copland007

Yup, i'm getting in line for the failed tranny club.

25k miles since sept '01

Tranny is slipping really hard now especially 2nd to 3rd under hard acceleration.

Couple of times shifting into reverse and pressing gas resulted in a loud bang as the gear slipped and finally caught.




Wow, am I unimpressed

Moo

Shiet ... Not you too.:wow:

I'm at 18K since 4/01. My engine feels a little sluggish, I hope it doesn't go too. Good luck man.

Ajay_RENAMED

Sorry to hear that, better bring it in for a tranny replacement as soon as possible. Mine failed at 18k miles and took the dealer 3 weeks to replace.

copland007

I am so mad right now

Tranny has official died on my way to work today. This was some scary ****!!!!!!!!!! It started its normal slip a little here or there for a little bit. When I caught up to traffic and had to slow down is when it happened. The constant 1st to neutral, to 1st to 2nd to neutral put the final touch of death on my tranny.

When traffic finally broke and I got back up to high cruising speed ~80 mph it was fine for a few moments........... Than it happened, I almost **** my pants on site. At about 80 mph the damn car dropped with no warning into 2nd gear, holy ****!!! Thank god I had my seat belt on and had both hands on the wheel. At the same instant of major engine braking power the rev limiter kicked it to make even more jerky behavior. I am pretty sure traction control saved my ass as I almost lost control, being whip-lashed and jerked around with the car starting to swerve left and right barely missed the side jersey wall by inches

Like I said, I almost **** my pants :wow:

Than my tranny was acting like it had amnesia, it didn't know what ****ing gear it wanted, so I slid into SS mode and kept it in 2nd (wouldn't shift up at all). I crawled the last 1/4 mile to the nearest exit off Rt. 3N (exit 26 in Billerica).

My hands were still shaking.

I thought the worst was over, but this only starts another dialogue which almost ended very badly. So I call my dealership and service manager says call Acura road side to have them tow it back to them (~30 min trip). So at 10:30a I put the call in and they said within 1 hr the tow truck will be there.

1 hr goes by...
1 1/2 hrs go by...

I get an automated call from Acura, and let them know they haven't showed up yet. They put me on hold, call the towing company and inform me that the tow truck broke down on its way. My damn luck, I tell you. So they are sending another one out, ETA another 30-45min.

1 hr goes by...

He shows up with a flat bed tow truck. Tries to get the car ass first onto the bed, no luck, front spoiler too low to ground. He gets out some short boards to use as ramps, still no luck, the fat bastard didn't know what to do so he called his boss. After about 20 mins I ask him what the game plan is.

He says, "I am going to drop the car, and I may or may not be back."

I almost laughed at him, but realized he must need to get longer ramps and whatever, the decisions where being made above his fat monkey ass.

As we are talking my cell rings, it's Acura Road Side.

They say, "Mr. Veno I see we have a problem."

"Yup, he can't get enough clearance because of my front bumper," I tell them.

In a condescending, almost laughing tone of voice he says, "So you have added something to the car?"

I stopped him in his tracks right there, no way was he going to pin this **** up on me! I told him, "Yup, I have installed the OEM Acura full underbody spoiler kit, at my dealership, Acura of Boston."

"So that's still under warrantee?" he asks.

"Duh, the car is less than a year old. What matters if my spoiler isn't?"

"Well, umm....."

"Look, if you do not have the ability to tow and service my car, than buy it back. I don't want it if you can't service it. Period."

"Well we wouldn't want it to come to that..."

"I have a 3000lb paper weight that I have no problems leaving in this parking lot for you to clean up. It comes down to this, get it towed and fixed ASAP or buy it back."


.... A moment of silence...


"Let me call your dealership and see what their suggestions are."

"Ok, talk to my service manager he knows the situation"... I hang up on them ready to kill someone at this point.

By now it was 2:30 and 4hrs had gone by.

My service guy, Tony, calls me up and after all my yelling of frustration about the car, the towing, and Acura’s BS about the body kit being my fault he sets up to have their own tow guy come pick it up and cover the bill (obviously I would except).

Some Pro-Tow guy shows up gets the car lifted and on its way in a matter of minutes.

Get to the dealership and Tony tells me the car made it undamaged from the tow and that the insides of my tranny are toast. ETA is unknown, he doesn't even know when they can get a tranny. Expecting a follow up call from him to find out.

;lkajsdf ;liajsdf91827389rqu2983479087*(&^&^%$@$)*@#($&Y FKUHDS IFY) #^%CKJE FIUIS FHoiasheflkjsadads fpi

Sorry, frustration being taken out on the keyboard.

I can't believe it. Acura is going to have to do something extraordinary to keep me as a customer. As of right now I have lost all confidence in anything that bears an Acura logo, and I have no confidence in their customer support.

Time to start looking for a new car I think.


Sorry for the long post, had to get it out!


-Cheers!

-copland007

CarFreak

Damn, I feel for you man. I would be so f-ing pissed too. Once my tranny goes, so does my TLS.

ngcreese

Sounds like you had what seems to be the typical "final failure of the tranny" experience. Same thing happened to me. Tranny slips... slips... slips... then suddenly one day, while your driving, at speed, damn thing drops to second gear and car juts to left or right for a short period of time. If you're not paying attention... you could end up crashing into a side wall.

Scary....


The Acura Road Side Assistance experience wasn't so bad for me. The circumstances were not as bad though. I had made it home for lunch. And decide to call ARSA while I was there. They came over in about 30 mins. Although I had the comptech springs, I had no body kit, making the car flat bedable.

I was still way upset with having to go through all this.

The interesting thing about all this is that I would have bought a VW, or BMW, if it weren't for the fact that VWs have bad window regulators and trannies, and BMWs were not available at the time due to bad electrical problems that caused them to catch on fire...

YIKES.... this auto industry... hmmm....

BTW when they swap your tranny out, get a tranny cooler....

pianoman41

Matt, make sure you report this to the NHTSA web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/ivoq/default.htm. The more we report, the more chance of a recall and only those it actually happened to will make a difference.

Will it help? Well, NHTSA has forced some domestic auto makers to do recalls based on just *one* safetly related complaint. When a failure happens while the vehicle is in motion and it threatens safety, they will take notice.

copland007

Thanx for the words of sorrow

ngcreese:
Does the tranny cooler prove to help at all, will dealerships install? What if it f'cks up again will they blame on cooler?

pianoman41:
Heading right over to that link to report, this stuff is scary, these trannys should not be on the road. Just like you said ngcreese, if I wasn't paying attention or had just one hand on the wheel I most certainly would have ended up smashing into the wall and probably other drivers around me as well.

oblio98

copland007,

Sorry to hear that. You are the second member from the Boston area that had one go bad. It is indeed a sick feeling, and you will never feel the same about your car again!

"Of course, it is all because of the way you drive......"


NOT!


:-jon

neuronbob

I have to say that your story is the scariest tranny failure I've heard yet--failing at speed on the freeway is NOT cool. If you'd been hurt, you'd probably have had legal recourse against Acura for its defective product.

After the way you were treated by customer service, I'd not blame you if you didn't buy another Acura.

BLEXV6

Oh man, I would be fit to be tied. It is bad enough the tranny went, but the towing thing would cause me to blow. Heres hoping your experience gets better.

chiawei

I have not yet used Acura roadside assistance. But my bimmer has required 4 roadside rescue so far. However response was always within 1 hour and rescue were quick and pain less.

EricL

Sorry to add one more to the list

1. There are more and more of these near death tranny “lock-up” failure stories showing up. I’ve also seen some visits by various “agents” spreading some counter-propaganda and disinformation about there being no real problems with the 5-speed slush boxes (yep, everyone is a phantom, shorting Honda stock, or didn’t read the 4/01 (4/02?) Consumer Reports. Hey, if Consumer Reports says there is no problem, I guess there’s no problem… ).

2. I posted around here or on of the forums about my "little" Acura Roadside test... (ok, just 3 calls over a few nights... but). I waited and waited and waited and waited and never got through (My time limit is from 30 minutes to an hour in the comfort of my home). I highly recommend a "secondary"/backup (or would that be a primary) roadside service like: AAA/ AAA Plus. They at least answer the phone right away and the last time we called them over a starter problem (other car), they were there in 10-minutes, brought a flat bed, guy was smart, and we were pleased!. Perhaps some folks will be more fortunate (in your area) and have better luck with their Acura experience. If you are a "serious" commuter, a test call or a call to a good tow/roadside agency in your area might be in order (check references and tales from trusted locals).

I hope all past, present, and future victims of death by tranny lockup (near death tranny failures) will take the time to report their "experiences" to the NHTSA.

BTW, there are a few folks running around on some sites (C&D for one) that think that the trannies are rock solid... Here’s a very special quote from the C&D forum that talks about the tranny problems on the 5-speed in the CLS...

[q]"Don't worry about it. there may have been five people who have had trouble with their trannies, but they may have posted the same problem 100 times. Some may not even have owned the car"[/q]

http://forums.caranddriver.com/ubb/u...c&f=2&t=002393

RedLined

Sorry to say, welcome to the club.

Clearly it must be your driving habits. Or maybe your re-wired fog lights or painted engine bay.

copland007

ROTFLMAO

Probably the first time I laughed in the past two days, thanx

EricL:
Thanx for the link to that stupid post, I have already voiced my opinion over there, and I can see others did also.

paxus

Sigh. I am so sorry to hear about you horrible experience, Copland. That really bites the big one.

I have a few basic questions here about towing and the OEM body kit:

1) I remember reading in the Owner's manual that the preferred method of towing the car is via flatbed truck. Does installing only the OEM bodykit make the car unable to be placed on a flatbed truck? That hardly makes any sense. It's an OEM part!!

2) I noticed that Copland007 had the Comptech Springs which I assume lowered the car a tad. I understand lowering the car will reduce the maximum angle at which you car can engage a ramp. So was it the fact that the car was lowered combined with the OEM bodykit that made it untowable the first time?

3) Copland007: I didn't understand the difference between the first tow truck and the second tow truck. Why did it work the second time?

copland007

paxus:
Good Q's...

1) That is almost exactly what my dealer said in reponse to the towing company that said they won't tow it.

2) Yup, comptech springs. Lowers about 1.75 inches. Leaves at the lower point somewhere between 6-8 inches from the ground to the front bumper.

3) The second tow truck was a normal tow truck that just lifted the front two tires and drove away, it wasn't a flat bed. Our only concern was moving the car because I had pulled straight into a parking spot so he couldn't get to the front of the car. We ended up putting it in neutral and pushing the car while stearing to line it up.

If the first tow truck had real ramps, and not these 50 year old planks of wood each different lengths only 2 or 3 feet long, he would have been able to get the car up. He couldn't lessen the angle enough, so my front end would have scraped along the road.

When I talked with the 2nd guy he said that was their first mistake, it should never be towed ass-first onto a flat bed for precisely that reason. He also said that it was a judgement call on their part to refuse to tow it because they were only getting paid $20 to tow it and wouldn't want to cause hundreds of dollars of damage.

This is one part of the long conversation I had with customer care, i told them that if they can't tow and service their car, I didn't want it. It will be interesting to see what the Case Manager has to say.

I mean, how can these tow places take care of BMWs or Lexus' or any other car which is naturally lower than my car even dropped with comptech springs???? It makes no sense.

-copland007

paxus

I assume a car can be lifted onto a flatbed truck nose first right? Was it that the first tow truck couldn't position himself in front of you car, and had to approach from the rear?

I ask all these questions because I am seriously considering the OEM bodykit.

copland007

From the looks of it as long as his poor excuse for ramps could have made the front clear it should have been possible. He didn't want to try anything, he gave up and drove away. Just like I had to reposition the car for the 2nd tow truck I think with the first it may very well have worked. It would have been very close, but we wouldn't know unless we tried.


-copland007

copland007

I wouldn't let this discourage you from getting the bodykit, since the 2nd guy had no problems at all. The bodykit makes the car look soo much better

jbs221

Boy do I feel for you Copland007. That experience would scare the daylights out of anyone, I'm so glad you weren't hurt! I've had my share of trouble with my TL, but so far nothing that incapacitates the car. That's a whole nother league!
The other day my car gave a slight lurch while accelerating onto the freeway, I hope and pray it was just "in my mind" and not fortelling the future. I have 8K miles and am a little shell shocked after my treatment by Acura in the past and my hope for the future. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you get it resolved to YOUR satisfaction!

Joe in LA
'02 SSM TL-S

copland007

Well, I got a call from Client Services but I wasn't home to answer He said they talked with dealership and will get me an upgraded loaner and a new tranny quickly (next week).

One thing I found interesting is that in the message he left he said, "...the problem with the transmission has been fixed..."

I'm not sure which way to take that. It may just be a line of BS to try and make me feel warm and fuzzy... It may just be in reference to the fact that I will be getting a replacement tranny (of course).

By the time I got home he was gone for the day, so Tuesday I get to talk his ear off.

copland007

Well, I haven't had time to talk with Customer Care because I have been so busy with my move, but my dealer has kept me up to speed on what's happening so far on their end.

They did put me into a relatively new (<5000 miles) '03 TL as a loaner, which was very cool. It was fun to drive a stock TL again just to notice how much of a difference the suspension mods make. I will say this, I think the TL seats are much more comfortable than the TLs seats, all my passengers said the same about the rear seats also. They don't hold you in as well around sharp turns though. I guess that's the trade off.

When I went in to pick up the '03 TL they discovered it had a spare tire on, so I had to wait for them to put on new tire. Than they discover they didn't have the correct tire, and they don't have the correct tire in stock. HAHA, so they had to go buy a new one down the street at a tire store, lol!! I wasn't really mad, I had the day off anyways and it was a good break from loading up the rental truck, hehe

I asked the service manager what the real deal was and he said that he had heard under the table, unofficially, that the reason was that the bearings were both too small and too soft of a material. My tranny fluid that I thought was dark because it was burned was actually the debris from my ruptured bearings. They didn't seem to think a tranny cooler would do anything for me.

Just got off the phone a little bit ago and my new tranny has arrived and my car is on the lift getting a lobotomy. I should be back in my car before the weekend gets here.

copland007

I just picked up my car!

Feels good to be back behind the wheel.

Only 10 days turn-around, I am very surprised considering the long waits I had heard others going through.

The new tranny feels sooooo much better. It is shifting faster and smoother than it ever has before. The shifts inbetween gears is silky smooth and just about as fast as I could do it manually.

Whatever is different about this tranny feels better already. Here's hoping its the last one this car sees.

Now to start talking with customer care about this whole towing issue...

oblio98

The only upside to having a tranny go bad, is getting back into the car after 'x' amount of days in the loaner POS, and realizing what a farging nice car you bought!!!

Good luck, copland007..!

RedLined

I thought that same thing both times I had my tranny replaced -- much quicker, smoother shifts. I think the tranny performance slowly deteriorates over time so you don't notice the change. You think "Wow, this one is so much better. That last tranny really must have been f-ed up the whole time!" when in reality it's probably shifting the same way it did when it was new.

copland007

Yah, I know what you guys mean! Now I will have to watch very closely if I can feel it getting worse, lol.

It does make a cool whirling noise when I go 1st to 2nd and when I am coming to a stop. I can only barely hear it if my radio is off and I listen hard for it. I don't know if it use to do it before ??

A reporter from the LA Times got ahold of me and interviewed me for an article he was writing about the Honda/Acura transmission problem. A photographer is coming by tomorrow morning to get a picture of me with the car. Article will run 9/11.

Anybody in LA feel like scanning the real article for me? It will be available online at http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/ come wed.

-copland007

stiletto

Interesting: none of you mention the check-engine light coming on, nor the vsa and ! lights coming on, in addition to the abrupt and jerky shifts. Is this something that never happened to you guys or are you just omitting the fact? My dash lit up good with all these lights when the transmission is acting up... While nothing is lit (normal) the car shifts and operates just fine... I hope the veredict for my dealer visit states a bad sensor or something and not a bad tranny.

If it is the tranny, i better upgrade real quick from this POS Cavalier... what a crappy, crappy car. sheesh.

copland007

stiletto:
I thought mine was going to do the christmas tree light-up as well. The only dash lights I saw was VSA when it kicked in to save my ass as I started to loose control of the car. As soon as car was back under control the flashing VSA light turned off.

-copland007

copland007

Tranny #2 on its way

Who has the record for quickest failure, I’ve got 512 miles!

This is getting ridiculous, I can't take it anymore. The killer of this story is that I was told I have the newest tranny, and the interesting noise it is making is a new problem.

Hello, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I totally went off the hook to the poor rep at customer care; I think I was actually yelling at her. Case Manager is going to call me back

I left this question with her, "What is Acura/Honda doing to prevent me from getting rid of my car and going to BMW/Nissan/Toyota?"

What a farce, problem has been fixed my ASS

…. I'm never stepping foot in an Acura again.............

pv22clif

Matt,

sorry that you are having same problems. 512 miles is a complete joke. Hopefully acura steps up to the plate and really takes care of you. I hate to say it but if i were you i would probably be looking at new cars and telling acura they can have their car back.

just my 2 cents

oblio98

:wow: :wow:

AGAIN???

Damn, I don't know what to say.....

:-jon

nameeri

Copland,

This just sucks. Have acura buy the car back from you and then get something else.... 512 miles, thats really ****ty man. That just aint right.

jbs221

Copland007, why don't you contact the Times reporter. They might want to do a follow up. It can't hurt to get more negative press on Acura. Maybe they will be Inspired to do something. Sorry for the pun. :yack:

fla-tls

I'm absolutely shocked. 512 miles... How did the second one go out? Did you have to tow it to the dealership again?

copland007

It was much less dramatic than the first failure. I just noticed it was making a humming/whining noise around 20mph.

I had the dealership check it out and they confirmed it was coming from the tranny and they said they want to replace it again.

copland007

Soooo.... I had submitted an owner survey with an attached letter describing my situation and how I felt. Basically restating my whole incident and my dis-satisfaction, so on and so on...

I went into dealership yesterday to get an oil change done. While waiting I got a chance to talk with the service mgr. He told me that, "...I have them hopping in California...". I kind of chuckled, asked why...

I guess the NHTSA has taken notice of my case and is getting involved with Acura about my particular case. Acura was trying to hunt down my original failed transmission and were having a little trouble actually finding it. Service mgr said he has been getting calls from zone level people a little nervous about finding my tranny. I guess it was mislabeled/misplaced at some point and they needed a tracking number or something from srv mgr @ dealer.

"I hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction, and that you get what you want from this"

Very interesting thing to say. I had assumed Acura had shelved my case and didn't give a rats ass from what I gathered talking with them the last time.

I guess when NHTSA talks they listen!


And that's not all! Just this morning I was contacted by a Safety Defects Engineer for the USDOT/NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. They seem very interested in talking with me about my case, the LA Times article and survey I submitted.

This will be very interesting!

-copland007

garylee55

Copland, your failure description at 80 mph sounds like mine...I don't know how Acura is getting away without a recall on this, or how they can act like it is NOT a safety hazard...The NHTSA must really be in bed with the Automobile Manufacturer lobbyists...

pianoman41

Told ya!! NHTSA is the only agency that can force an auto maker to do a recall. I'll be reporting my tranny very soon to them as well. I go in tomorrow and I'm about 99.9% sure it will be getting a new tranny.

copland007

Hehe, ya you were right Thanx for sending me their way.

Your tranny too?! :yack:

I'm not feeling so alone having a failure in Mass, lol! Which dealer are you heading into?

-copland007