toure1

My 2001 CL-S tranny died Friday, and dealer will cover only 25% so I will have to come out of pocket with $2500 to $3000. So does anyone have any recommendations for shops in and around ATL. Car has 122k and I want to keep the car another 2 years. I don't have the money for this right now, but I would like to keep it at or under $3k. I searched the threads and could not find anything. I need some recommendation today if possible.

distortedolskool

iTrader: (1)

first suggestion would be to check shops other than the dealer and get some of their estimates. my sister had her 98 accord transmission replaced at a private shop for cheaper than the dealership. i know the accord is a more common car but still worth a shot to check for the CL. good luck

SodaLuvr

The Honda 5-speed automatics have been common at transmission shops for a few years now. Parts are readily available in the aftermarket.

My friend who owns a transmission shop has already done two of these units. Price came out to a bit under $3000 (parts and labor). Parts included a master overhaul kit, linear solenoid and torque converter.

Some of the aftermarket kits may not include the updated 3rd clutch, as far as I know. (Actually, I'm not even sure if the aftermarket is aware of the 3rd clutch problem, or if they are, if their updated part is the same as the dealer's) You may want to have your builder purchase that part from the dealership.

Here's a link to updated third clutch bulletins from the aftermarket:

http://www.allomatic.com/pdf/Bull_pdf/1979.pdf
http://www.allomatic.com/pdf/Bull_pdf/2902.pdf

Here's a thread with more info about this subject:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151456

Please keep us posted. Thanks.

fsttyms1

I would honestly go with the dealer. The trans all have the new updated parts and casing modifications. No one in 2gtl has had one fail since feb05 (those that got the new updated trans since then) (with the 3rd gear problem)

Also i would contact acura client services and talk to them directly. Also the dealer you went to, talk to the Service Manager, Not adviser. See if you can get something better worked out. Many of us on the tl side are still getting 99s covered (atleast the trans portion, only paying for labor) with more miles than that.

SodaLuvr

FYI, there have been a number of failures with the "improved" transmissions.

fsttyms1

Not on the TL side with the improved trans. There have been a few failures but the ones we did have werent the typical 3rd gear failure. and 2 couldnt tell us if they had a updated unit

Not to mention with mas rebuilds your going to see some failure, its inevitable.
If hes going to have to pay 3k or so it might as well be an updated design from acura which gets every thing.

stic2it

iTrader: (1)

Rosenthal Acura in Gaithersburg, covered the whole cost. My car has 118k 2001 cl-s w/ mods....I would check them out first, talk to tina...I didn't even have to yell..
nevermind ATL... Call corporate, if you don't get anywhere...

SodaLuvr

Fair enough, but my memory is that there were more than three failures. Just pmptx himself had two ??? failures.

fsttyms1

And i dont remember him ever saying weather or not he had the updated units. Regardless, we are on a much less failure rate than ever before, and some failures are to be expected in rebuilds., especially on the scale we are dealing with. I know someone with over 100k and still going on the new design and the fluid looks like it was just put in

SodaLuvr

He had a unit installed in 4/07 that lasted for 7k. Only one failure of the revised units then.

Who cares about what the fluid looks like? I thought we go through this topic once a month, at least. Fluid color and odor are irrelevant with Z1.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Talk to another dealer. I had mine replaced. I was 8 1/2 years old and 117,000 miles and they covered parts. I had to come up with ~$900 labor which included replacement of motor mounts.

toure1

I ended-up taking the car to Aamco. The cost of having the car towed from one shop to another will break me. I just think it will be a long time before I own another Acura or Honda. I know Honda did better than most manufactures in terms of extending the warranty to 109K miles, but I purchased the car thinking I could perform preventative maintains until at least until 200K miles. I guess those days are gone.

It is going to cost $2500 that includes 3rd gear, 4th gear, overdrive, new torque converter, a couple of solenoids and a few other things. Problem I had with the dealer was they would warranty the work 12 mon or 12k miles, I have the choice of buying an extended warranty just on the transmission with Aamco, and they will cover the entire transmission.

fsttyms1

Good luck with their rebuild.

SodaLuvr

Ask them about the updated part for the third clutch. I posted the links above.

korchen

Definitely check with other dealers too. My tranny went out last Friday with 115K miles. The dealer told me they would cover all parts and labor for tranny and ECU without me even asking. I have had all major service performed at the dealer. (guess it paid off) They called me this morning and said it was done. FYI, they said the normal warranty for their tranny work is 1year/12K miles. They offered me a 3yr/36K mile extended for $250. Good luck.

SodaLuvr

Any update?

Which dealer?

jproy

SodaLuvr

Bump

korchen

Pleasanton Acura. They've always treated me very well there. TL and RDX loaner too. Wanted to try the RDX, but the wife said she hated it, so we switched to the TL. They said it would take about 7-10 days. Had it done in 4 days!

New tranny seems fine. Definitely smoother shifts now, (no more semi-neck snap 1st-2nd shift), however car feels just as quick. I guess more like a TL feel. Invoice said it was a one time good will service and I paid the $250 for the extra piece of mind. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

SodaLuvr

Thanks!

MurdaZ

iTrader: (1)

^^ what he said

i got the updated one last 06 aug, and its still shifts the same when i picked it up from repairs...


other than that, take it easy on the tranny for the next 500 miles or more...break it in gradually and dont floor it...babied mine for like 1k miles and its still strong *knock on wood*

nelskof

toure1, did you find a dealer in ATL????

I just posted this in the general forum in the thread titled "Made it 170K" or something...

Of course this is one of the first threads I read tonight, LOL, I'm pretty sure my tranny blew up today. I was on cruise control at 80 when I noticed smoke coming out of the back. Slowed down and it was coming out of the hood. RPM's started shooting all over the dash. It freaked me and my two passengers out! The fun part was that I was 194 miles away from home where the dealer that replaced the 1st one at 85,000 miles was located. Tranny fluid was all over the bottom of the engine (which led to smoke), it was inside the wheel well front-left, covered the entire undercarriage to the mufflers and had even spattered up on my trunk where the emblems are by the time I stopped. I'm at 125,000 miles so I'm not looking forward to the call to the dealer in the morning. The tow was $680 I'm hoping road hazard insurance helps out here.

The engine started and purred like a kitten on the side of the road but when I put it in D and hit the gas nothing happened.

The weird thing is the 1st time it happened I had major slipping and today just BAM

Any advice anyone? The car is at Ed Voyles Acura in Atlanta.

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

I think the REBUILT ones just go BANG!!! and they are done!....my numbers for the replacement and the second tranny crash as well as symptoms are the same...58k, then 126K...

I talked to the service writer who said I was in for about a $4300 hit!!! He then talked to the serv mnger who talked to the acura rep... they knocked off a grand and it will be a NEW... not rebuilt tranny... with a 3yr / 36k warranty... That will get me to alittle past 150k... not the 200k I thought I would get but cars today are just not what they used to be...

I say talk to the service manager first, unless you know someone in service... also, if you have been getting your service done on time and the tranny flushed on time then you might be able to get a better deal than I did... I have traveled alot over the past couple years so I am just getting back on the "deeper" service end of my car... praying for a good result for your car and you!!!

SodaLuvr

Ask them where they are sourcing their transmissions from. I bet that it's a 3rd party rebuilder.

Jbusiness

iTrader: (1)

well, I made it 8 years and 97k before I officially became a statistic in this tranny issue . Ive been noticing some slight slippage between gears the past few weeks, then today on the way home from work, my RPMs would climb to about 4-5k before a hard shift into gear. It happened 6 or 7 times until my D5 light started flashing, the check engine light came on with all the traction control lights.

I am the original owner and according to the Acura owner site my vehicle is included in the recall. Considering I am over the 7 year limit, what are the chances I am covered? ANY insight would be much appreciated...

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

...couple things.. first, if you have been doing all the required acura maintainence, including the transmission flushes and second, talk with the service manager they should be able to work something out with the acura rep... holla back and let us know whatz up!
Rick /DSith

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

BTW... I found out that a NEW tranny for our cars is still a REBUILT one... acura is so lame on this one... and I couldnt get a straight answer about who is rebuliding these things... prob some guy in his garage out back...

Jbusiness

iTrader: (1)

I have done all the required maintenance; I am very meticulous about that. However, I have a mechanic that does side work so its not through a stealership. I do have the receipts for all the parts but none of the labor...

That said, I just dropped my car off at a dealership here in Northern VA and was told they would call me later today or tomorrow after they look at the tranny. It's funny (or sad really) that as soon as I told the service advisor the problem he said, "2001 CL, right on schedule...")

I am a loyal Honda guy and will be EXTREMELY upset if they don't handle this situation the way they should...

Jbusiness

iTrader: (1)

update:

Tranny is officially dead...sounds like they are going to cover it under warranty but as others have mentioned, the warranty on the "new" tranny is only through the original warranty period . The manager of the "transmission team" said he hasn't had anyone come back for another replacement (anytime someone says always or never I am a bit suspect)...He also didn't seem to know anything about how changing the ECU in the new tranny (if applicable) would effect my driving experience or how it helped with the transmission issue.

oh, and my apologies...I wasn't trying to hijack this thread but it appeared to be the most active thread in an otherwise quiet area and the thread starter appeared to be finished.

DarkSithCL

iTrader: (1)

...I was told that the ecu has to be changed b/c its mated to the tranny...they changed mine too... sorry ur in this thread but its the most relevant one I could find too... BTW... my "new" tranny whines abunch and smells bad...

Jbusiness

iTrader: (1)

add a fuel pump regulator to the list of parts they are changing...

ECU and fuel pump regulator certainly sound like they are trying to dial back the stress on the tranny....