Hi All,

I've posted about my "shudder" in my drive line and am still unable to get it resolved.

Car:
2003 TL-S
218,000 miles

Symptom:

Shudder upon straight line acceleration between 40-70 MPH.

Troubleshooting:

Balanced all 4 wheels and tires. Replaced 2 wheels that were found to be out of round. Balance was not on the Hunter Road Force Touch which I hear is the best balancer.

4 wheel alignment complete.

Transmission had thrown code for Torque Converter Clutch failure. Ive had a feeling trans was going anyway so put in new trans.

2 independent Acura shops have told me there is no problem with axles.

Shudder is still there.

What are next steps? Is there a harmonic balancer on the engine that may be going bad? Symptoms?

Thanks in advance.

Michael

 

New trans might have same problem.

Go into SS mode and confirm by shifting. Does the shudder happen when you shift? Does it stop happening in SS mode?

 

they may have moved the old shift selenoids over and not cleaned them
I would start there and a 3.4 qt change of honda dw1 atf

 

What gear are you in between 40-70? If you're in D5, you could just be experiencing the tall gear ratio. You should be in D4 in that speed window, and only go to D5 at 75 or 80. Going up a hill in D5 at 40-70 might create some shaking.

 

John,

I'm definitely in 3 or 4.

 

is the tcc code current? showing CEL?

mine has the shudder between 1-2 mostly at light throttle
which acura said was not a problem (their rebuilt)
A trans guru buddy says run some motor-purr or seafoam trans cleaner,
all new fluid, and cleaning the selenoids should cure it

 

i have a 02 tls with 175k that gives me that same shuddering in 3rd gear...its not consistent though

 

Check motor mounts and you can replace the 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches for under 90$ which can help also

 

^^thx...ill have my mechanic take a look at my mounts when i take it in later this month.

 

He said mounts are fine, hesitation happening in D5 and SS mode so its definitely the transmission.

Between 35-40 MPH i get this fluttering, hesitation, shudder whatever you want to call it. As if the car cant find the right gear. If i ease up on the gas at 35MPH and then accelerate its fine...or if i mash the gas all the way to 45 MPH + its fine.

Think i might need to find a place that will do an accord tranny swap.

 

Was the torque converter replaced? Sounds like a slipping lock-up clutch.

 

If it wasnt part of the warranty tranny replacement then no i dont think it was changed.

Could it be as simple as that? No blown tranny after all?

 

I had shudder when in D5 on a 2003 TL. I noticed it at around 1500 rpm. When I start the car off in D4, the tach stays above that and does not shudder. Eventually I had to replace a power steering fluid pump, and the shudder now is gone in D5. Not really sure why that would affect the shudder but it did. I really thought I had a tranny problem for a while there.

 

I see im not the only one that has the shudder on D5 but goes away on D4. Its something with the lock up system, original transmission ?

 

That is really odd that your shudder went away with the power steering pump change. Maybe it was adding extra load on the engine and that related to a shudder..?
I have it too. At low rpms usually in 3rd/4th at low speed/rpm. D4 does seem to help a lot