I am a bit concerned as I am planning and want to purchase a 2nd generation TL. After reading the huge posts of transmission problems, I am a bit concerned and have been turned off by the TL. Does the transmssion with every TL fail?? I mean is it just a bad batch of TL's that are out there in the market that are having this problem??? After reading these posts, I strongly get the impression that if you drive a TL you are inevitably going to have a transmission problem and are going to have to get a new transmission. What are the odds of getting a TL with this problem if there are any, and has there been enyone that has not had a transmission problem throughout the life of their car?? Your guys/ladies feedback will be real critical to my decision in purchasing one; especially, since I have my eyes on one for sale near my place of employment. Please let me know. I sure hope the results of this post are promissing

 

I think it was a bad batch. Mine has given no problems in the 4 years I have owned it. We got our 99 TL the first day it came out too.

 

The actual number of transmissions that have failed is relatively low. Its still a high number for Honda/Acura, but the number of failed transmissions is under 3% failed (even though the numbers increase every day)..

The transmission problem is a design flaw in the transmission, so every transmission has the potential to fail the same way. However, not all transmissions will fail. Additionally, if you buy a 2002 or earlier it has a 7year/100k warranty on the transmission.

Feel free to read up: http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104677

Can you say for sure that the car you're buying won't have a transmission problem? Absolutely not, there's a chance it may have the problem. But if it bothers you that much, then you should probably be buying a Camry or ES300 if you're looking for luxury. They have rock solid reliability. Personally, I'm not going to worry about it.

 

Recently bought a used '99 TL and is running on the original transmission.

 

The only reason you hear about it so much on here is because thats what a car forum is for... Obviously, the people NOT having the problems arnt going to chime in with a "Still running strong" thread

Ihve had mine replaced in my '99, for what i believe to be unrelated issues, but after seeing them die in friends TL's and so many at the dealership, I do believe its much more than the 3% American Honda claims.

Dude, buy the car, almost no one here can justify ditching their TL cause of the tranny issues. Becides, like LiQiCE said, big warranty extension. And if your THAT worried, you can get the tranny built-up with stronger components pretty cheap, or just throw a tranny cooler on there, which the guys on this forum have had good luck with.

The actual issue with the tranny is the 3rd gear clutch pack does not recieve proper amounts of automatic transmission fluid, causing it to break down. Most times, you will know when it's happening, so you will have the chance to drive to to the dealership, only a few have said it was suddenly.

Good luck and enjoy your new car!!!!

 

well i can definately say that I'm on tranny #2 and it seems like it's on it's way out as well. If i would have done my research like I should have i would not have bought a TL. I would have gotten a 330ci.

 

Well, Duh Theres not a lot of people here that would take a TL over a 330, but theres a hell of a price difference there...

I can go out right now and buy a CPO 2003 ABP TL-S with 40K miles, Navi + OEM kit for $20K... What other car are you going to get that even compares to a TL for that money?

Hell, you can get an '02 CL-S came config for $16K.... Seriously, what comes close????

 

I'm not talking about today....

this was 2 years ago when i first got my TL.

I was lined up for a 330ci and then for some reason or another i decided to go with a TL.

I'm not trying to deter anyone but I'm just overall disappointed with the car the service i recieve and the over all "whats going wrong today" I kid you not everytime i fix something on the car something else goes wrong.

 

1999 TL, 5 yrs old and 65k miles. Orig. trans and zero problems so far. I love this car!!! I have an eye on a RX8 but I can't seem to trade my baby in..........had her since she had 2 miles on her (ah the memories).

 

I have 93,000 miles and my tranny dies at 80,000... I believe because I pounded on it so hard for so long... it didn’t die like all the others... I think I killed it

Otherwise, my TL has been mechanically flawless. Except a motor mount here and there, and one or two other small issues that were inconsequential...

 

I have a 99 without any issues ......I keep the car maintained regularly...

 

Yes, they all have problems!

 

IF you are going to post, why post something stupid like this???

Obviously, they dont all have problems - I have a '99 with 75K and no problems

 

I have an Anthracite/ebony '03 TL-S with 16K miles and not one problem of any kind. I really enjoy driving the car. Have toyed with the idea of trading for an '04 (due to interior features), but I cannot seem to pull the trigger since I enjoy the drive in this one so much. So yes, based on my experience, I'd definitely recommend the car.

 

I have a 2000 TL which needed a new transmission at 32.5K. I had it replaced as well as the ECU for the transmission. The car now has 62K on it and runs flawlessly. I would recommend the car as a great pre-owned car. I think it all depends on how it's maintained and if it's driven hard. Mine is my daily driver, and I drive it reasonably (I do get on it at times, but don't abuse it). I also have the fluid changed at a reasonable interval (I think it was changed when the car had ~ 24K miles on the new transmission). I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I hope to have my car for at least as many miles as another poster to the forum, fsttyms 1, who has > 140K on the car. I think these can be high mileage cars with just a little care and maintenance.
Just my $0.02

 

03' TL Type S supercharged with 36k no problems yet.

 

???????????????????????
2002 with 23K no problems here...

 

The tranny issue is not due to the lack of maintence. Its a design flaw as discussed many times.

 

For what it's worth....
'99 TL 130,000ish original tranny, no probs

 

Remember, you'll always hear about the problems and never about the good stuff.

2002 TL; 57k miles--original tranny.

No other problems other than a squeeky sunroof (that was fixed).

 

2003 TL-S with 23K very HARD flogging miles & no problems.

 

man, i wish i could get one over here at that price

 

You can, you just have to fight a little harder for it

 

yeah, im pushin my dad to get my sister a CL-S
:fingerfawk:

 

Yeah, just so you can drive it.

 

can u blame me? that way my car will be all show, and hers will be all go. ill dump the powermods in there in a heartbeat but mine will always look better

 

I have a 99 TL and it has 113k miles and counting on the original tranny........No major problems.......

 

True, they don't all have problems but notice that almost everyone that posts with no problems has a 1999. '99s had the 4-speed automatic. It wasn't until 2000 that the 5-speed auto came out and that's the transmission with the problems. 2000s, 2001s, 2002s and early 2003s had far more transmission problems than 1999s--so much so that Acura didn't even originally include 1999 models in the transmission warranty extension until enough owners bitched that they were getting left out. From reading these boards for the last three years, I can say that the 1999 failures we have seen reported are probably more close to the normal expected failure rate than not, whereas the 5-speed auto failures have been abnormally high.

 

I have a '00 TL, and the tranny made it to 164,000 miles before it died. Now I am still on #2 and have 180K miles, no troubles. Alot of those miles were fairly abusive too!

 

i got a '02 tl-p and the tranny died in rush hour traffic, was only at 52,000km

 

Newbie dumb question: Is this true, did not know there were a difference in transmissions. Okay, I am getting a little more happier about the TL's now, so thanks to all who are trying to understand me. I have to admit, I have asked without searching the threads, but what is the difference between each 2nd generation car>? I don't know id there is a thread or what that gives a year-to-year-to-year-to-year comparison of the 2nd generation (99-03) TL's. May sound like a stupid observance to you TL Pros, but I noticed that the TL S has the clear amber tails. I love that, but would it be possible to get these TL's on a ((?? Is a 99 TL the best one to get. I know that question sounds vague, but feedback and/or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. I just want to be happy. I need a car to last me a minium of 5-7 years and feel the TL is the one for the job (5-7 years expecting normal conditions, ie.. no traigc accidents "knock, knock" and/or natural disasters "knock, knock"). What would you guys do differently in getting a 2nd Gen TL if you could do it all over again. (and no you can't cheat and say you want another vehicle :P ) You guys have been a big help so far. Just these few questions. I apologize if these have been asked before. I promise tons of pics when my TL gets tricked out.

 

You can put the 02-03 TL Clear Tails onto the 99-01 TL or get the aftermarket ones that look just like the 02-03 TL for about 100 dollars less on ebay.

 

no shit they don't all fail, it was a sarcastic response so relax!

 

Everyone CAN have tranny failure, but it doesn't mean everyone WILL have tranny failure. Not even Honda/Acura is sure which car will and which car won't. It's like Russian Roulette. Today it's your turn, tomorrow it's someone else.

Not too long ago, I always believe that Honda claimed 3% of its TL/CL have tranny failures, and that Canadian cars were less likely to fail than US cars. At around 36K km, I talked to myself "my car was outside the failing group". Then bingo. My tranny failed at 38K km. Fortunately, it only took two days to replace the tranny and the car drives like new. I hope this tranny will last.

 

Do Odysseys have this same problem now that they have a 5 speed auto?

 

I am under the impression that the 5-speed transmission are not that well designed; Okay you guys said it was a glitch in between shifitng from 2nd to 3rd gear and the gear not getting proper lubrication or something to that nature anyway; Instead of worrying about the poor tranmission design, shouldn't we think about the fluid? Maybe when we put are fluid in the vehicle add another type of fluid to make the fluid act a little different so it will not longer effect the 2nd to 3rd gear swutch. I am no scientist on chemicals, but I think if we modded the trans fluid some how this problem may be avoided. I might be talking out of my @$$ and there may be more to it than that, but it is just an idea; maybe more of you experienced mechanics would know how to do something of this nature. Of course, I think it probably void the 100k warranty so it is a big risk, but if it does not and there is no way of Acura knowing that you are making your own trans solution then maybe it would be worth it as Acura would replace all your transmission, even if some of them were the result of your design. Just an Idea to put out there on the table.

 

I don't think it will be as simple as changing the trans fluid. If it was, Honda with all the R&D $ and brains would have done it already. I seen many people use trans coolers and other crazy stuff like don't use SportShift etc. I haven't seen any case that it helped. I just believe the 5 speed was a rush job to add another gear to the 4 speed and Honda totally got it wrong.

 

2002 tl type-s 65,000 miles no problems

 

Hzm82 was right. It's more than just trans fluids. The internal ducts are not wide enough to allow sufficient fluid flow to cool the 3rd gear clutch pack located deep inside the trans block. Re-built trans will have these ducts enlarged in order to increase the fluid flow. External trans cooler may help to cool the outer components, but is still limited by the narrow fluid passages to cool the 3rd gear clutch pack.

 

So to fix the problem you could "simply" widen the ducts? That sounds like a fairly simple fix. When the trannies go, what exactly breaks on them? Is it something that is repairable? Thanks for the info!