Torque Converter went bad at 37k
 

This site is awesome for useful information. I'm adding my latest "event" so that it might help a fellow RL owner.

A few weeks ago I noticed a noise that sounded like a loose heat shield coming from my car. I isolated it down to that it only occurred when my speed was approx 43-47 mph and RPM was between 1200-1600. The noise was more prominent when traveling up an incline. I also noticed the vehicle felt as though it was draging and you could visual see a slight fluxuation in the rpm. I took it in on a Monday and the service manager called me Tuesday to tell me that they had isolated it to the Torque Converter. I had already previous went thru this site looking for a similar problem and couldnt find anything so I was somewhat surprised to get that information from my service manage. I asked if he had ever had another RL have this problem and his response was No. I picked it up Thursday and everything is back to normal.

I bought the car CPO and I have had the car now for three months and that was my 4th visit to the dealership. Drivers outside door handle, Navigation not funtioning properly, Passanger side mirror loose, broken rear vent, rear shade rattling, burnt out shift console bulbs, missing roof trim at the time of purchase pickup, and the torque converter. Smartly, I purchased the extended warranty which has already paid for itself.

I love the car but have been displeased in the fact that I would have thought a CPO car would have had as high of standards as if I bought it brand new???? So far nothing has cost me anything but the time(I'm 35 miles from the dealership) and a little grief. I was kind enough to printout and take the Acura CPO statement along with the 150 pt inspection on my second visit. The service mananger(were on first name bases now) has been very courteous. I have also been courteous yet voiced my concern about the substandard quality control that has been given to my vehicle. I'm sure that Acura Corp claims much higher standards than what I have seen. ok that my :2cents:.

Hope this is useful.

Jamie

There's a known problem post stickied, this should be moved there.

Thanks for the post!

Time to test a higher stall converter! ;) Sorry to hear of your issues, your not alone in the matter, but at least the warranty is taking care of cost if not the petro and time for getting it taken care of .

Jamie, I too had the same problem on a CPO car, and it too was the torque converter. Mine was very apparent at 1250rpm, in Overdrive (torque converter locked), and between 40-50mph, going up a slight incline. It drove me nuts.

My dealership diagnosed it to torque converter shudder and the torque converter was replaced per Techlines reccommendation. It's MUCH better now, and the transmission is shifting much more smoothly now too which is great.

It would have been a $1800 job with parts + labor if out of warranty. Yikes!

It wasn't just you, this sounds like a common problem on these cars.

Chris

WOW. I think that's the first I've heard of a torque convertor problem. I don't think it's common, but that doesn't matter when it happens to you. I'm at 36.5 k miles now myself and will certainly look out for this.

It's also unusual to have to visit the dealer this many times in this short a period, 37k miles is still pretty young for a Honda product.

Some comfort that I'm not alone!

Few of my visits were due to me being meticulous. After reading about a CPO vehicle on the Acura site I did my own inspection and wrote all the discrepancies down and returned back to dealership. They were pretty good in taking care of all my issues. On a few, they broke other things fixing my compliants! So far so good:wish:. The car is driving great. The Sales Mananger has even got me a nice discount on some Aspec rims due to my "incovenience":thumbsup:. Plan on putting them on for the summer. Again, this site has been extremely helpful.

I had a similar problem on my 05 RL. Always happend when driving up a slight incline at about 45 miles per hour. Took several trips to the dealer and finally a drive along with a tech to identify it as a noise coming from the torque converter. Once the tech heard it he knew right away what needed to be done. He said an ECU update had not been completed. Once they did an ECU reflash/update the noise disappeared.

Torque converter problems are not uncommon on the 2004 and newer Honda 5-speed automatics.

I think my Torque converter is going as well, as during low RPMs(no matter what speed) , a feel a slight vibration coming from the Gas Pedal and Steering Wheel.

05 or 06 or both problem?
 

is that an 05 06 or both problem? if this is a problem I might go with a 05 CPO instead of a 06. But a 100K powertrain warranty what could happen?? I mean 105K without a tune up shouldn't have problems right?

It's been well over a month now and the problem was completely corrected. I will always advise as to having a warranty with this particular car just due to all the gadgets!!! I imagine I have had well over 5k of warranty work done in the 5 months I have owned it.

I just purchased a certified 05 RL (52k miles on it) two weeks ago. Within 4 days of having the vehicle, I starting experiencing the "torque converter" issue. I specifically listened for this issue (thankfully to AcuraZine) when I test drove the car, but did not hear it originally.

It was ultimately covered 100% by Acura Care, but I did get several interesting phone calls from Acura Care "interviewing" me on how I noticed the issue. I understand the selling dealership got the 3rd-degree on "why they didn't find this issue" before certifying it. This seems to be a growing issue and could be very expensive for anyone that may be out-of-warranty.

FYI: The dealership had to put a computer on the car and capture the problem before Acura Care would cover the issue.

my car is getting reparied because of that right now!

it could be the way you drive...

i drive very peacefully :wish:

i too had a converter replaced now vibration back aprox 10,000 miles later cpo car 46k on odo when i bought it .now vibration almost like a flat tire would be starts around 45mph and continues i think axel what do you guys think?

on the certified issue, I have bought a few 'Certified' Acuras, trust me, most of the time it's just a piece of paper and a sales tool. too bad, they really have a chance to show some good customer service, but usually fail. So many blatant problems, ABS light on in dash, unadjusted headlights, seat would not move in track, driver window would not close properly. all this on a cert Legend Coupe.
sure they will fix everything they should have seen on the inspection but it leaves one feeling like they don't care.
it's about sales, not service.

Certified has a different meaning to different dealerships. I have seen Lexus certified with poor front bumper paint jobs,etc...

so does the engine light come on when the tourqe converter goes bad?

BUY NEW:tomato:

Regarding the toque converter.

I have this issue and I drive in manual all the time to not initiate this strange noise/vibration.

In any case, I plan on changing all electronics that pertain to the torque lock up. Mine does not unlock as it should at low rpm's especially in 4th or 5th.

Changing ATF helps but it is still there.

All subject electronics are:

Shift solenoid valve D
Clutch pressure control solenoid valve C

And for maintenance reasons (Springs become fatigued) all 3 pressure switches.

I will do this in a couple of weeks. I will post a quick how to, expense, and results afterwards for all that are interested.

I'd definitely be interested in that. Thanks Steve.

Accelerator / Steering Wheel Vibration 1500-2000 RPMs
 

Greetings,

This week I took my 2006 RL with 37,000 miles to the local Acura dealer to resolve a vibration/buzz in my accelerator pedal/steering wheel. I was told that it was (per Acura Tech Line) the torque converter locking up and the vibration was a "normal characteristic of the vehicle" :mad:

Is this a "normal characteristic others are experiencing??

Thanks,

Mike