I know a lot of people talk about failed transmissions and now I am part of that club. My 99 tl's tranny will be replaced Tuesday (72k miles). I tried looking the forums for info but couldn't find a clear answer -- who is to say that my replacement transmission will hold up? Are these replacements an upgrade to fix the problems is it just a rebuilt replacement that is just as likely to fail. Thanks for the input.

 

No offense, but clear answers are in the forums. Replacement transmmissions are not upgraded transmissions. They are just as likely to fail as the original ones.

 

Actually according to resident transmission expert, Kris, the latest transmission replacements come with refined and/or redesigned parts in known problem areas and there is no known failure in any of the latest ones. I am assuming the same is true for the 4AT, even though Kris has a 5AT. Maybe he'll chime in here and clarify it.

 

Correct. Acording to the part list and a few other tranny places they have redesigned some parts. Wether or not its the true fix? only time will tell. So far to the best of my knowledge no one here that has teh upgraded parts has had a failure

 

Since when have they started installing them??

 

Hold on, I thought the problem was a design issue. Since when did it become a part issue????

 

sometime early-mid 2005

It was a design issue, Parts can be designed wrong. By redesigning the parts its supposed to have fixed the issue.

 

Redesigned parts for the 4 speed, 5 speed or both?

 

??? 5 speed for sure. Not sure if the 4 speed uses the same clutchplates , housing and shaft (the parts that are redesigned)

 

Given the manner 4ATs fail sometimes, I assumed they used the same parts that have since been redesigned. I guess it is possible that they are different parts, but that's a hell of a coincidence.

 

I just found out yesterday that I will be joining the tranny club too. I definitely hope that this transmission holds up better than the previous replacements. At the same time I had busted engine mounts. When the mechanic rev'd my engine it reminded me of that oil commercial where the engine is out on the road trying to get to the penzoil.

 

i have currently (will be gone soon) a 2k3 TL-S, ABP. had 4 tranny replacements, so this is my 5th tranny including original. the last replacement was this past Aug.

every replacement i got prior to this one, i thought it's gonna be good and i don't drive crazy either (mostly in traffic unfortunately and not much SS), but i keep going back. one time the replacement failed within 3, 4 days. i could not believe it. i'm glad i didn't get into any accidents.

that being said, i'm not sure if i'm just unlucky or what but i've filed for a lemon (as much as i love acura), and hence that part about my car been gone soon. but all the tranny replacements i've gone thru just makes me believe that the problem was NEVER fixed. even the dealer indicated that this generation was bad with the tranny. not an issue so far with 3rd gen TL (getting that soon ) i guess sometimes you just have to take a chance.

 

And the good thing about CA is that you CAN file for lemon law at any time, not just that 12 month 12,000 mile bullshit like most states (including mine). If GA's had been unlimited, my TL would have been repurchased as it was out of service more than 30 days within a 6 month period.

 

Odds are you never got a tranny with the new redesigned parts. You most likely got a rebuilt with the older parts