FYI: I just took my '02 TL-S into McDavid Acura (Plano, TX) today for routine maintenance and happened to talk with a mechanic regarding the transmission problems I've read about on the TL-S forum (mine hasn't acted up yet with 11k).

Both the service writer and mechanic acknowledged the problem and I asked if there was anything preventative I could do, such as get the fluid changed, etc. The mechanic said he didn't believe the failures had anything to do with the fluid but he suspected the clutch material was disintegrating, plugging up the tranny valves, etc. He said Acura won't let the dealers tear into the trannys to find out why; they just unbolt 'em and send 'em in for exchange.

Geez, I'm now looking at my '96 Blazer as a reliable mode of transportation since I don't know when/if this problem will hit my TL-S...

 

I smell a recall coming!

 

I say...someone take it to a performance shop that works on engines alot..and have then take that sh!t apart and see what's up. hehe....Acura can't stop the store from doing it....

 

Interesting. Makes sense. Any updated on this?

 

I just had the fluid flushed and according to the dealer they have had one tranny that failed and they "think" the cause was that the driver was using the SS mode to downshift and slow the car just as you would a manual. Apparently the clutch plates were not designed to handle that type of pressure.

Does anyone out there do this ?

 

If the tranny wasn't built to handle downshifts, why would they allow you to do so????

 

BS, Downshifting and WOT shoud not harm your tranny in SS or otherwise.. Save few cases... Neutral drop, changing to R while still going forward, and excessive brake torquing.

 

That is why my wife is pretty scared of using SS (I think she's used it three times). I've used it about that many times.....but am pretty reluctant now.

 

That SS stuff sounds like total crap. Why make a SS if you're not supposed to use it? The manual says nothing about not downshifting, and even in Acura's commercials, they show the guy downshifting, and the tach climbing past 6k.

 

Oh come on. Acura must be sitting on their thumbs to not expect people to downshift using SS to engine-brake. Heck, the computer will do it on its own in D5 (try gentle braking downhill).

I suspect defective parts instead of defective design. It would surprise me greatly if the engineers actually made such a major design error.

As I mentioned earlier, I would expect a recall to come our way in a few months' time as the engineers pinpoint which batch of parts were defective.

 

Yikes. Although I'm glad a recall may be on it's way (so Acura can fix their goof up) but that will be such a pain in the rump. Everyone having their cars recalled at once....can you imagine the chaos...not to mention the loaner car situation. Phew! Thanks Acura! I will be glad they will rectify the situation but hey, should of done it right the FIRST TIME.

 

very true, why allow it to be done if it would cause a problem. this doesnt make sense.

btw, i use it to downshift when running fast through the texas hill country back roads and here in austin...!!!

 

a recall would not nessecarilly entail all of us having our tranny replaced at once...only major safty concerns would have that kind of impact...hell even the ford explorer thing didnt have every one in at once

 

Great! Then, TypeR, you won't mind if I go ahead of you

Some friends had to deal with a Ford Recall (2-door Explorer)....and a year later the dealership had the parts to replace on their truck (the truck was about a year old by then).

 

no prob...as long as mine is working

 

Prior to the TLS I had a Ford product. They (Ford) had applied some kind of goo to the lug nuts and they later found out that the nuts might fall off (I hate it when that happens). So they replaced all 1998 Ford F-150 lug nuts. They used U.S. mail to send a notice to let you know it was time to have them replaced at your convenience.

 

Some day we will get the real answer. This one sounds pretty good, though!

:-jon

 

I think what the mechanic was trying to say is that the guy was clutch braking like they do in semis. Common sense tells us not to be that stupid in SS. I don't think he was talking about downshifting to jump the RPMs.

 

What is the difference between "SS mode to downshift and slow the car" and "SS mode to upshift and speed up the car" ? I think the clutch plates are subjected to the same amount of pressure in both cases. In the first case, the lower gear(s) is used to slow the same mass (weight of the car); in the later case, the lower gear(s) is used to speed up the same mass. The force and therefore pressure must be the same, although the acceleration or deceleration rate is in opposite directions.

 

There are some internal "details" that are going on (in the car) that could make the argument very hard to decide based only on "inertial" loading...

On the upshift, the engine retards the timing during the shift. The electronics is doing its best to keep the load down (it wants that nice smooth shift). On the downshift, they probably completely unlock the torque converter (so there is some slop), but I would be pretty sure that transition from low rpms to high rpms (from the engine braking) is not the best thing in the world. (At least in a manual, the downshifts could be perfectly matched with a double clutch job).


As a note: I don't subscribe to the "clutch packs or driving style is the problem theory"; there are too many people that drive easy that end up with fried boxes and too many people that drive hard without problems to validate this (in my opinion)...

I would worry more about the "dueling" clutch pack issues, where junk in the fluid passages and/or control solenoids would make the simultaneous engagement of the 2nd and 3rd clutch packs a much bigger source of woe!

My $0.02

 

The manual even says to downshift when possible to reduce excessive wear on the brakes during periods of extending braking.

 

We seem to have a second confirmation of this.

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=57756

 

Like going down a steep grade where downshifting prevents you from overheating the brakes. Someone said it before, brakes are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than a tranny. Downshifting during routine driving creates needless added wear on the transmission. And ours appears to be a bit on the frail side to begin with.