Severin

You sure get around

frainc

Well, got my 2003 TL-S (27,000 miles) back this morning with a new transmission. All seems OK so far with it. I did call Acura Services up and told them that my tranny when and they told me that its outside the recall because my VIN should have been high enough where the problem should have been fixed.

The dealer won't know because they have to box it and ship to Acura, they can't take it apart or anything because then they will have to pay for the tranny, not HQ's!

So time will tell how good this tranny is, but glad to get my car back.

spineman

I just bought my 2000 TL a week ago and drove it two days when I noticed some funky shit going on between 2nd and 3rd. I called the dealer in West Chester, Pa where I bought it and they said they had no idea there was something wrong with it. With their apparent stupidity in mind, I took it to Princeton Acura. They took me right away and the mechanic that rode with me seemed very knowledgeable. It already had the oil jet installed and he told me most transmissions with the "quick fix" will need to be replaced at some point. He advised me to leave the car there and not to drive it, as one of their own mechanics was test driving one and it slammed into reverse at 60 mph. Yeh, right, honda says there has been no accidents....mmmm. The service manager said about 2% need to be replaced, the mechanic said more like 20% to all of them. The reason he explained is that in the 2000 model, Honda had to increase highway gas mileage in their cars, so they could sell some more!
Iraq war supporting, gas guzzling SUVs and Trucks. So they did a cheap modification to the clutch pacs and to the torque converters. Hence if you do your research on the difference between 99 and 00's, you'll see that the 00's have better gas mileage. This turned a disasterous mistake. From what I understand, they have made the correct improvements in the rebuilt trannies recently, (after tearing so many apart) with new clutch pacs and a whole new shifting pattern for the transmission. There is a whole new computer program installed in the car also. I think that Acura is doing what they can to fix the problem. Before, I don't think they actually knew how big the problem was. Most of these cars are just getting now to the mileage that these problems surface. If I were any 00-03 TL owner, definately get your new tranny before 100k. Just say that it whines. Otherwise you'll be stuck after the warranty. I will see if this tranny lasts, but as a whole Honda is a reputable co, that has had a major f up problem that will end u!
p costing them probably most of the profit they made on these cars. My mechanic was also quick to point out that Ford never fixed the Pintos that blew up killing hundreds of people, cause they "didn't have the money"

moat

I just got trans # 3 installed, the dealer said the new one has the oil jet mod and was a recall, although my car was not shceduled for the recall yet they did it anyway. I have an 02 TL-s with 100K on it. Said Honda gives a 3 yr 36,000 with the replacement if you are out of warranty. I am trying to get it in writing, I dont believe anyone's word on this...

patilsd

Yesterday my tranny died....RPM zoomed to 5000 at 20 mph...D5 indicator started flashing and TCS light came on and later Check Engine indicator came on.
Called Sussman Acura dealer in NJ told them about the what happend and without any question they took my car for Transmission change.I have 62000 mile on the car.

I have question...I will appreciate if you can responsd to it.....

How much warrenty will I have on this new Tranny? Will it be 38000 miles (100000-62000) OR I will get any additional warrenty?

Thanks in advance.

baron

I had my tranny replaced at 81k. Was told by dealer warranty only good to 100k even though tranny was new.

moat

Just had trans #3 installed in my 02 TLS....I had bought 100K warranty when purchased, and trans just went at 99K.....was told that Acura has "3 yr 36,000" on this new trans, but I cant get it in writing...

moat

........my fvicking new trans just died on friday....1500 miles on it....I had called the dealer to say it felt a little off, hard 2-3 shift and a little harsh out of OD (like the rest of them, except original)(this is the latest recall trans with the oil jet mod) but I second guessed myself and figured this was the best I will get......driving up a hill, pops out of OD and revs to 6000 and BAM into some other gear, check engine light, VSA light, ! light, and a big friggin cloud of trans fluid all over the road, the car, everywhere. Car moves, but not well... limped off the highway and called customer care. I was nice, they were nice, but this shit has got to stop.....I cant even sell this shitbox now its not worth anything, even with another new trans...just a black hole for trannies....i want these bastards to buy it back at book value, we all deserve it after this many trans....no more auto Hondas for me, maybe no Hondas at all....that would be sad after all these years of faithful cars

PS I take back ANY defense I have given Honda in the past about this (except the great service of a few dealers)

signed,

pissed off

DiBurroM

I have a 03 TL-S with 28500 miles on it. I bought the car used in Boston and drove it all the way to Tampa Florida without a problem. A few weeks after buying it I noticed a severe hesitation around 60mph which only occured afterthe car sat all night long. I took it to the dealer and they performed the recall and within a week the same problem happened again. The dealer replaced the transmission but within a week the problem happened again. Is this the transmission or something else? Also, the car doesn't display the problem if you turn the car off and restart it immediately. If anyone has a clue please let me know.

climberbry

Acura dealer just put in a new tranny under this recall. My TL 2000 has 106k mis on it.

moat

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No car to use since Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant do anything!!!!!! Spent 5 hours talking to customer care yesterday, dealer is too backed up and doesnt have room for my car!!!!!! No loaner yet!!!! 3 fuckin failures in ten months!!!!!!!!!!!! Customer Care Actually had the balls to accuse me of my "driving style", yeah, that must be why it only lasted 2 weeks and 1500 miles, all highway. I have a Mustang if I want a car to beat on.

moat

I now feel the pain of the rest of us who have had multiple failures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

driver

It sounds like Honda is using discoloration as the visual que to replace the transmission but is this really a good method to determine the health of your transmission? I'm worried that my tranny doesn't show this discoloration but has become weaker or damaged and will fail after the warranty period due to this design flaw.

That Girl

The oil jet kit install is done after the 2nd gear is inspected for discolorization. If no discolorization ,it is ok to install the oil jet kit.


Problem with this seems to be the MANY..MANY ...MANY Oil jet kit's that are installed because after inspection of the 2nd gear not showing discolorization (No evidence of HIGH HEAT= excessive heat/wear) But TOO TOO many are having the oil jet kit installed and having the transmission fail AFTER the oil jet kit.


Now from what I hear ,the picture taken of the 2nd gear is sent to Honda corp ..I don't know if true or not..or maybe just the service dept. determines that the color looks good and an OKAY is given to install the oil jet kit.


In any case or instance ..something's not right about the Oil Jet kit...The tranny shouldn't fail after the fact ...But EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY....................

After tranny's are replaced ...AFTER Failing ...AFTER the oil jet kit installed ...


THE NEW TRANNY's that are being installed .....ARE FAILING... Now if the NEW tranny's have built in lubricating ...ALL new update's ........Why are they failing..

Plucky

Had my oil jet kit installed on Monday and finally had some time today to look at what they did. They really did a lousy job of cleaning up after themselves cuz I can see all the transmission fluid "wetness" all around and below the area of the jet oil kit. It even left a drop or two on my garage floor. Not cool. I suggest you guys check out the install after you get it back to see if you need to wipe anything. I'm going to check the tranny fluid level in the morning when it's warmed up to make sure they added enough of it back.

AzNAzz

i just recently bought a 00' 3.2 TL with 63k miles on it from a local dealer, not from an acura dealer. am i still covered under the recall or not since it wasnt purchased from an authoized acura dealer.

obespalov

I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but a quick way to know if you are on the recall list is to register with the ACURA owner's section at acura.com. I don't think i would have found out otherwise b/c i bought the car used and the letter prob went to original owner.

asloudasitgets

i had the oil kit installed about 2 weeks ago and my car just went bonkers yesterday. the lurched back and forth like 5 times back and forth. Then the rpm drop and would not accelerate, and seemed like it was stuck in a gear. NIce job honda, just what i needed after your supposedly tranny fix. Honda is becomming a joke now.

aclura

mine lasted 50mi.

moat

Just picked up my rental car...beuatiful Dodge caravan with the pass side smashed in....I have been without my car for 2 of the last 10 months and I still have at least another month before I get mine back. Its time to sue these a-holes.... :wtf:

Moat

TeknoKing

OK, living in Brooklyn, NY, I still didnt get a letter for a recall, I think they are waiting on purpose so I can go over 100K... Now what do I do? Should I just bring the car in? (my dealership is the worst, so they will tell me to go f***myself)

mikelee223

tekno your not the only one. didnt receive mines either.. was just planning to bring it in.

Plucky

I would just bring the car in for the recall anyway. I did receive the letter, but the dealer never asked to see it or if I even got it. They took my car in no questions asked. I just called and made an appointment. Should be a piece of cake.

rocketman762003

00 TL with 91,000 miles getting new tranny for the first time on 10-13-2004. From reading the previous posts, I am worried that it will die sooner than later. Have not had many problems in the past, so I am hoping it will go smoothly. Any hidden costs I should be looking for? The dealer, Zimbrick in Madison, WI has been pretty good to me in the past, so we will see.

Looks like I will need to sign the petition, but anything else I should do?

magnod

I called Acura in Hawaii and he said that they extended the warrenty for my 00 TL. He told me to come by and they'd do the 2nd gear check and change the tranny if needed. Crossing my finger that nothing goes wrong.

ferdiee

So my baby just got her jet kit installed today. 2001 TL w/ 70K. I bought it w/ 55K on it, so I don't know if the transmission has been replaced. The Acura dealer told me that the transmission looked OK upon their visual inspection.

I asked them if there was a way to tell if the transmission had been replaced in the past, and they asked me back, why I asked. I told them with all these transmission failures, I'm kinda worried and I was just wondering it my baby has had a replacement. And guess what, he said "With only 0.6% TL's with the problem? You don't have to worry about it.". I told them most TL owners (well, I read all the postings here) did have the problem.. And they said it's gotta be Texas cars then (since I have a TX plate - I'm in Calif now). I thought, yeah right..

Anyway, we'll see how this goes. I do love my TL and I would like to keep it past 100K, but I don't want to spend outrageous amount of $$$ for endless transmission replacements. Does anybody know any TL owners that does not have to get a transmission replacement, say, past 130 or 150K?

Oh the dealer also gave me a free car wash.. so I'm a happy camper. Hope my happiness will last

magnod

I got my kit in yesterday and so far so good (knock on wood). The people at Hawaii Acura told me that they've yet to have someone come back with a tranny problem AFTER the kit and inspection. Someone there said that perhaps it was because we don't drive over long distances for a long period of time (i.e. over 1 hour on the highway)

ucla107

tranny died last week and they broke my axle while test driving the car... so they had to replace the axle and a new tranny... car is supposed to be ready today or tomorrow.. we'll see what happens.. for now i've been driving a PT Cruiser rental that they paid for

ymckoon

I took my car to Stevens Creek Acura in Santa Clara, CA for the recall. My brother noticed a small wet spot in my garage and it's transmission fluid. I crawled under my car. It's definitely not from the drain plug. After furhter inspection, it looks like it's coming from the tubes they installed.

Had my brother not seen this, I could have potentially lossed all transmission fluid and had a tranny failure. I recommnend that you all check too for leaks. I'm taking it back today during lunch to have them look at it.

RLguy2005

i noticed some members from www.acura world.com with alot of tranny problems also ;(

ymckoon

Yep, transmission has died. They are ordering and going to install a transmission. sigh....

Nick

I just received my recall notice. In fact, I got TWO of em on the same day with same name & addressing. Are they trying to tell me it's critical to get my 02-S in? Anyone else get 2 notices???

Danoli

have my appointment in 9 days and think the problem is very subtle is there something I can do to overheat my tranny to insure a full replacement? will speeding help being stuck in traffic? what exactly causes it to fail?

Ymiked

I think it gets lost after a few dozen posts, but it is important to remember there are TWO separate problems with the 2nd gen Acura transmissions:

1) Frequent failures by sudden downshifts, failure to upshift, jumping gears and slipping. The failure is the original reason for the 100K warranty and the replacement of failed transmissions with rebuilt units. To my knowledge there is not a 'new transmission' replacement for these units. Here is the NHTSA 'whitewash'. Only 35 complaints when 'closed'. Please complain at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Make : ACURA; Model : 3.2TL;
NHTSA Action Number : PE02081
Date Investigation Opened: October 28, 2002
Date Investigation Closed: March 5, 2003

http://152.122.48.12/prepos/files/A...02081-15340.pdf

http://152.122.48.12/prepos/files/A...-PE02081-NN.PDF

2) The recall. This is for the inspection of the gear and oil jet addition to cool the second gear gear. This has caused (at last report) only two failures and has no relation to problem number 1.

iamritesh

Any decent dealers in NJ ?

About a couple of dealers I call in central NJ is giving me 2 months wait for the recall check. Is everyone in central NJ experiencing the same problem ?

kennelm

I took mine in 4 days ago. There was nothing particularly obvious about the tranny to make me think it might be toast. But now I'm waiting for a new tranny to arrive. I guess that's better than the oil jet hack, no? What does this new tranny have in store for me? Will it really fix the problems? Will it shift the same as my old one? I've heard they reprogram it to shift differently.

Thanks.

Southbound

I just got my tranny recall notice for my 02TLS. I've got 33K miles on it with no problems so far. NO LEAKS! Still, I need to take it in to see if they can make things worse for me... I HATE this sort of thing. I'm sure that they will leave some bolt or fitting loose, etc.

I live in ORANGE COUNTY, CA

Anybody have any recommendations as to which dealer will be least likely to botch the job??? TUSTIN ACURA, COSTA MESA ACURA, or MISSION VIEJO ACURA???

I REALLY appreciate any GOOD or BAD recommendations that anyone from this area has had with this TRANNY RECALL.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

kennelm

I just got my car back yesterday with a bunch of new stuff: New tranny, new stereo (volume knob problem), new left front strut (suspension squeak), new driver's side seat back heater element. Many thanks to this database for raising many of these issues to my attention.

One reason they went for the new tranny versus the oil jet is that I've been hearing this high-pitched whining sound under light throttle, at certain speeds. Apparently, I had a bad bearing in the tranny that was causing this whining noise. If you can hear that noise,you may need a new tranny too. I don't recall seeing anyone else report that kind of tranny problem in this database, so I wonder how often that bearing problem has occurred....

mikelee223

What is the mileage on your car and what year?

kennelm

2002 TL-S with 45k miles.