EnvyAce

Hey guys

About a month ago I got the recall of the timing belt pulley done on my 03 TLS. Couple of days after I picked the car up, I rev'ed it pretty high and noticed that the RPM's are getting stuck at 5500. As in the car doesnt switch gears (no matter what gear it is in). I thought it was a timing belt pulley problem but acura said my transmission was gone. The car drives fine driving normally (no jerking or anything), but when I rev it up, it gets stuck at 5500 and then I have to let go of the gas a little bit to let it switch gears.

I tried resetting the ECU with no luck. Any other ideas??

Thanks,

Ace

Gfaze

I think the dealer is right. You should be covered under the 93 mo/109K mile extended trans. warranty. There was a cut-off range on the VIN for the 03's but many people have still gotten complete coverage. Go get your free transmission!!

EnvyAce

thas the prob though its no free, im outta waranty at 121000 miles

Gfaze

Not necessarily. Read the Tranny failure thread under Problems and Fixes. Many people have gotten a free or at least partial coverage on the transmission. I was over on time but way under on miles and I still got a 100% free transmission! Go to your dealer and speak with the Service Manager, not the service writer. Ask him if their is anything he could do to help you out. You are way under on time so you might be able to get it covered. Just be polite and tell him you are aware that many vehicles have been covered beyond the stated limits and that you would appreciate his help to get yours covered too. Again, read the Tranny Failure thread for tips/advice.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

It doesn't necessarily mean the transmission is toast.

Mine started doing that after the replacement, when the second transmission was still new. It's gotta be some sort of glitch or protective feature in the PCM when they reprogrammed it.

When I'm driving at 80+ and drop it to 3rd and go wide open throttle, it bounces off the limiter at 5500 RPM. It will do this about half of the times I try it. It's freakin' annoying and embarrassing.

fsttyms1

Sounds as though a sensor is miss reading things. Maybe unplug every thing on the trans and replug it in, making sure none of the contacts are bent or corroded?

EnvyAce

can that be done with just being under the the car and by keeping the hood open? I mean that I dont needa take the tranny out do I?

Maybe its just me but that service manual is confusing the heck outta me.

01tl4tl

I think fsttyms means put the car on ramps and look under around and over the transmission housing- looking for electrical connectors and their condition

Its certainly worth a visit to the dealer- and speak only with the SERVICE MANAGER
not the service writer/service advisor- those people are service salesman-
the Manager deals with acura corp for you.

Gfaze

If you read the OP's first post, the Acura dealer told him his "transmission is gone". I'd say if they've already determined it's bad, then he should try to get it covered.

EnvyAce

well do u think i should go back to the same place and talk to the manager straight? The thing is i got it diagnosed thinking its not the tranny and when they said it was the tranny they straight up told me it was not covered because I was over by 11K miles.

I dont really know how to approach it now, since its been a few weeks since that happened.

EnvyAce

I forgot to add that when the technician did a test drive with me, he said that they may be able to cover if the tranny was maintained (as in the fluid was changed and everything). I do all the maintainence myself so I dont know how to prove that to them if they argue about that.

Gfaze

If you didn't talk to the service manager the last time you went, you should definately talk to him now. Go to the Service office and ask for him/her specifically. Like I said before, many people here have gotten their tranny covered even though they were past the limits. In some cases, they were WAY past the limits and still got at least partially, if not fully, covered. In my case I was several months over the time limit but my dealer was kind enough to call Acura corp. and got it goodwill coverage. No out of pocket for me!! You are over on miles but way under on time so it should be able to be covered. If the service manager isn't any help, call Acura Client services at 1-800-382-2238 and speak to their customer service rep. They can help you get a resolution. As always be polite but insistent, good luck.

Gfaze

That's a load of . I was never asked once if I did maintenance on the transmission. They test drove it for about 50 miles and determined that it was bad. No excuses, no . I see you said it was the technician telling you this. Talk to your service manager.

EnvyAce

cool. but im actually at school right now, wont be home till the weekend. So I guess I'll go then... I dont know if i called them, u it would still work? or should i jus wait till the weekend and meet them in person.

01tl4tl

You are not going to meet the actual Service MANAGER on a weekend- they work mon-fri jobs. Its better to do it in person- but in this case, you can try the phone,
Explain you are a member of acurazine.com and there are hundreds or recent replacements that were "goodwill~ from acura stories on here.
The odometer also reads fast by 5% in our car- so barely over the limit in real miles

Service writers are commission oriented salesmen of repairs---- so of course its their job to say ~out of warranty~, so is the person at 800#- just reads from a book statement.
They take a report and a real Acura Manager looks at it and takes action.
Dont worry- Human interaction will help you.
With the trans being a KNOWN problem- servicing it with oil change is not even an issue.
My dealer insider told me they have done free replacements at 125 and 144 for nice people. Has nothing to do with how much you had them service it.
Acura CORP is paying for the warranty- not the dealer- who is just an indepant businessman trying to make a buck-

Gfaze

I would go there in person because they can't give you the runaround while you're standing in front of them. On the phone they can make up that they're busy or something and cut you off. Just show up first thing in the morning to talk to the Service Mgr. (Maybe bring him a Starbucks to get him in a good mood ) You never know, a little couldn't hurt.

Gfaze

Damn! You're like a , you appear, make a comment, then disappear. But anyways, to the OP, .

EnvyAce

mann.... c if they work only on weekdays then it has to be done over the phone. Caus im at school monday thru friday.

01tl4tl

Thats OK- here is the revised plan:
when you call, get the name of the service manager from the girl that answers the phone- then talk to that person ONLY.
Tell them that you were in recently with trans problem on a gen2 TL, and what the diagnosis was. Say you got kind of freaked out when the tech is saying one thing and the service writer another and you didnt know what to do,. Can he/she please help you?
Tell him you love your Acura. and-
***here is the important part: YOU are a STUDENT on tight budget, that the trans failure is an overwhelming financial issue and emotional strain.
Thats the truth/story that phee used and they covered his 99, so you shouldnt have any problems.
Be positive and nice- asking for their HELP with Acura Corp=
and mention the acurazine membership,
Admit it or not- they know what acurazine.com is- some even have techs that are members here and others may have spies~ keeping up on what the public is concerned with and who is saying what about their shop.

01tl4tl

To- Envy Ace
When you were in for the warranty prob with the pulley- what did they do about your UR crank pulley being there?
And when the service writer said it was not covered on trans warranty- did they give you a price for replacement?
Have you gotten a 2nd opinion from a transmission shop?

While you are talking with the Manager- ask why they didnt notice the trans prob when they had it for other work? Did they do a test drive after the other work?

The symptoms of letting of the gas to shift is a bad trans warning sign.

EnvyAce

The pulley i just installed just 2 days ago. So that wasnt there when i last went to acura. They gave me a price of $2900 for the replacement. I had a replacement at 91K so its only been 30K miles on this one. Ill def try all the things u mentioned, thanks for the help.

Ill call 2moro and keep you guys posted.

EnvyAce

wow its been almost a month, but i finally got in touch with the manager.... They'll be goodwilling the tranny 4 me. I get my car back on Wednesday. They also said that I need the timing belt replaced, its way overdue. Is that a DIY you guys think? or should I just get it done at a private place?


Thanks for the help guys

01tl4tl

its a major DIY not for the faint of heart or skills. See ther DIY section for a write up
about $800-1200 at a private shop- needs water pump, timing belt- tensioners- spark plugs and much more. Its due at 105k miles in most cases or 7 years max
Lots of labor time involved, most of a full day for a skilled tech

01tl4tl

wait- they did the RECALL timing belt pulley for the alignment issue on that, and they did not offer to do the water pump at that time, for a small additional labor? THATS CRAZY
They were right there!!!! Thats like not telling you it needs a motor mount while the trans is removed- and wanting 300 labor after the fact to replace it.
Except its 3 times as bad in labor
Speak with the service manager again- someone totally SUCKS at their job as service writer, and shop foreman, and tech
Everyone is supposed to be thinking cars mileage and when doing the tbelt to not see the wp and....
services they can sell for actual money from the customer
Now they will want 1200 for the water pump job
Besides the MANAGER, and the actual General Manager od the dealership- WRITE acura- this is total bs....they did a recall service and a month later say it needs wp----
I was in the biz- trust me on this one

Gfaze

Sounds like a greedy service writer.

EnvyAce

well i guess ill speak with the manager when he gets back in monday... yea they want $1000 for the timing belt and water pump job.

01tl4tl

bypass the service manager and go direct to the GENERAL MANAGER of the dealership
they are resonsible for EVERYTHING that happens under that roof.
To do a major recall service and not replace the other NEEDED parts, is JUST shy of "criminal negligence" and mechanics TOTAL incompetance.
Tech should have seen cars mileage and the parts condition- told service dispatcher who then has service writer call you for approval of repairs

Write Acura corp- start raising hell- call the tv station consumer action line and complain

If everyone would register on the 2 systems for acura, they would know about this and other recalls affecting their car. I knew about it when I called acura 2 years ago- looking at TLs and the 800 number people told me about the recall on some 03- which the one I was looking at was part of, and it had 75k, old owner never registered to be notified of recall and dealer never looked it up, car was sold thru auction and moved it across the country to sell!
When I told selling car lot of the prob- they said they would take it to acura for me, and get the radio code too since it was locked. They knew NOTHING about the cars they sell! I ran far away from that car!

EnvyAce

They are gonna be workin on my car at 6 am 2moro (Monday). I dont think ill hav a chance to speak with the manager b4 they work on it.

I definitely need to do sumthin quick....How can i call / write to acura corp?

EnvyAce

btw when i asked the service writer about the situation... he said that if they called while doing the pulley recall i would have saved $180 and he offered to take that amount off the $1000... is there truth to that?

01tl4tl

Not many of us have the actual factory time book but thats about 1.5 hours off, and depending on exactly what they are going to do - is it the 105k service- new water pump- new belts- some tensioners- valve adjust (good idea at your miles) new coolant- oil change? Spark plugs etc.
Depending on what you have already done at home- let them know if the plugs are brand new and to leave them alone, changed the cabin air filter yourself?
You need a total services provided for what cost. The labor for the whole job is about 6 hours-
They hooked you up on the replacement trans without too much hassle, you decided to let them do the water pump now and they are taking off the basic labor for their oversight
Pay it and happily drive your TL another 150k

01tl4tl

did you get a new timing belt with the pulley replacement? The recall was for a misalignment that could wear the belt AND the water pump as I recall- call acura and ask what exactly it does say on the paper about the pulley- need you VIN to look it up
Have them register you as the owner too- you would have already been made aware of the recall if they knew where to send the reminder card
1-800-382-2238 x5 6am to 5 pm pacific time

VQPower37

Hey guys.. (this is EnvyAce btw)... I actually recently did my water pump and timing belt myself... with a few minor issues but I think theyll get resolved.

But.... my new tranny that I got good willed is now having the same exact issues that my last one did in only about 2500 miles. It gets stuck at 5500 RPM and wont move past. I have an apptmnt with acura this weekend for another replacement... but this situation leads me to believe that this is not a transmission prob (mechanically at least) but is something else.

The new tranny did fix the problem initially though, but now its the same prob again. any ideas on what it could be?

JCharged

iTrader: (5)

I think it's a sign to do the 6-speed like you planned. lol.

In all seriousness,

the autos have very weak clutch packs. Especially 3rd gear.

bibledriver

I tend to agree with your thoughts, and I wonder if the pcm is not reading the gear selection correctly (like when you rev your car in neutral and you are limited). That is my best guess, and I have no explicit proof, nor ideas on how to fix it. Just seems like the straight line between two dots.

fsttyms1

Sounds like its something electrical causing your issue like the ecu, or a bad connection somewhere.

chewi

is it a common problem with the rpm topping off at 5500 rpm with the replaced tranny's?

01tl4tl

only if there is a problem like kris and matt just said- like the brains are not working -
the cars brains I mean
Go have a chat in person with - lets all say it together- THE SERVICE MANAGER
and take them for a drive around the block
Things get missed or not noticed on test drive- tech slaps trans in- starts car, add fluid-drive around block- park car
ok- next job please boss- times a wastin and I need to make money

01tl4tl

you can try an ECU reset to see if that will fix it-you could get lucky!
or find out the ecu isnt working right, and maybe acura will cover you~
remove fuse #12 in passenger footwell- marked CLOCK- its the backup power to ecu and will force a computer reboot- so to speak
leave it out- I dont know,,,a minute, then put fuse back in and start car
Check owner book for special driving procedure that forces a quick learn on the ecu-
I know its in the 01 TL book under Emission Testing after battery replacement- as pulling battery cables will also reset the system and wont give a readiness code to the testing equipment they use now for smog test

fsttyms1

Its not a problem at all. He just has a problem that was never fixed from the beginning.

EnvyAce

Ive tried the ECU reset many times actually... I think its sumthin to do with the ECU or something like that but I dont know y it fixed the problem initially with the new tranny?? dunno ...