constan1

hi my fellow acura tl tranny sadness cohorts.. i have a problem. my '99 tl is not going into second gear. it just revs.. so in order to drive i have to use sports shift and take 1st all the way to about 35mph and then pop it into 3rd.. if i put it in auto it will just get stuck in 2nd.

anyway, i take it that my tranny is about to bust. but here is the REAL SAD part.. my tl has 165K miles on it.. AND i just bought it 2 months ago (for $10.9K) so no warranty. now i know i got ripped... but the car is CLEAN.. and i was able to finance it. i even got it checked b4 i bought the thing at an 'independent' acura shop and they said it was in great shape. those bastards!

so anyway i need to know the following if anyone can help me:

1) what its going to cost to get this tranny rebulit or replaced?
2) will getting new PMC & FPR make the new tranny last?
3) can it be just that solenoids need to be replaced, if so whats the $?
4) how long do u think i can drive it like this?
5) how many miles do new or rebuilt 99' trannys live for (if i drive it nicely)?
6) what is the best way to kill a used car salesman and not get caught?

thanks.

bbznyc

Geez.... i feel sorry for you.

Here is what i can tell you. I had a similar experience so this is what i can tell you. If you go to a dealer, you will be charged roughly $4500 to replace the ECU and the tranny. They will give you a rebuilt tranny with warranty for 12,000 miles or 1 year.

Honestly, i would never, ever trust anyone else to do the tranny for such type of a car (unless you know the person).

Some of your options are... Find a junk yard and see if they have used 99 tranny's. Personally, 99 tranny's are not prone to such problems as 00-03. So you might get a farely good one. Good junk yard might even give you some warranty on it. The problem comes with ECU unit - Don't know where to get it but it sounds expensive. Installation can be roughly 8hrs or so in the dealership so 8x90 = $720 just for labor. If you lucky, you can find a used tranny for $1,200. ECU = ???

I bought my 99 at an action, had 98,000miles perfect condition, and i paid $10,900. I had my tranny changed at 108,000 but Acura corp covered the cost of the parts.

Some things to look at in the engine bay. ALL bolts near the engine bay should in red paint. If they are in blue paint, something was changed (but by the dealership).

Rebuilt tranny should last you for a while, a long while...

It is also dangerous to drive like that.

If you really want to feel sad, go to the dealship pay $80 to get the car checked out.

MikeElmendorf

These cars, I am sorry to report, are trash. I have a 2003 TL-S and it is the worst car I have ever owned. Transmissions are not wearable items. I am on my second, but it is still not right. The dealer, of course, "cannot duplicate problem." Lemon Law here I come.

If anyone is considering buying one of these cars, do yourself a favor: Don't.

ME

constan1

thanks 4 the 411 bbznyc.. wow, $4.5K that really sucks. you would only recommend getting it done at the dealer? i'm sure these local (in LA) japanese acura shops should have pleanty experience with this, yea? but if the dealer is the only place to go, then darn, my ass is soooo broke. i'll ask around at some dealers tho. if another shop gives me a 12K warranty, then i'm for it. what exactly is teh ECU anyway... and is it dangerous to drive it like that bcuz it will jerk forward? i can always stay 3 car-lengths behind...

how about the PMC & FPR? i read on a thread here that those would make a difference too.

oh and MikeElmendorf - yeah, if i would have known about the tranny issue i would have never bought the tl.. but now its too late. my ass is payin every month for a car that has to sit in the garage until i get it fixed. i actually got a 91' mr2 with a dead engine that i think i'm going to repair and drive bcuz its only going to cost $2K to fix (and it has a semi-new tranny already!.. was planning to fix it up n-e way). i'll get the tl fixed prob in a few months when i make the cheese to pay for it. i guess i can just look at it and sit in it every once and a while.

ok, i have to go sell some crack now to fix my TL... i'm going to sell it at the acura lot.

peace

Mr Zipps

our trannies have a 7yr warranty on them.. Take it to acura and see if they will do anything for you.. Ask them for some Goodwill. Trannies are expensive above 4k...

constan1

Mr - i thought its was 100K/7yr, but "WHICH EVER COMES FIRST" ?? i'll take it to acura tho... we'll see what happens... thanks

hellas

try to have the dealer cover it under goodwill, you never know
doesnt the used car lot offer a warranty?

with 165K, and not knowing if it was maintained, i dont think its that bad. a lot of transmissions fail under those circumstances, not just tl's. there are a lot of wear and tear parts that eventually fail

if you have to pay for it, understand that theres a good chance you wont need a new tranny. chances are its just a wear and tear part that needs replacement. you can buy every wear part for an auto tranny for a couple hundred, though labour will be more. just because your slipping a gear doesnt mean you have to spend 5grand. go to an outside shop to have the work done. our tranmissions are pretty common and are nothing special

whats a pmc and fpr??

beefstew

hey constan1 ...i agree that there is a chance that acura will at least give you some assistance on this....after all they look at you as a prospective "customer for life"....definetly go to the dealer and ask...maybe at least a 50/50...seen it before...good luck

constan1

thanks for the info guys.. this site really rocks! i'm going to go the acura dealer and get a diagnosis and hopefully they'll do the goodwill thing. i'll let you know what happens...

oh and hellas -
PCM = powertrain control module
FPR = fuel pressure regulator

check out this thread:

http://acura-tl.com/forum/showthread...t=transmission


peace!

constan1

Ok, since I thought my tranny was dead, I kept the car in the garage until i was ready to take the biaatch into the shop (was in the garage for about 1 week.. ) well the battery was dead when i tried to start it, so i jumped it. well... now the tranny is working fine! what the deal? is this something with the ECU being reset? The problem with my tranny was that is wasnt going into 2nd, thats all. Every other gear was fine. Could it be that the ECU was trippin out with 2nd and going into neutral?

Also, 2 days after I ran into the tranny problem, I tired to drive the car again and 2nd was still messed up. FYI: The first time 2nd gear died was IMMEDIATELY after I exited the freeway after a long (1.5 hour drive @ 75mph pretty much the whole way). So maybe it is a mechanical issue?

Also also, the bolts around the engine are painted green... and there is a green "remanufactured" label on the tranny. So I assume that it has already be replaced at least once.

What to do now.. I'll take it to the shop still, but any suggestions would be appreciated. Should I just flush the tranny, and drive it again as normal until this prob happens again, then reset the ECU?

thanks

constan1

check this!.. i flushed my tranny, added 3quarts of Mobile 1 Synthetic and 8oz of Prolong tranny treatment and my tranny is running smoooth!! I took it on a good 1 hour trip on and off FWYs and side streets. hope it lasts tho...