drcookie

Just want to share my 2nd. dead tranny experience. I had my first tranny replaced at around 50k+ miles. After less than 10k miles later, the 2nd one kicked the bucket. This one happened on the freeway during commute hour right when I was merging into Highway 101 with my 3-year old son and my wife in the car with me. The first sign of failure was I stepped on the gas and the RPM went up to red line but the car did not accelerate. Check engine light did not show up, everything appeared normal on the console. I released the gas and the tranny kicked back in and we moved for about another 1/2 mile. This time, the tranny just went completely dead, did not engage when I step on the gas. Shirted into D4, Sportshift, 1, 2, ... did not help. I managed to pull safely to the LEFT shoulder of the freeway (since we were on the carpool lane).

I called up Acura Road Side Assistant and the tow truck did not show up after more than 2 hours. We pretty much stranded on the side of the freeway, beside the fast lane for 2+ hours. We had a visit from two different CHPs who checked us out and left.

Finally the tow truck arrived and towed the car to the Acura dealer. The service advisor was very nice and provided us a TSX loaner. I received a call on the same afternoon to confirm that the tranny is dead ... DUH !!! and the "new" tranny won't arrive for 3-4 days.

Well ... that was my "scary" experience. Sorry for the long post. I am not sure if I could declare lemon if the 3rd tranny would die later ... I just want to make sure my family and I are safe when this tranny decided to go.

Cheers !!!

fsttyms1

Bummer, Hopefully you will get the latest tranny which is supposed to have the updates.

bmoreTLS

I really hope you get an updated tranny. I had mine replaced in December 05, and I put it to a pretty good test this past weekend going up to Seven Springs, PA... which took me through a lot of mountainous (if that's a word) highway. I would have really been pissed, and lost faith in Acura if this tranny had failed on me, and still may if it happens in the near future.

The service guys at the dealership told me that I do have an updated tranny, and because of acurazine, I knew to ask before they installed it. Along with other questions that I now think of asking when I need to go to the dealership. Thanks acurazine

PenancE

WOOOOHOOOO GO GO AZ!


back to thread, yea sorry for the scary situation, hate the freeway stories...

fsttyms1

From my understanding they didnt get the updated ones out till feb. Is your oil jet inside or out side the tranny?

2003BlizAkTL

ayy man im really sorry about that, but i was going in the middle lane of 580 at about 70 mph because my family was with me and i had already heard a clicking noise from the car and bam, the transmission dropped, the car skidded for about half a mile and police and the tow truck didnt show for like an hour and a half. also, i had my grandma and baby cousin in the car, so you can imagine how scary it was, at least you were able to pull to the side, i couldnt, luckily someone on the freeway stopped to help us diverge traffic till the cop showed, anywayz thats my story, i feel you though. sorry about that, but hopefully u get the updated one, from my understanding it wasnt out when i got it put in my car.

drcookie

You mean they have just come out with "another" updated tranny this month (Feb/06)?

When I replaced the first tranny, it did not come with the oil jet. However, I had the oil jet installed on the original tranny. Made me wondering why they removed the oil jet.

bmoreTLS

Honestly, I haven't gotten under to check it out for myself.

I will have to find out tomorrow when I call them and ask where the oil jet kit is on the tranny that they replaced in December. If they aren't able to tell me without thinking about it I'll have to question what they gave me. I go to the same guy in the service department everytime...

Which way should the updated one be? Inside?

If they didn't give me what they told me, it would really piss me off. But I did specifically ask them when I had to get it done.

Hova1222

Sorry to hear that man but atleast you and your family are ok.

bmoreTLS

drcookie, you should definitely also make sure you get the updated one... Getting two trannies is one thing, but getting a third, without the proper updates at that mileage just shouldn't happen to anyone with a quality car...

fsttyms1

No of 05. The new ones that were replaced shouldnt have teh external oil jet as it was builtin.

fsttyms1

Its not that they didnt give him a updated one, its that they didnt have a true fix. Hell im on #5 failure

ProvidenceLeaf

Glad to hear you are okay. I'm just fearing the day that happens to me.

bmoreTLS

what year is yours? 02?

fsttyms1

2000

99AcuraTLAndy

On 10/8/2003 on my 99 TL tranny was replaced with 99K on it. My warranty runs out on 10/8/2006. My questions is this isn't the good tranny? What they keep updating and fixing them to make them better which you said Nov 05 or Feb 06 are the best ones??? These are upscale cars and you would think once they knew the problem the next tranny placed in the car would solve all the problems they had with the original one.

What are you saying I hope my tranny goes before 10/2006 to get the new better final best tranny for my 99 TL???

drcookie

Ok. I am all confused now. So, Acura came out with a replacement tranny but it was not the true fix. When did the true fix come out?

SaNJoSeTLRydEr

i blew my tranny also...when i had my mileage hitted 46k dats when my first tranny blew...and it was on the freeway 101 also...but i barely got onto it so i was only going like 35 beginning to catch speed den it blew on me....i had to exit right away as car was honking the shit out of me...becuz i was going so slow on the freeway..hahaha...den i took the local way all the way home....but yeah im on 2nd tranny...ever since than my tranny been like making hella noise..like its not as smoothe as it was before...

bx-tls

Just glad your family was alright. But reading the post, i would think that all tranny being replace now would have the one with the new fix?

fsttyms1

Ok this problem has been going on since 2000. (i was one of the first, mine died before they had the nthsa look into it and extended the warranty)

They along the way tried different parts but to no avail, The trannies kept failing. The latest revision of the tranny came out sometime around feb of 05. Thats when they changed some internal parts and incorperated the oil jet inside. As for wether its a true fix? we dont know yet. No one has had it fail yet, it is kinda early.

I had the new parts in the tranny that just failed but it wasnt them that failed, it was my torque converter that caused damage

03CoupeV6

As an update to this thread, Kris, it's been about 11,000 miles since my transmission was replaced. Since it was in October, and the oil jet kit is internal, I'm assuming that this is the latest revision.

Last night returning from Ed Voyles Acura (picked my car up after it had been there all weekend) the transmission shuddered on a 1~>2 shift. This was the first sign of failure of the original transmission in my car last year.

It looks like my transmission may be doomed, and if it is indeed the latest one, may be yet another blunder and not a "real" fix.

vinovelo

Very sorry to hear of your ideal. I am also in the Bay Area (Newark) and had mine replaced at 49995 miles last Summer (August). So far it feels fine but I am at slightly less than 59K now and your experience gives me the chills.

When was your tranny replaced (date)? Did you get the 05 upgrades (supposedly) that hit the parts supply about last Feb/Mar? The dealer should be able to tell you this.

If so this is ominous. I'd like to get a feeling for wether this latest unit upgrade is helping at all. If this is another failure trend I'm selling. I hope it's an isolated failure.

I had mine replaced at Sunnyvale Acura. They did a very good job and treated me fine.

/Steve

fsttyms1

I never in all of my failures had a shudder. It was always the slipping clutch feel on the 2-3 a few thousand miles before it happened. The 1-2 shudder shouldnt be signs of the normal failure, its the 3rd gear thats the failure and cant grip properly. there will always be quirks that you feel and get all worried that another failure is iminent

03CoupeV6

Most of my Hondas have had transmission quirks from time to time when shifting, but only in the TL has it ever been a sign of things to come. This isn't just a "fluke", I promise. It lasts too long, and feels too weird.

The first transmission I had failed due to chipping of the 2nd gear, actually - not sure if I told you that before. I was told that teeth of the gears breaking off had caused the transmission to shudder when engaging second gear. The "shudder" was rapid slipping and engaging of 2nd gear due to missing teeth on the gear. I'm not a transmission guru, I don't know if this is even possible, but that's what I was told. The sensation this time is exactly the same. It's very unnerving when it happens, but doesn't happen often. As with last time, it first starts as a "rare" thing, then increases in frequency until final failure. Luckily, last time it was replaced while still shuddering and before it could leave me stranded - or worse, lock-up.

fsttyms1

If thats the case your among the few that have had issues with 2nd and not the actual major problem that we all have

drcookie

Hi Steve,
I just found the paper on my first tranny work order.
The first tranny went out at 54800 miles. This is back in 11/15/2005... dang!!! ... that was around 4.5 months ago. When the first tranny died, it was very obvious. The tranny will jerk (releaesed and kicked in) and the check engine light will come and D light will blink. The replacement tranny did not have oil jet installed. The behavior on the second tranny was a little different from the original tranny. If I WOT on auto (not in SS), the tranny would get a small hiccup at redline on 2nd before shifting to 3rd.

When the second tranny died, it was different from the first one. The tranny did not kicked at all after shifted to 2nd. So, my car would start to move a little and once the tranny shifted to second, it felt like it was in Neutral. The engine light did not show nor the D light did not blink. Everything appeared normal.

The 2nd replacement tranny is a lot smoother. I hope this one has the latest fix. I did not check if it has the oil jet installed or not. I will find out more tomorrow.

Cheers !!!

docrob

11/15/05? Then you should've had the latest version of the tranny. I guess there still isn't a true fix at all. I've got about 13K on my tranny installed 9/05, I hope it lasts! I had 96K on the original tranny, I hope this one lasts about as long. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

vinovelo

Yes. What I was told by the dealer is that early in 05 (~Mar) that parts
were recalled and the newer fix was being installed. Having it replaced
on 11/05 means you should have defiitely got it.

We need to start a poll and track these to see if it is another failure trend.

/Steve

fsttyms1

It doesnt mean that he actually had one with the parts and flukes do happen. Only time will tell.

vinovelo

True, but what I was "told" was that the old parts (units) were recalled at
that time too. Seems reasonable if they wanted to get units of the shelf
that they knew would fail for sure. That would be a big potential cost savings
down the road.

I was also told that not only materials changed but that some internal
channels were modified to allow better cooling and lubrication. I dunno
if that was hot air or not. Certianly looking at the maze of fluid channels
in the diagrams it doesn't look like there was room for expansion without
causing other problems (if it could be done at all).

In my mind there is no excuse for all this. These units fail SO early it just
shows that the drivetrain was rushed to market without proper QA burn
in (PUN intended) tests. Shame on Acura.

Too bad because I really like the vehicle...

/Steve

fsttyms1

That may be true, but its possible not all the trannies that were shipped out were of the new design. Its also possible that it just failed (like some normal operating parts do)
I was told on 3 of mine that they had done work to resolve teh issue and well we see how that turned out. Dealers are the last to know any thing. The channels (valve body) isnt the problem. The clutchpacks were designed too small, and also due to design they cant get enough fluid to lubricate them. If third had been as big as 1st and 2nd there probably wouldnt ba a issue.
Oh and we still have it good. Chrystler trannies fail more frequently than the TL's do