With the popularity of the AV6/Odyssey swap I think it may be a good idea to have a dedicated thread to record the overall experience and reliability of the swap. This will allow forum members a single thread of reference when considering using it. I will start :
Year and Model: 2003 TL-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 152K
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/87K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 154K
Issues: None
Maintenance Schedule: 3X3 every 25K. Filter change every 50K
Fluid Used: Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic

 

TL #1

Year and Model: SSM 2003 TL-p
Mileage on car at time of swap: 146K
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/35K
Current mileage on car at time of death (major accident, wrecked): 156K
Issues: None
Maintenance Schedule: 1X3 every 10K. Filter change every 30K
Fluid Used: Honda DW-1

In the accident the left side cover cracked, rebuilt it, and now....


TL#2

Year and Model: NBP 2003 TL-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 142k
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/45k
Current mileage on car at time of post: 155K
Issues: None
Maintenance Schedule: 1X3 every 10K. Filter change every 30K
Fluid Used: Honda DW-1

 

Year and Model: 2003 TLP
Mileage on car at time of swap: 270,000
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2007/90K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 272,000
Issues: At first I had a hard shift because of the new fluid flush we did at time of swap but it's since smoothed out.
Maintenance Schedule: 3X3 every 30K. Filter change every 50K
Fluid Used: Honda DW-1

Almost 2,000 miles down and no problems. I love the shorter fourth gear on this thing. Highway is even more fun to drive on than before. And gas mileage has increased drastically surprisingly. What used to last 4 days now lasts for a week! My baby is good for another 100-200,000 miles. My wife says she wants to do the 6 speed swap if this thing ever gives out. Lord knows the engine will never go so I may end up at 600K someday haha

 

Thanks for posting!

 

I'm glad you finally got your AV6 swap! Thanks for posting!

 

I will be posting in here soon.

 

Year and Model: 2003 TL-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 74000
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/104K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 74600
Issues: Seems to jerk into 3rd gear harder than the other gears but so did the stock. 5th gear seems to be more geared as an overdrive gear than the stock transmission.
Plan to drain and refill at 1500 with Honda DW1

 

Thank You for contributing.

 

7000 Mile Update
Year and Model: 2003 TL-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 152K
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/87K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 159K
Issues: No Issues. Just completed a 2000 mile road trip and the transmission performed flawlessly.
Maintenance Schedule: 3X3 every 25K. Filter change every 50K
Fluid Used: Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic[/QUOTE]

 

20,000 Mile Update
Year and Model: 2003 TL-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 152K
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2006/87K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 172K
Issues: No Issues. Transmission is still performing flawlessly.
Maintenance Schedule: 3X3 every 25K. Filter change every 50K
Fluid Used: Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic

 

That's great news, thanks for the updates.

I'm currently eyeballing transmissions as I think I might keep my '03 TL-P, which means I'll need to get a new transmission.

 

No worries. I was hoping that this thread recieved more input as it would be invaluable to people considering a Gen 2 TL or people looking for solutions for there ailing transmissions. I am sure there are members with 50-100k on the AV6. I am glad the information was useful.

 

I just rebuild mine when they go bad. I understand not everyone can do this and its not financially smart for them. Once every 6-8 years is not that bad in my eyes. Especially considering you can get them dirt cheap with a bad trans.

Besides doing a rebuild I absolutely have 0 issues with mine. It more than makes up for the labor involved in a rebuild.

 

It's really not worth it to rebuild it because it's flawed as is. Now if you swap in the AV6 rebuilt you'd really be winning.

 

Year and Model: 2002 TL-p
Mileage on car at time of swap:115000
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2007/90K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 120000
Issues: None


Got the trans for under 1k and installed myself. Using AMSoil atf.

 

Thanks for posting and supporting the effort!

 

Everyone who did their own swaps did you just pull driver side wheel and axle?

 

I have not done a swap yet but when I do a rebuild I pull both wheels/axles out before I take the trans off. Its 10x easier for me that way.

 

Easier in what way?

 

Never mind I see why now.

 

You don't have to pull the axles to get the trans out, but since the only extra step at that point is to remove the axle nuts, I prefer to just get them out of the way to have more room.

 

Getting ready to install mine. Without pulling the shafts the bolts on passenger side would suck to get at plus it would be a pain to get trans back in lined up with middle shaft.

 

Here's some tips for anyone who has yet to do this swap. First thing is definitely drop suspension and axles on both sides. To get subframe out you need to take off radius arms plus the intermediate shaft blocks some trans bolts as well. Second, the brackets from the TL trans should be swapped over as well. Many harnesses clip onto these and will hang loose without them. The dipstick as well. I used an engine hoist which was a life saver for this job. Since I have a TL-P I had speed sensor to deal with. I got a 1/4" brass barb and 5/16" for the other. One is threaded internally one externally. This way I won't get any leakage or issues later. Here's some pics to help.

 

Daughter's car, 2000 tlp. Trans changed at 255,000 miles; currently at 290,000.
Fluid: Service pro full synthetic multi-vehicle.
Shifts fine now as it has since install, but always has a couple "phantom" codes.
They never trigger a cel, but are always in memory.
I originally bypassed the speed sensitive steering, but recently plumbed the sensor back in just as an experiment. My daughter likes the additional assist, especially parking and at low speeds.

 

How'd you put it back?? There's no opening on the trans to install the sensor.

 

I'd hoped saying re-plumbed would clarify that i didn't install it in the trans. The hoses are shortened, and connected to the sensor, which is dangling in space, zip-tied to the firewall.

 

But does it actually do something without any trans input?

 

Yeah, it does. With it bypassed, the steering assist acts as it would have at higher speed. (less assist) With it in the loop, but not connected to the trans, obviously the gear doesn't move, so the steering acts as if the car isn't moving.(maximum assist) I think most people here prefer the sportier less assist, but I couldn't resist trying it just to see. Like I said, my daughter likes it better that way, and to tell the truth so do I. Probably because the only time I drive her car anymore is getting it from the parking lot into the shop. Oh yeah; to the gas station and the car wash too! The car seems to be perpetually broken, dirty, and empty these days.

 

Very interesting. I may pull it off the old trans.

 

Personally, I'd grab everything external, small, and easy to change. Maybe anything that fits in a shoe box. It might be useful for diagnosis at a later date, or you could find it in your pole barn 20 years from now and wonder wtf you were thinking saving that crap.

 

Did you try just looping the 2 lines together with a piece of hose instead of putting the ps assist unit in hooked up out of the way.

 

Ive done it both ways, either are a horse a piece. I usually leave them in, but when i separate the lower ball joint i have room to pull out of the trans and just move them out of the way.

 

I'm a fat ass. With that middle shaft there I couldn't get to the bolts behind it the way I had it all setup. If I had a bigger garage and taller jacks it may have been different.

 

Yeah, she put over 30,000 miles on it that way, and never complained. I just wanted to see how it worked with the ps unit installed, but not connected. It steers a lot easier at low speed, and she hasn't complained about it being overly sensitive at highway speeds. I've got to get it back in in the next month or so for a valve adjustment and some suspension work; I'll drive it on the highway and tell you what I think.

 

Well she's done and I put about 25 miles on today so far so good.

 

Any updated data on this thread is appreciated. Trying to source as much info as I can since I am in the process of purchasing a 2nd Gen TL-S and tranny is about on its way out.

 

Ill chime in:

Year and Model: 2002 TL Type-S
Mileage on car at time of swap: 213,000
Year and Mileage on AV6 transmission at time of swap: 2007/72K
Current mileage on car at time of post: 220,000
Issues: None
Maintenance Schedule: 3x3 every December. Filter change every December
Fluid Used: Honda DW-1

 

Next oil change will be 45,000 miles on the av6 trans and 300,000 on my daughter's car. The trans. works as well as the day I put it in. My only regret is changing the rear crankshaft seal. It wasn't leaking, but at 250k, there's no way I'd leave it in. Now it has a small leak. I'm the one person in 1000 to screw it up. If I was doing it on a customers car, on flat rate, in a hurry, it probably would have been fine.

 

Have you changed your pcv valve recently? If they go bad its known to cause the rear main to start leaking.

I have also heard that the rear main can stop leaking after you replace the pcv. This is an easy and cheap try before you go and replace the rear main seal.

 

Yeah, it's been changed since the trans and seal install, but it didn't help. (O.E. part)