3rd Tranny on 99TL
11-13-2005, 12:40 PM
#1
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3rd Tranny on 99TL
I figure it is about time to tell the story of my 1999 3.2Tl. I bought the car this summer with 139,xxx miles on it from a private seller in Seattle. The first thing I did when I looked at the car was ask about the tranny. The seller said that it had gone bad at 111,000 miles and had been rebuilt. He had the full documentation for a complete rebuilid from AAMCO Transmissions. He also had documentation for a complete tranny fluid flush at 125,000. Everything else about the car was perfect (except for the front brakes, which I replaced), so I bought the car for $8,000.
The car drove fine for the rest of the summer until about two days before I left for school. The CEL and TCS lights came on so I had the codes pulled at an Autozone. Sure enough it was the tranny. Being stupid, I decided to ignore the problem in the hopes that it would just go away (since the tranny was showing no outward signs of failure). I started my road trip and got as far as the Idaho/Montana border when the car slipped out of gear going up a hill. I pulled over and opened up the hood. There was smoke coming from what used to be my tranny. I had the car towed into Coeur d'Alene where I was infomed that the transmission was destroyed and the fluid was burnt to a crisp. About $4,000 dollars later I had a rebuilt transmission (shipped out from an Acura dealer) put in and I was on my way. I was told that this tranny had all the new "fixes". It had a 5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty.
I got out to school and have been driving the car since then. In the last few days I have noticed that the tranny revs higher than I think it should when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It goes a little bit past 3,000 each time (and I am nowhere near flooring it). The shifts also seem to be harder than necessary. It feels like it revs high, then loses power momentarily before clunking into the next gear, causing the car to shake a little. The temperature has been in the upper 30's and the problem does seem to get a little better once the car is warmed up. Even though this tranny is under warranty, if it goes again I will probably sell the car and get a manual Subaru. I find it totally ridiculous that Acura can't make a transmission that just works. I've been in cars from the 70's with their original transmissions that shift smoother than this. This car has had more tranny work done on it than it is actually worth. In summary: I love this car, but it does have an Achilles Heel (even on the 99's). Sorry about the long post.
The car drove fine for the rest of the summer until about two days before I left for school. The CEL and TCS lights came on so I had the codes pulled at an Autozone. Sure enough it was the tranny. Being stupid, I decided to ignore the problem in the hopes that it would just go away (since the tranny was showing no outward signs of failure). I started my road trip and got as far as the Idaho/Montana border when the car slipped out of gear going up a hill. I pulled over and opened up the hood. There was smoke coming from what used to be my tranny. I had the car towed into Coeur d'Alene where I was infomed that the transmission was destroyed and the fluid was burnt to a crisp. About $4,000 dollars later I had a rebuilt transmission (shipped out from an Acura dealer) put in and I was on my way. I was told that this tranny had all the new "fixes". It had a 5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty.
I got out to school and have been driving the car since then. In the last few days I have noticed that the tranny revs higher than I think it should when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It goes a little bit past 3,000 each time (and I am nowhere near flooring it). The shifts also seem to be harder than necessary. It feels like it revs high, then loses power momentarily before clunking into the next gear, causing the car to shake a little. The temperature has been in the upper 30's and the problem does seem to get a little better once the car is warmed up. Even though this tranny is under warranty, if it goes again I will probably sell the car and get a manual Subaru. I find it totally ridiculous that Acura can't make a transmission that just works. I've been in cars from the 70's with their original transmissions that shift smoother than this. This car has had more tranny work done on it than it is actually worth. In summary: I love this car, but it does have an Achilles Heel (even on the 99's). Sorry about the long post.
11-13-2005, 12:49 PM
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I need 2 more gears
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sorry to hear your story. I agree Acura should own up their mistake and just "fix" the problem the right way and use stronger bearing and better clutchpacks to prevent all these failures. I also have a 99 w/116k on it, original tranny and sometimes when its cold it is a little rough, but when it warms up it is great. Hopefully I don't go down the same road you did and have to shell out 4k for a new one. I will bitch my ass off to Acura to get a free tranny if mine goes. Honestly you could have probably gotten a better deal had you posted here before you just bought the rebuilt one. Good luck man!
11-13-2005, 04:50 PM
#4
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Originally Posted by starsturnblue03
The seller said that it had gone bad at 111,000 miles and had been rebuilt. He had the full documentation for a complete rebuilid from AAMCO Transmissions. He also had documentation for a complete tranny fluid flush at 125,000.
11-13-2005, 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted by starsturnblue03
I figure it is about time to tell the story of my 1999 3.2Tl. I bought the car this summer with 139,xxx miles on it from a private seller in Seattle. The first thing I did when I looked at the car was ask about the tranny. The seller said that it had gone bad at 111,000 miles and had been rebuilt. He had the full documentation for a complete rebuilid from AAMCO Transmissions. He also had documentation for a complete tranny fluid flush at 125,000. Everything else about the car was perfect (except for the front brakes, which I replaced), so I bought the car for $8,000.
The car drove fine for the rest of the summer until about two days before I left for school. The CEL and TCS lights came on so I had the codes pulled at an Autozone. Sure enough it was the tranny. Being stupid, I decided to ignore the problem in the hopes that it would just go away (since the tranny was showing no outward signs of failure). I started my road trip and got as far as the Idaho/Montana border when the car slipped out of gear going up a hill. I pulled over and opened up the hood. There was smoke coming from what used to be my tranny. I had the car towed into Coeur d'Alene where I was infomed that the transmission was destroyed and the fluid was burnt to a crisp. About $4,000 dollars later I had a rebuilt transmission (shipped out from an Acura dealer) put in and I was on my way. I was told that this tranny had all the new "fixes". It had a 5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty.
I got out to school and have been driving the car since then. In the last few days I have noticed that the tranny revs higher than I think it should when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It goes a little bit past 3,000 each time (and I am nowhere near flooring it). The shifts also seem to be harder than necessary. It feels like it revs high, then loses power momentarily before clunking into the next gear, causing the car to shake a little. The temperature has been in the upper 30's and the problem does seem to get a little better once the car is warmed up. Even though this tranny is under warranty, if it goes again I will probably sell the car and get a manual Subaru. I find it totally ridiculous that Acura can't make a transmission that just works. I've been in cars from the 70's with their original transmissions that shift smoother than this. This car has had more tranny work done on it than it is actually worth. In summary: I love this car, but it does have an Achilles Heel (even on the 99's). Sorry about the long post.
The car drove fine for the rest of the summer until about two days before I left for school. The CEL and TCS lights came on so I had the codes pulled at an Autozone. Sure enough it was the tranny. Being stupid, I decided to ignore the problem in the hopes that it would just go away (since the tranny was showing no outward signs of failure). I started my road trip and got as far as the Idaho/Montana border when the car slipped out of gear going up a hill. I pulled over and opened up the hood. There was smoke coming from what used to be my tranny. I had the car towed into Coeur d'Alene where I was infomed that the transmission was destroyed and the fluid was burnt to a crisp. About $4,000 dollars later I had a rebuilt transmission (shipped out from an Acura dealer) put in and I was on my way. I was told that this tranny had all the new "fixes". It had a 5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty.
I got out to school and have been driving the car since then. In the last few days I have noticed that the tranny revs higher than I think it should when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It goes a little bit past 3,000 each time (and I am nowhere near flooring it). The shifts also seem to be harder than necessary. It feels like it revs high, then loses power momentarily before clunking into the next gear, causing the car to shake a little. The temperature has been in the upper 30's and the problem does seem to get a little better once the car is warmed up. Even though this tranny is under warranty, if it goes again I will probably sell the car and get a manual Subaru. I find it totally ridiculous that Acura can't make a transmission that just works. I've been in cars from the 70's with their original transmissions that shift smoother than this. This car has had more tranny work done on it than it is actually worth. In summary: I love this car, but it does have an Achilles Heel (even on the 99's). Sorry about the long post.
wow, the same thing is happening to me right now on my 99 and im on my 3rd tranny. ill be on my 4th if this one goes out.
you said that ur new acura one had a.. "5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty."
my dealer said mine is 1 year/12k miles
11-13-2005, 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Michael Wan
If the transmission had been rebuilt by Aamco, then I'm sure that Aamco has a warranty for the transmission. If so, why didn't you take the car to Aamco instead of spending $4000?
It did have an AAMCO warranty, but it had expired about 5k miles before my trannny went out. Also, the mechanic who put in my 3rd tranny said that AAMCO does not always do the best rebuilds for whatever that's worth.
11-13-2005, 06:04 PM
#7
Drifting
Wow, you guys have had some bad luck with the trannies. While there have been a decent amount of problems with the 4 spd trannies in the 2nd Gen TL's, the 5 spd has been more notorious. I am at 86k on my original transmission, and it still running smooth. Hopefully I can get at least a couple more years out of it. 
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What are you talking about?
11-14-2005, 01:01 PM
#10
That sucks that you had that many problems with your tranny. Its not clear from your post but, did you get the replacement tranny installed by an Acura dealer? Its the first time i'm hearing about a 5 year 50k mile warranty after replacement.
11-14-2005, 01:12 PM
#11
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sorry to hear about your problems. I would feel the same way if my tranny kept going out (selling it I mean) so far so good on my original one though (96k miles). But when you say it shifts high (above 3k RPM)...I dont think that is a problem. Mine has always done that when the engine is cold, and like you said its w/o me flooring it at all. But good luck to you
11-14-2005, 04:52 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by yunginTL
fuckin noobs 
11-14-2005, 07:30 PM
#15
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The 4AT has less failures than the 5AT but there are a significantly more 00-03 TLs than 99s.. one model year versus 4 (00, 01, 02, and 03). The 4AT sucks, too.
11-14-2005, 08:41 PM
#16
I need 2 more gears
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4AT sucks is a bit bold and inaccurate. the 4AT is just as reliable as any other automatic tranny out there. It is not the most reliable, but on par with the industry. Now the 5AT is well below par. There are plenty of 99 owners on this board that have there original tranny, no problems, with high miles. I am one of them at 116,559 and counting as of a few minutes ago. That to me is pretty reliable. Of course there will be cases where you think "Man 99's suck too." But it is not the case IMHO.
11-14-2005, 09:15 PM
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I dunno how many times I have to say this, but transmissions that are reliable and up to par with all automatics are not recalled and given extra warranty. The 99 TL's 4AT IS recalled - if you've got that many miles out of the original transmission, good for you - I hope you never have problems. But, again, the 99's 4AT is a part of the recall, and why would it be if it were "up to par" as you say? It is NOT up to par. Toyota's transmissions of that time are head and shoulders above Hondas.
11-14-2005, 09:34 PM
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they where not part of the recall before.. but 99 owners gived some shit to acura and after they include it .. anyway .. ive changed mine at 100 000 miles.. and at 50 000 miles and 100 000 miles in my av6 .. 2 times under warantie.. i know 99tranny are not bullet prof your right.. a transmission would have to last more than that .. BUT they dont suck AS MUCH AS 00-03 :P
11-14-2005, 09:55 PM
#20
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hehe yeah your right but again look is discutable...some prefere one front and some another.. anyway mine its not on garantee right now .. over 6 years and over 100 000miles .. so i prefere to have a bit less power in 3rd and 4rd.. anyway im faster than a lot of tlp .. 14.98@95.05... and tls are faster anyway ..and for the radio i have an aftermarket headunit .. anyway its not a question of power, option or anything here but just a question of tranny !!!!
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