Amoeba

Ok, I just bought a brand new 03 Cl-S and have put about 230 miles on it. I have not used the SS mode yet because I am breaking the engine in and I have not exceeded 3500 rpms. However I think I might have a potential tranny problem and I was wondering what you all thought about these occurences. First thing: I got about 100 miles on the car and Im cruising at 45 mph for about 1 min. With no acceleration or braking, all of a sudden my RPMS went insane and my car kept shaking back and forth like it was gonna stall. In a matter of 3 seconds my car went from 1500 rpm to 850 rpm then to 2000 rpm then to 1100 rpm then to 2100 rpm then to 1300 rpm. When it hit 1300 rpm the car drove normal again. I thought that might of just been some unimportant thing until tonight. I'm driving at a constant speed of about 35 for a min once again. These are not long constant speed drivings so it is not like im breaking the engine in going a constant speed. I vary all the time. Anyhow, all of a sudden my car starts to shake a little back and forth so I look at the rpms and in a matter of 2 seconds the RPMS were going even more crazy varying from 1000 rpms to 2000 rpms. This time I was not going to overlook this because I feel that it might be a transmission issue since it did this twice in 230 miles. Also, can someone please clear up what they mean by their car slipping so they knew that the tranny was going to die soon. What do they mean by slipping so I can tell if this ever happens and bring it to the dealer. I went to the dealer for touch up paint and since I was there I asked him about my first issue since the second problem did not occure while I was there. He told me that it was weird and that Acura is getting new diagnostic tools to check the Transmission. He said my car shouldnt have a problem because hes only replaced a few Cl-S before, which were "driven like a madman". Thanks for the help.

DivinDude

Hey Bud,

Yeah, that's the 'standard Acura response'. It's their way of "comforting you" and "fooling" you into thinking that you are fine. I personally don't believe that propaganda crap .. because I've been fed a lot of shit from my dealer (even been personally attacked)h

I do NOT drive my car like a madman .. I get "playful" a bit .. but that's not terribly rare giving my daily commute schedule and location.

Anyways, my cark 'jerks' around all the time .. the tach is bouncing all over the place between 30-50 mph. It seems that this area is where the PCM (control module) can't seem to make up its mind as to what gear you should be in. My vehicle constantly engages/disengages the torque converter (causing the jerking motion). I've experienced delay in shifting .. which causes a feeling of "stalling" because during those delays, the engine is disengaged from the drive wheels. I have this vehicle engage 5th gear at 30mph (causing a tach reading of around idle) .. Unfortunately .. the it is very intimentent - and typically occurs while going down a decline.

A slipping automatic transmission is a bad thing. The engine is disenaged from the drive wheels. It would be like putting your car into neutral while on the highway without removing your foot from the gas-pedal .. the engine would just rev up ... My replacement tranny has slipped 2 times now .. under very different conditions (once in auto - once in SS)

Put simply, my car drives like crap between 30-50 mph .. I'm embarrassed to have any other person ride in it because of all of the "man .. this car is really jerk" comments.

I can tell you .. these "traits" are in the '03s because the 03 TL I had while they were replacing my '02 CL-S tranny did the same thing .. only very subtly .. but it will get worse .. because mine started out that way too. My replacement transmission does the same thing too .. and is getting worse.

I've decided that I'm going nickle/dime my warranty .. every little noise will be reported .. so that Acura hasta pay out to have them look and find nothing .. and each visit I complain about the tranny (legit too) .. But this car will be gone by next Spring .. and I would NEVER consider owning one of these things out of warranty .. a $5K bill would be the difference in getting a car that will last.

-Andy

Amoeba

Is there anything the service department can do to help fix my random jerks between 30-50, or anything I can buy to help improve this. When I go to the dealer I will mention the problems, do you think they can do anything about it?

DivinDude

Well .. I've had my car for 9 months .. and a replacement transmission .. no luck yet .. if you find something .. let me know.

-Andy

Amoeba

Man that is just gonna get me so annoyed. I hate that feeling and I wish Acura could do something about it. 32k and I get a car that jerks

cnatra