I wrote a letter last week to Acura requesting that they explain what was wrong with our transmissions, and what they have done to prevent future problems. The dealers, while quick to diagnose and fix, have not been very helpful in explaining why, so I chose to write a letter to Acura. They called me at work today and said that the main problem with our transmissions is a "Tapered Roller Bearing" that was going bad. I have no idea what this is, but he said they have since redesigned this part. Now I'm assuming this applies to my 2001 CL-S, but probably also to other 5 speed automatics for TL/CL. Got mine replaced on Monday, and everything seems fine so far.

I'm not sure about this part here, but, my old transmission model/serial number was kind of like this BGFA-XXXXX-1PGF62, wheras the new one is BGFA-XXXXX-2PGF62. Maybe the "2" on the second transmission is a revision number? The X numbers were completely different so I guess that's the serial number part. Just a guess, but maybe it's true. I feel a lot better now that I have an answer, assuming it's correct, but the guy who called me seemed genuine. Hope this helps.

 

wow! that's cool that they responded to you with information that specific....maybe they have been listening or visiting this board?

 

WHOA!! looks like the tight-lipped isn't so tight anymore

it's a start!! good show 'ol chap!!

 

hmmm... does that mean I should go to dealer and have my transmission replaced anyway?

 

I did mention to them that I got some of info on failed transmissions, from this board. Maybe it did help.

 

this may b a far stretch, but does anyone think the HELMS would have any info bout that bearing thing??

 

Buffa, thanks for the info. I hope that Acura got their act together and redesigned the transmission correctly. I hope your new transmission goes well and last long.

 

where do you find the tranny numbers, mine got replaced just recently I wanna make sure I got the good one. or at least compair with ur findings.

good job though, Thanks

 

From the front of the car, looking down at the engine, to the left of the yellow transmission dipstick, there is a large white sticker with numbers, and I believe, a bar code of sorts. It's on the body of the transmission itself.

 

Excellent thread!! This needs to go in the FAQ when we're done with it. It would be nice to get a better understanding of this "Tapered Roller Bearing" and its function though....

Any techies out there??

 

maybe we should come up with a letter about the brakes and send to Acura

 

Very impressive that they actualy called you back and said something, i figured that they would just throw the letter in the garbage.... in reguardes to the Tapered Roller Bearing thing, maby Wayne would know somthing about what this part is/does....you around here Wayne? Good work though for everyone here, even though it dosent realy apply to me.

 

So if your transmission fails they still have to replace the entire tranny, can they just replace the failed part?

What if your tranny fails after 50K miles due to the same problem, will they still fix it ???

 

Are they fixing the transmission as part of a recall, or just on a its broke we'll fix it under the warranty basis. Any recalls on are car that someonbe knows about? What problem are you all having with your brakes?

 

dang... I am getting off work early just to go home check my transmission code... hehehe...

wish me luck...

 

I wonder if this part has been changed on everyone's replacement/second tranny. I'm going to check my new tranny's serial number when I get home to see what I find.

 

just checked mine...though i havent had it replaced nor does it seem to have a problem...and i do drive the shit out of it...mine a 1pgf..was hoping maybe they did a mid pruduction change

 

#1 -- ARE YOU SURE THEY DIDN'T SAY IT WAS A THRUST BEARING (or something else)?

The only tapered roller bearings that I remember seeing in the Helms were for the Differential portion of the Tranny/Transaxle.

#2 -- If this is the "fix", then why do some of the trannies keep failing for some of the owners?


NOTE: I called Level 10, and they are coming out with an electronic board in January to adjust the clutch/shift speeds (Regular, Sport, Race). They can also rebuild the transmission to handle a lot more power. I would tell you, but you would laugh. (I also asked the tech about the tapered roller bearings. So, if Acura is correct, they are fixing the diff, not the trans. Level 10 will beef the tranny up to take more than 400+ HP for around $2400 (and change) -- so they claim...

 

To whom did you speak? What is their job title @ Acura? Would they be willing to put this into writing? Waht is their direct phone number?

 

Agreed... the only tapered roller bearings I can think of in the transmission are on either side of the differential carrier.

 

It's beginning to sound like this may be more bullshit from Acura to keep us quiet for a while. A couple weeks from now they'll blame something else.

Eric, what type of warranty does Level 10 provide for their work? If our tranny were to take a shit after getting rebuilt by Level 10, would we be screwed or would they give us a new Level 10 rebuild? Also, if there is some kind of a warranty, how long before it expires? $2,400 is a big investment, but may be worth it and seems to definitely be a requirement for keeping this car.

 

I haven't heard anything this specific from Acura. Perhaps you could e-mail me the name of the person you talked to, I could get some more info. As fas as the serial #s go- I believe the new number is the designator for the field replacement unit. I haven't heard anything about a production change

 

Always glad when Wayne or Jens replies; they sometime appear to be the only voice of reason amongst the paranoia on this board

 

How long did it take to get your transmission replaced?

 

I wonder what kind of group buy we could get from Levelten? :p

Seriously, if mine goes I am very likely to go with a Levelten replacement tranny.

So far though I've not noticed any problems with mine and I've had it since March of this year. However, I really don't like the feel of the stock tranny so if I came into a big cash windfall I may have it changed out anyway.

RUF

 

They only had my car for one day, and it took two weeks for the new transmission to come in.

 

Sorry, I didn't get the guy's name. I was too busy writing down the name of that wierd part. Also, yes I could be wrong about all of the numbers. I didn't think of what you said. Or maybe it's a plant number too.

 

See reply to wayneg, and unfortunately, I don't have his phone number either. I was at work, and we don't have caller id. I'm having a few doubts too, now that you guys are saying this part is strictly in the differential. However, I thought the differential is part of the transmission.

 

I had the guy repeat the part name for me since I never heard of it before, so I'm pretty sure it's not a thrust bearing. Some of them could be failing twice, because I'm not sure when they figured out this was the problem part. It could have been quite recent. Ther also could be other rare cases of failures for other reasons too.

 

My dealer said that dealers do not disassemble transmissions. They just remove the entire transmission and replace it with one Acura has rebuilt with a new part. The guy at Acura confirmed this too. It's kind of like a swap out. My old transmission is probably being fixed with new parts, and put into someone else's car later, I guess. However, all of the internal parts are new. It's pretty much the casing that is reused according to them.

 

They didn't mention anything about an official transmission recall. I would imagine they would avoid this if at all possible due to the expense. But who knows, if enough problems occur, maybe.

 

from what i know, a thrust bearing is any bearing that takes axial loads as well as radial loads.

and tapered bearings are just a type of thrust bearings.

i had a brochure on industrial bearings and bearing failures on my desk a couple days ago in kansas, but i'm not going back there.

 

There are numerous types and style of tapered rollers and thrust bearings. These are just general descriptions for a style of bearings.

Typical transmission Thrust Bearing:


A tampered roller bearing is just a plane old needle bearing, with or without externally exposed needles, that is conical shapped, at about 3 o'clock in this pic:


We 've done a number of measurement and control systems for various Torrinton plants.

 

That's exactly what I was told by my dealer, but I never heard of any revisions to the tranny till this thread.

 

Thanks for the pictures...

I looked over the Helms last night and the only "Tapered Roller Bearings" were used in the differential (or as RAdams said -- the differential carrier).

There are a number of thrust bearings as Scalbert has shown, but they look like his picture!


I still would like to know why some people are getting multiple failed transmissions?????

 

Well I had my tranny replaced in mid-July and my new tranny still has the 1PGF62 designation, so I should probably expect another tranny failure within the next 10K miles.

 

A good friend of mine owns an Acura dealership, and I stop by there time to time to get a free detail, or service or just to take a new model out for a spin. Anyhow I was there last week to get some help isolating a rattle (turned out to be a caribeaner [sp] that I installed to hold my bowling ball bag put), and the topic about the tranny issues came up. The service manager said that they haven't had many of the 5 speeds offered in the TL and CL yet, and that includes 2000 through present on the TL, and 2001 through present on the CL. Although he did say that had a few more than what he'd expect on the 4 speeds, but that they really didn't have hardly any trannys going out in the TL or CL. He said they've had a very very sparatic few, but that's it. Don't know if that helps, but the guys there are pretty straight and don't mind telling me how it is. They did say that Acura is sending out a lot of bulletins on the RSX, and that people have been racing them a lot, missing shifts and blowing the engine. Guess some people should learn how to shift before deciding to race....

 

theres too much information being said here
whether its marketings problem or acuras
or the driver himself,

ill just say one thing
i called up park ave to ask what was wrong with the tranny..
they claim that my hydrosystem failed?
anyone have any idea what it is?

ill just leave off with one thing
maybe it was good to have a couple of people flooring the crap out of the car everyday,
cause all they did was accelerate the problem,
better than happening at 70k it would suck if the warranty runs out,

can i ask all of you
i bought my car 2 or 3 days before new years of 2001,
and 10 months later my car fails, with 17,500 miles
im not goin to say 30k piece of horse shit
or curse acura, blah blah,
nor am i asking for sympathy
unnecessary, and immaturity
but dont you find that weird?
and its not only happend to one person
multiple accounts.

 

And the number keeps growing, practically daily now.

 

My God that is the biggest load of sh|t....