thelastaspec

Hi all,

At 67,000 miles the transmission has started to act up.

What I have done:
-Cleaned the solenoids back in September - perfectly clean, no particulate on screens whatsoever.
-Changed the transmission fluid 5000 miles ago 3x1.
-Replaced all my engine mounts in the summer, retested them this past week

Symptoms:
-No codes / extended codes
-Extreme (3+ sec) delay shifting into drive / gear 2 from neutral or park
-Intermittent (3+ sec) delay shifting into reverse approx. 50% of the time
-Drives fine once moving (except for one flare shifting from first to second)

I am working through the service manuals troubleshooting guide and trying to equate the issues I'm having to see what's mutually inclusive.

When it delays, it is if its just stuck in neutral, the engine does not move whatsoever.

Im taking left turns and merges in gear 1 or gear 2 for safety until I fix it.

Has anyone experienced this issue when a shift solenoid or pressure switch went bad?
Ill break out the multimeter and test resistances next week after exams, pull the clock fuse, re-inspect all the screens and do another 3x1 (and inspect magnet for debris).

I have started to search for a replacement Accord transmission in preparation for when the time comes.

Chojun

I would test your pressure switches. And maybe do a pressure test if you could.

What condition was your drain plug and fluid in when you chagned it 5k ago?

thelastaspec

Perfect, slightest of coating, I was happy.
Solenoid screens were in great condition too, no material clogging anything. Ill go get a Harbour Freight / Princess Auto pressure tester...

01acls

Try replacing the Pressure Solenoids A/B, C and Shift Solenoid C.

thelastaspec

It completely died today. Had to drive home in 2nd gear to make it. Slipped in every other gear. Its making this whining noise reminiscent of straight cut gears... Fluid seems to smell more burnt than when I checked it earlier in the week...

Ill still check the solenoids as its worth a shot, probably though my transmission is coming up to its factory scheduled failure interval.


The TL is getting an Accord transplant. Perfect timing with my winter break from engineering school... time to get to work...

thelastaspec

For future forum reference, this is what it sounds like as well:

thelastaspec

thelastaspec

thelastaspec

musiclevelz5

I am in the process of doing a rebuild right now on a 2000 TL. Same whine when it was dropped off to me to look at.

Plugged a pressure gauge into the line port and at cold start up it read 125 psi which is good but immediately it started dropping. In 5-10 minutes it was almost at 0 psi.

I think the whine comes from the trans pump not being able to pump any fluid.

Good luck with your AV6 swap and make sure to rebuild it so you know its good!

thelastaspec

Very interesting. I think you are totally right. Its sad that these transmissions decompose in such a destructive chain reaction. I wish Honda tested these things harder from the factory. Drive it hard until it dies.

thelastaspec

For future reference as well: if you look at the Transaxle section of the service manual, it has a detailed explanation of what symptom is caused by what failure. It's under "Symptom Troubleshooting Index" These do not cause codes either!

The fact my car moves (barely) in R and 2 means my 1st gear one way clutch is defective, 1st gear is worn or 1st clutch is defective. In turn this is probably due to that whining no-pressure situation.

Chojun

That sound is probably the fluid cavitating. Something is probably clogging it all up. And by something I mean probably clutch packs

thelastaspec

Well at least I had fake supercharger whine for a few days!

Hopefully that didn't chew up the pump...

MarcDavidoff

Pretty sure the whine is from the torque conv. My trans shifts fine, but the torque converter has been shuttering on me in d5 for some time. In the past month it makes that whine for the first few minutes in the morning then disappears. Still shifting fine although also usually a couple second delay in engaging when I first put it in drive. Just picked up an 07 AV6 trans with 68k on it and will be getting it swapped in soon

thelastaspec

Awesome! Thats great to hear you got one. Canada is much more limited... these are all the ones available atm. Going to call on Monday for the two in BC:
LINK The Canadian dollar is horrible with the price of commodities... too bad i cant grab one in the US.

ErickUa5

Actually the whine noise comes from improper shaft alignment, The bearing walks in the housing causing the gears to make noise. When its cold its noisy but after a mile of driving it goes away. I have a PDF showing the cause and fix, Soon as I find it Ill post back.

However the pump could make a similar noise when the internal filter is clogged.

musiclevelz5

Yes it must be a similar noise to the causes described above.
In every case i have witnessed a whine, it was always from the filter being 100% clogged.
I have yet to work on these transmissions with a whine where the filter is ok/unclogged.
It is good to know there are other possibilities of something else causing a whine. Thanks!

MarcDavidoff

Thanks for the info. It's interesting.. I have changed the external filter a couple of times.. And change at least 3qts of fluid very 10k or less..magnet is never too full of material. Just checked some of the shift solenoid screens and they were clear. But I suppose with my torque conv shutter it could be clogging up the internal filter.

thelastaspec

I am very much looking forward to tearing down my transmission and seeing what went wrong. Im curious how burnt my TC is.

thelastaspec

Well, look what i found: 2003 Acura CL-S rare 6-speed manual

Things just got interesting...

thelastaspec

Well, it looks like I may be getting a 6 speed... I will keep y'all posted.

Chojun

Okay please do. The 6MT mod is on my shortlist and I'd like to get tips and information from someone who's done it recently.

uleiro

I've been having the delay situation on my 99 TL for a few years now. But just today I was at a traffic light, when I pulled of there was a big delay from 1st to 2nd gear that I've never experienced before. The engine revved and my head snapped forward as the delay happen.

Car has 147k on it mostly highway mile.

Chojun

99 4-spd ATs are pretty bulletproof. For you I'd recommend doing a fluid exchange (no high pressure flush) or drain & fill with Honda DW-1 and clean out your solenoids. You may need to replace some of your solenoids (DIY if you're savvy).

Should get you back in shape again.

3gstealth

iTrader: (2)

OP, what transmission fluid did you use?

thelastaspec

DW-1, did many changes with it. Didn't make a difference when it came down to burning up. I buy it a case at a time as I look after other family members' Acuras. It always maintained a nice smell + colour until it decided to go into its death spiral...

uleiro

Thanks chojun, i did a fluid change about 2 months ago however, I did 1 time 3 bottles of dw-1 ( never changed filter). I haven't checked my solenoids. Anyone has a link to a diy? If not, I look it up online