for a while and it has about 120k. Once in a while when im driving the car shakes during the 2nd going to 3rd gear. is my tranny about to die?

 

has any lights come on in your car such as check engine, vsa traingle with exclamation point

 

yeah it sounds like its about to crap out soon

 

no no lights stay on ive it only shakes once in a while i drive id say 1 out of 5. ive been driving like this for prolly 10k miles

 

Its about to die, mine did the same thing a few weeks ago 01 cl 58K, sounds like the second gear is going (known problem with CL) be careful when it goes it could lock the transmission and cause you to loose control. I would take it too an acura stealership they issued an additional 100K mile warranty after the 50K factory.

 

damn, I am having the same problem. sometimes the car shakes going 2->3. What happens if it locks up on a highway??? My understanding is that Acura won't fix unless there is a clear indication of failure. Is that true?

 

They asked me if the traction control light was flashing and the check engine light was on? However with the possibility of the transmission locking up (which is what may happen), I would key in on this aspect with the dealership and hint on the safety involved. They should concede that it has to be replaced.

 

Ive had the same problem, yet in a smaller, less noticeable way. Mine does other wierd things though... If im on the freeway and I want to down shift to 4th it gives a big jerk during the transition.... then if I put it in manual, and manually downshift to 2nd when coming to a stop, the car also jerks pretttyy bad... my head jerks forward.... so I decided to have them road test it and what not when I had my brakes done last week, and basically, which is ridiculous, but basically if your transmission is not absolutely fucked up and failing majorly, they will not replace it. So, even if its got its problems, but the transmission is not fully failing, they will not replace it... he said, welllll... you still have 30k left on the warranty, and at this point, we dont see anything majorly wrong with it... but no worries, you still have plenty of warranty on it... so now, my car has lost a bunch of power on the freeway... i feel too conscious off making the car switch to 4th when im in 5th... hate it, but cant do anything about it.
kyle.

 

dealer told me today, that I have to pay $95 (CDN) inspection fee. if it's the tranny and it needs replacing I don't pay $95. However if they don't find anything wrong with the tranny then I'm out $95 for nothing. The ticking intencified majorly! and it shakes more and more from 2nd to 3rd. I am not sure what to do as most of the time it seems more or less ok, besides ticking noise. Stealership service are assholes!!! I'll try to call another stealer and see what they have to say.

 

even after the recall u still havin problems my car does the same shit so i guess its the transmission

 

My CL (with 35K mi.) got a new tranny yesterday. My experience (at Courtesy Acura in Sanford, Fla.):

-- I called the svc dept after RPMs went from about 2000 to 3500+ as I pulled away from a stop about 25 times over a two-week period. No dash lights, no other symptoms of a problem, but clearly something was wrong. The dealer said bring it in for inspection.

-- It took the dealer only a few minutes to check the car and determine the tranny was bad. (The car had previously been serviced according to an Acura SB ("oil jet") when it had about 15K mi.)

-- The dealer said Acura warranteed the tranny to 100K miles.

-- The tranny was replaced at no cost whatsoever to me. Acura also paid for a rental car (actually, a full-size pickup truck, but I digress...), too.

-- The replacement took about three days. (I wasn't in a hurry, as I was enjoying being a redneck in the pickup.)

-- The new tranny "whines," like a baby jet engine. It's only noticeable with the radio off, but I still don't like it. Dealer acknowledged this today. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, if anything.

-- I haven't noticed any loss of performance, although I rarely beat my car. (I'm not sure the new tranny shifts as smoothly as the previous one, tho.) The dealer said he didn't think getting a new tranny also involved reprogramming the engine's computer to reduce its power output, but he could have been lying.

I think any dealer that charges an "inspection fee" for this particular problem is ripping off the customer for an extra $95 or whatever. Me, I'd notify Acura. --MFT

 

Mine did the shuddering during shifts, as well... I didn't put up with it but for about 500 miles and then took it in. Acura replaced the transmission, this was at 47000 miles on my TL.

 

I also have the whinning with the replacement tranny, I took the car back to the dealer and talked to the mech who does the trans replacements and he told me that they all do it, being a retired marine engineer (NAVY) it sound like the gears are not shimmed properly or its a material/design flaw. since all the tranny's are rebuilt vice brand new, they made other changes vice improving fluid flow to 2nd gear. Another thought is a high vol/pressure pump sine I only have the whinning in 1-2 gear, any thoughts.

 

Quoting from my dealer's email, "a small noise is normal. However, if it is really loud or annoying you, you want to bring it in so we can look at it."

I'm willing to do that, but from your comments, I'm getting the impression that a low-gear whine goes with the revised tranny.

I'd appreciate comments from others on the list whose Acuras have new trannies.

Is the replacement as quiet as the original? Turn the stereo down below 120 db. and pull away from a stop like your mother would. Thnx. --MFT

 

My transmission was replaced at 47000 miles and now at 49600 it hasn't whined yet, and it is much, much smoother than the original.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread any, but I'm going through something that sounds the same right now. History: I've had my '01CLS since November of '03. Since then, never a problem (have nearly 70k miles). Love the car.

However, on Saturday I travelled from San Jose, CA over to Santa Cruz, drove around there some and then back. On the trip back, climbing up some hills, the car lost power and the VSA light lit up (driving in SS mode). This happened at least three or four times. Also, the tranny was doing a lot of hunting. By the time I got back to the South Bay and was driving on suburban surface streets shifting from 2nd to 3rd was rough and then in third the RPMs jumped and the car lost power. I dropped it back down to 2nd and seemed alright. On Sunday the tranny slipped again (3rd gear). This morning, on the drive into work I used full auto on the tranny and still seemed like 3rd was slipping and maybe even fourth. Not sure.

Got the car to the dealer this morning. They want me to pay $85USD to inspect (waived if the tranny is bad) plus the price of a rental (again, waived if the tranny is bad). And they just called to tell me that the EGR valve is bad. It will cost $200 (parts & labor) to replace before the can begin to evaluate whether this is a transmission issue. That's where it's at now. So I'm out $200 + possibly another $115 between inspection fee and car rental (unless tranny is replaced).

If anyone has other suggestions for what the problem might be, let me know. btw - check engine light never lit. Only VSA light.

 

The EGR absolutely will cause the CEL to light up. It's one of the most critical parts of the emissions control systems. I don't think you should let them repair it and also, don't pay their fees. I hate Acura Service - it really sucks.

Call Acura Client Services at 1-800-382-2238 and tell them what's going on and they might take care of you.

 

Just a follow-up to let you know what happened; As you all know I brought my car in on Monday of last week because the transmission appeared to be slipping in 3rd. Per the dealer's explanation, I had them repair/replace the EGR valve (sorry 03CoupeV6, I posted and had the repair done before you replied). The tranny was replaced under warranty from Acura. The inspection fee of $90 for the tranny and rental fee of about $40/day was waived. In addition to replacing the tranny, they replaced an engine mount as well as it was leaking badly (also covered under AcuraCare. Does anyone know if that EGR valve should be covered as well?).

I picked up the car last Friday and have had a weekend to drive it. The new tranny seems fine. In fact, it seems to be more responsive than the last one when I use it in SS mode. My last tranny seemed to think about it for a split second when I would use the shifter to up or downshift. There is still a little lag, but not near as long as on my last tranny -- perception maybe?

And just a funny for you all..., I had the dealer replace one of the little faux fog lights while the car was in (only one light was out). I completely forgot the rule of 2 when replacing lights. Now I have one blue faux fog light (new one) and one noticeably yellow (original) faux fog light. Looks like crap and now I have to replace the other... doh!

 

If VSA light comes on or you have 'hunting' bring it to dealer right away. They'll probably try to tell you it's just a temperature sensor first and replace that but that won't fix the problem. However they won't do the entire tranny replacement until it completely goes, but when it does it should be free under the recall. Just make sure to have your seat belt on for when it does go. Oh yeah, D5 light flashing means its only a matter of time, maybe few days, maybe few weeks but tranny is going to go.

Mike

 

I feel for ya'.

I had my tranny grenade at 86,0000 miles. Got it replaced under my 7/100,000 mile warrenty. I'm now out of my 7/100,000. Bummer.

I now have 90,000 miles and it's starting to "act" like my first one (shifty 2nd to 3rd).

How many miles do they typically warrenty the replacements for?

I'm Bummin'.

 

You're entitled to as many replacement transmissions as it takes to get your car to 100,000 miles. Some owners are on their third.

I'm hoping my fails again at 99K. -- MikeT


P.S. Modern transmissions should last well over 100K miles with only occasional routine maintenance. Would you have purchased your Acura if you thought you'd have to replace the tranny at your expense before the car accumulated 100K mi?

P.P.S. I wish I could replace the POS auto tranny with a std. one.