RedLined

As many of you know, I'm currently on my 3rd tranny. And given that there have already been a few 03s with tranny problems, I'm certain Acura had not figured out what was going wrong when my current tranny was installed in December therefore I'm confident this tranny will fail too. When I had the last one installed, my service rep told me the tranny was covered for 4yrs/50000 miles from the date/mileage it was installed. According to another member who recently had a tranny failure and spoke to Acura Cust. Serv, once you hit 4yrs/50000 from the date the car was purchased, nothing is covered under warranty no matter when it was installed.

Since I'm fast approaching 50k (I already have near 38000) I'm starting to think very hard about selling the TLS. But who the hell would want to buy a 1 year old car with 38000 miles on its 3rd transmission? I'm hoping that my tranny goes out again soon so I can persue a lemon law case (I think my case would be pretty air tight).

I think I probably screwed. I must say I'm very disappointed with Honda/Acura. I have been a loyal customer for years but unfortunately this will probably be the last Honda product I own.

garylee55

Man, I'm sorry for ya...I am on my first...and last, transmission replacement becasue I am getting rid of the car ASAP.

It sounds like you have a good Lemon Law case...but, that takes a lot of time...so, it depends on how much patience you have. I know you will not get anything on a trade...you might try selling it outright. The CL board has about 34-36 people who have the same problem, and I think we are up to about 27-28 people here, so I agree that this is my last Honda product as well.

DAY Type S

Gents,

This tranny issue blows- As I "feel for you guys" with the dissapointment of the car I have a few questions - have you tricked out the engine? manifold, exhaust, etc. in othor words are you beating the crap out of the car, driving hard, real hard??

My theory is on the sport shift- It seems a bit shady with it not yet being modified or being "walloped on" to see what kind of abuse it can take. Maybe you folks have showed Acura.

I am looking to drive the car. On and off expressways and agressive passing is all I intend to do. To be honest I am dissapointed and feel for you with your challenges with the Type S. I just purchased a QX4 from Infiniti for my wife and the swore they would set me up with the I35 on price. Now, the question is rising again in my head? Back and forth from the Type S and the I35.

Can you guys seal the questions I have with the modifications you have done and how you drive it. Much appreciated, Good Luck!!

Peace

copland007

DAY Type S:
There's been a lot of talk about the subject, specifically this thread http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=30872

It can happen to anyone, mods or not, hard driving or not.

RedLined:
I hear your pain... Maybe you can contact Customer Care and get your concern well documented with them to make sure that you are taken care of out of warrantee if your poor tranny bytes the dust again If I was in your shoes I'd probably dump it, as sad as that sounds. Too much of a headache for such a car.

garylee55

I have never driven the car hard. I never use SS...I do keep up with traffic on the interstate. 98% of my driving is on the interstate. My friends tell me I drive like an ol' lady...but judging from one of the other threads, ol' ladies LIKE the TL-S!...so, there ya have it!

oblio98

If you take the time and search the older posts, you will find almost every member that had a tranny failure posted something like this....

"I always thought that the people with tranny problems were racing or beating their cars, or using SS all of the time, and that the failures were caused by bad or aggressive driving. UNTIL NOW!"

It has nothing to do with the driver or driving style. It is a crap shoot. Unfortunately, it can happen to ANYONE at ANYTIME.

Such a bummer.

Think about it. Has there been any other component of the TL-S that has failed and required replacing by more than two members? Has ANYONE had ANYTHING replaced on a TL-S due to failure other than the tranny???

That has to mean something.

:-jon

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

3rd tranny, = very abusive and hard driving.

copland007

That just isn't the case, please look back into previous posts, just like oblio98 said, it's true.

garylee55

OK guys...talked to the Acura rep...he said the tranny failures are because of bad carrier bearing. New trannies are not being put in our cars. He said they are rebuilding previous failed trannies to the re-manufactured standard. They may have 60k trannies on the shelf for new cars, and if someone needs a replacement, they do not pull one off of the shelf, but rebuild a failed one.

Each re-manufacture will be built to standards drafted because of investigation into orgininal failures.

I told him how interesting it was to hear all of the different stories we are being told by other Service/Acura reps.

I asked him if there has been a redesign, and his response was that there may be new build characteristics, but if a part is determined to cause failures, the do not pull all trannies out of the factory and fix them before they install them, they just change the build on new trannies being built for the factory.

Monte TLS,MAX

I am selling mine in a few months when the G35 coupe comes out my wife and I agreed. I have had to many problems with it as well, far more than our 02 Max. Who knows what the G35 coupe will bring but I am willing to chance it!

copland007

Wow, that is scary. So even if they internally admit to a faulty part that they know will fail or cause a failure, they don't fix it until it fails? That is disappointing Acura!

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

I just did, but I will still stand by it right now. I killed a tranny on my 2000 Maxima auto, took it to the drag striped and raced it, raced it alot, welll guess what, it died at 8k. It got fixed, and I got a new one it lasted till 24k when I got rid of it. I didn't abuse it after the first one anymore. Alot of people who have abused the MAxima tranny killed it.l People who drove calmly are still driving fine on them.

copland007

That may be true for the Maxima, but the large amount of posts and discussions here (and acura-cl when they were up) related to the tl tranny was too overwhelming to believe that it was the drivers fault for how they drove it.

tabraha

If I were in your shoes Redlined I would be looking for a different ride. That is purely an opinion based on if that had happened to me though. I have had great luck so far but I wouldn't tolerate 3 trannies, not even 2 going out for that matter.

DMan

I can easily believe that the failures have nothing to do with driving habits, but when someone has gone through three transmissions there has to be another factor involved.

Ruski

my tranny died at 6,100 miles. I did not drive the car any harder than my Buick Riviera or Pontiac Grand Prix GTP or Chrysler 300M. If anything, I drove the Acura less aggressively since it is still quite new. And the trannies on all my previous cars lasted untill the end of the lease without any problems.

I strongly doubt that this failure has something to do with my driving habits. And if that's the case anyway, then Acura doesn't know how to build cars for real people in real driving situations.

oblio98

With all due respect,
YOU ARE A MORON!!!

:-jon

RedLined

It's simple mathematics. Trannies here have been going at anywhere from 1700 to 22000 miles but most commonly in the 10000 mile range. My first went at 8500 miles, the 2nd another 18000 miles later. Since I seem to be leading the pack on mileage, it would make sense that I'm also leading on tranny replacements. It's been about 11000 miles since my last replacement, so I fully expect it to go again soon.

I don't believe it has anything to do with my driving or any mods (I have none). I get great gas mileage (better than most on this board -- not an indication of hard driving) and most of my driving is on the highway cruising at 2000 rpm (hardly a harsh condition). Also, I just replaced my Michelin Pilot XGT Z4 tires that had over 65,000 miles on them (they were on my Accord V6 before). If I had been putting my car through the ringer, I doubt my tires would have lasted that long. Finally, I have been driving this car no differently than I have driven any other and not once did I have any tranny failures with those cars, the last being a 98 Accord V6 with 115,000 miles on it. If it had anything to do with my driving, I'm certain one of my previous cars would have had a tranny problem in the 400000 miles I have put on my cars in the past 10 years. Now to have 2 trannies go out in just 26000 miles -- give me a f---ing break!

It's possible that some people abuse there cars causing their trannies to fail. But I'm not one of those people.

RedLined

Jon, I couldn't have said it better.

Monte TLS,MAX

I know for a fact that my 2 trannies have nothing to do with my habits, because my wife use to mainly drive it. She drives slow, no jack rabbit starts etc, the Maxima tranny usually didnt fail in this manner.

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

That was real grown up there.

3 trannies in under 40k of miles, even with the tl-s reputation of tranny failures, that equals hard driving of some type.

RedLined

Like I said, simple math. If the trannies are usually going out somewhere around 10000 miles and Acura hasn't figured out what's causing them to fail (which they clearly haven't judging by the fact that the 03s are failing) causing them to put faulty trannies in for replacement, having a tranny go out twice in 26000 miles isn't unreasonable. Having a third go out around 40000 miles is also reasonable.

Answer this for me -- if my driving is hard, why have I never had a tranny problem in ANY other car I've owned? I drove the hell out of the Integras I had in college and never had a problem with those.

oblio98

Thanks! If I wasn't "grown up", I would have said that you were a F-ing moron!

How can you make implications about things that you have no knowledge of at all? To me, a grown up, that makes you a moron!

:-jon

TypeSAcura

oblio98,


I must agree with you Speedy3.2CL-S is a Fvcking idiot. He fail to believe that the tranny issue is problem from ACURA.

Sh!t i drive my 1989 camry like a wild mothafvcker, racing tricking etc. etc. tranny still works wonderfull.

I don't give a sh!t how you drive your car, a 1 year old car should not have blown 3 trannies.

Hey Speedy3.2CL-S get wid the program mannnnn.:wow:

Questor

The only other vehicle I've owned with a history of tranny problems was a 1989 Grand Voyager. It went at 22k.

My 2002 TL-S is gone at just over 14k in 10.5 months. No mods, mostly highway driving about max 2400 rpm. I've probably nearly hit the redline a handful of times. I do occasionally use SS when I want peak performance and determine exactly when the shift will occur. I really enjoy quick starts to speed. (How many who buy this car don't?)

Acura has a rep for high technology and promotes the race engine like qualities of its powerplant, as I recall. The line is supposed to be built for performance and thus not for granny.

If a car supposedly built to handle the mild performance demands I ask of it fails, then the vehicle performance falls far short of the billing.

I said on another post this situation reminds me of the 1985 Saab 900 turbo manual 5-sp I had. It was the first year for a higher powered engine and it was mismatched with the transmission used on their previous lesser powered and torqued engine. After four years, the tranny went and this was the only year 900s had a transmission problem as I recall. (but 4 yrs ain't 10.5 months!)

I'm more and more seriously considering dumping this ride that I have so enjoyed. There are too many other good rides available with dependable trannys.

It isn't the driver IMHO. 'nuf said.

garylee55

Maybe when the tranny goes in Speedy's CL he will be whistling a different tune...or, perhaps this person is really an Acura Service Rep or Sales person. I know I have directed my dealer to this site to point out how many of us are having this issue.

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

You guys also have no knowledge of what the problems are. It's all speculation.

LOL, sometimes I wonder about people on the Internet.

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

Yawn, another one trying to prove who has the bigger penis envy.

Yawn.

garylee55

Proving who has the 'bigger penis' and having 'penis envy' are two totally unrelated concepts. You are such a girl, lol!

copland007

Man, you just try to pick fights in threads don't you?

All I will say is wait until it happens to you

RedLined

I know what the problem is -- Acura has put a sh!tty tranny in the TL-S. How do I know this? Mine has failed twice under normal driving conditions. I wish it were only speculation.

Speedy, since you seem to be so knowledgable, please answer my other questions. You implied that is was my driving that was causing my trannies to fail. If that is the case, why haven't I experienced this problem with any other car?

garylee55

Exactly Speedy...how can you explain all the stories we are being given by Service Reps and Acura Reps explaining faulty bearings, and that this is a known problem, and they are re-manufacturing to new specs because of this? I would think that they would immediately get defensive and try to point to driving issues rather than trying to offer up all of these different excuses. Infact, my Service Rep guy said it started in the '99 TL.

oblio98

OK guys, we should just ignore Speedy. :o Maybe he'll go back the the CL forum where he belongs...

RedLined

What's funny is that the more people I tell about my faulty transmissions, the more I hear "Yeah, that's a Honda tranny for you." People with Preludes, Accords, Civics, CLs, TLs have all said the same thing.

I think I've decided to just hang on to the car. If the tranny does go out again soon, no doubt I'll pursue a lemon law case. If it doesn't and I start nearing the end of the warranty, I'll probably purchase an extended warranty for peace of mind and to help resale (who would want to buy a car that's had its tranny replaced twice and not have a warranty). I drove an S4 -- I loved the car but it's kind of a pricey car for me to rack up so much mileage on.

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

Okay, maybe I over reacted a bit and I am sorry. When it happens to me then so be it. I will wait for that day.

Alot of other manufactures do make better trannies than Honda. GM makes one of the best, but its domestic crap.

oblio98

Yo Speedy,

Maybe you are not a Moron, sorry. However, the thing that really gets me going is when non-dead tranny posters infer that the dead tranny posters caused their own problems.

I can tell you that I did not beat my car, did not think the tranny would die on me, thought that others must have beaten their trannies (although I never posted that I thought that), and that my Acura would last 200,000+ miles.

When your tranny goes, your enthusiasm goes too! Especially if you have to wait 6 weeks like I did.

Hopefully, yours will be OK.

:-jon

Speedy3.2CL-S_RENAMED

Well, it has 2200 miles on the car right now, nothing wrong with it yet that isn't normal. Just first time driven it shifts a little rough but smooths out a bit down the road after the fluids get through it. I know a few people who have over 50k on there TL, or TL-S or CL-S... No problems yet. I just don't understand what is making the difference between those, and these. They are all manufactured with the same parts from the same factory? So what gives?!

1SICKLEX

I would have sold after the 1st tranny, this is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE in my eyes. A 30+ k "luxury" car on 3 trannies, that is just plain ol sorry.

Dude, they have wasted your time and hard spent money and inconvienced you enough, try something else.

Blazin TL

i just put 7000 miles on my car while driving back from miami and it's been in an accident, things are still under warranty, but all this talk about a tranny failure is scaring my, i mean, if my tranny went out, the dealer would probably blame it on my accident ...

i also use SS all the time except when the engine is cold b/c it jumps lighty when it shifts from 1st to 2nd, and sometimes i race, should i stop all this, and what are some signs of trouble

BJSTLS

Holy crap! I bought my '03 TL-S a little over a week ago and I am so paranoid about a tranny failure. I started reading this board a few days before I bought the car, but obviously not enough to read about all the tranny failures!! Now that I have been reading this board, everything that happens in my TL-S that is different from my previous car, I think is tranny related!!! Talk about being paranoid!! I bought my '03 TL-S and my wife's '02 Infiniti G20 on the same day and my wife is already sick about hearing about my "possible transmission problems". I owned a '99 Grand Prix GT before this car. While that car sounded like a tank going over the smallest bump in the road, I never had any transmission issues, and I drove that car like it was a race car!! I drive my TL-S like an old lady to break it in (only 400 miles now). I was not aware that 2003 TL-Ss were having tranny problems also......Now I am Sh!tting my pants!!!