RobOnLI

I have an '01 CL-S with ~45,000 miles on it. Only transmission issue I've ever had is that sometimes the car slips coming down from 4th to 3rd gear around 45mph. It's not a huge slip and it doesn't happen all the time so I've ignored it.

I live in Seattle and there are pretty steep hills in downtown. I got in my car yesterday morning (it hadn't been driven in 9 days) and notice after I start moving that when I take my foot off the accelerator, the car jerks a little bit. Odd. I then notice going down some of these steep hills that my brakes are barely able to stop the car and the car is idling at 1,200 RPM instead of the normal ~700rpm. I also hear a vibrating noise coming from the engine compartment. I think it's odd, but ok. I drive the car around for around 30 minutes and the noise gets louder, then a light thumping sound starts and my car is holding its own going up some of these steep hills when I'm stopped at a traffic light. Normally my car would roll backwards. I conclude the car is holding the tranny in 2nd or 3rd gear for some reason - but not sure.

I call Acura of Bellevue and drive out there. Sure enough the problem goes away after I take the drive to Bellevue. Now they are doing the 45,000 service which includes changing the tranny fluid.

So I'm wondering if these tranny problems are a sign of my tranny going or if the tranny fluid may have just been bad. I guess it could also be that the tranny fluid was cold, but after 30 minutes of driving around, it would have warmed up.

BTW...my car has many times been sitting without being run for 2 weeks at a time so 9 days is nothing new to it.

Your input is appreciated. Acura of Bellevue can't duplicate my tranny issue so they aren't going to replace the tranny (no surprise there).

Thanks,
Rob

djarovsky

[QUOTE=RobOnLI]I have an '01 CL-S with ~45,000 miles on it. Only transmission issue I've ever had is that sometimes the car slips coming down from 4th to 3rd gear around 45mph. It's not a huge slip and it doesn't happen all the time so I've ignored it.

Sorry....but your tranny is on its way out. That was the same failure mode on my first tranny...it died gracefully. Luckily the dealer was able to replicate the slippage when I brought it in.

It'll get worse over time, so hopefully you'll get to a point where it will happen frequently enough for the dealer to see it. They may need to drive your car for awhile though.

Check your tranny fluid.....if it is brown or smells burnt then changing the fluid may help, but chances are the damage is alreay done.

RobOnLI

Thanks very much for the reply.

Acura wasn't able to duplicate any slippage so I got the car back after the 45,000 mile service.

They did change the tranny fluid during the serivce and they said the old fluid looked normal. However, the car is definitely running better after their service.

I'm pretty sure the tranny is dying as well, I just hope it does it before my warranty runs out. The car is 5.5 years old. I'll hit the age limit way before the mileage limit.

Thanks,
RM