hi i've read so much so far about the transmission problems that people are having with the '99 3.2 TL.. and i was just wondering, what are the signs of bad transmission? or how do i tell that my transmission is bad? again, this is my first car and i'm hoping to learn more about it.. and thru this forum/site i've learned a couple of new things about my new car ^_^ thanks for the help..

 

well, cosidering mine has been replaced four times now.. here goes:

- I start to feel the shifting go 'different' (harder, less smooth, in all of my tranny deaths this was the beginning of the end)
- On kick down, the car bounces like crazy (this was the sign that it has died in two of my trannies)
- Car shifts back to a much lower gear when driving in 4th (i have a 99) (this too = death)
- My first tranny went when i went into reverse to back out of a parking spot, and the car just stood there, no matter how much i was on the pedal.
- One of my trannies died in 300 miles (!) and produced loud 'clunk' sounds on putting it in reverse (and i mean loud, loud enough to make people on the other side of the road look)

In two cases, Acura drove it and couldn't reproduce.. so i was forced to drive with a screwed up tranny for a while in those cases.. geez, Acura should start paying me a salary by now, that's how often i am at the dealer Last time they did the tranny they destroyed the homelink and the arm rest too

Tracer

 

sounds horrible i need to keep an ear out for all these signs then.. thanks for the reply!

some other stuff that are worrying me.. i've read once on this forum/site that someone was complaining about their TL's rough shifting or something like that?.. and one guy replies and says that the shifting in the TL isn't as smooth as other cars and u can feel it because of the VTEC.. is this true? or is that a sign of bad trans.? and also, what is clutch slipping/slipping clutch? i've just read someone's post about that when they shift from 2-3? thanks...

n another thing.. i'm getting things all mixed up! people are saying that u are more likely to ruin ur trans. using SS, and others are saying more likely thru using D4 all the time.. so which is it?

 

anyone?

 

i think my tranni is starting to go physco on me.. i have a 99 also... my shifts are getting a jerky.. i can hear my gears kinda grinding once i change frop P > R > D .... i think im going to have them check it out when i get my oil changed..... im skurdd :|

 

hm.. so i was driving my TL today.. stopped by a store to buy some black dyed CD's.. then got back and started my car, changed gear from P to R and i hear a click somewhere in the transmission i'm guessing? and i got the hang of using SS so i've been using SS everytime i'm driving.. but it's weird.. i hit the 3rd gear and whenever i brake for a light or a stop sign my car jerks when i see the gears go from 3 to 2 to 1.. the jerk kinda feels like a little boost? it's like, a little BRAKE in the beginning and then the car jerks foward.. and it's the same when i'm downshifting, i'm driving in 3rd gear and i slow down because cars in front are slow and i downshift to 2nd gear and the car brakes a little and gives kind of a big boost'ish jerk foward.. and then i do the same from 2 to 1 and the jerk felt more noticeable than the 3rd to 2nd downshift.. what does this mean? i try not to downshift but it makes no difference because if i'm in 3rd gear and i stop for a stop sign or light without downshifting the car automatically downshifts from 3 to 2 to 1 and at the end of the stop i feel the car DOUBLE jerk.. but real small.. so what i'm saying is while driving and i downshift, the jerks are much more bigger than just stopping without downshifting.. what does this mean?

p.s. also, there is like a 0.5 - 1 second lag when using SS.. weird.. =\

 

Anybody with a 1999 TL that had dead trannies?

 

Yeah, read above Madcat.. four replacements on mine.

Tracer

 

on the 5 speed the shifting become different but the biggest give away is the way it shifts from 2nd to 3rd. the best way i can describe it is like a slipping clutch all 3 of mine did it before they died

 

First tranny failure: ALL the lights went NUTS and flashed! ex. VSA, SRS, MAINT. and the car lost ALL OF ITS POWER! i had to drive 20 miles with the car having no power at all. felt like i was driving a Hyudai.
Second tranny failure: at a dead stop waiting for a light, the car JERKS really bad! and this is with the A/C OFF!!!!
Third tranny failure: Still JERKING at dead stop, but slips while shifting. In SS mode, shifting from 1st to 2nd will LAG. when i shift, it'll rev really loud then slip into 2nd and jerk.

 

Ok... this is scary...

I think Im trading this in for a Mazda 6 5-speed!

 

I just got my 99 TL back from getting a new tranny.

My signs were rough shifting, takes a second or two to get going once you press the gas. And everytime I change gear, the car would give a hard jerk.

BTW, my tranny died at ~91K miles.

So far the new (refurbished) tranny is smooth as silk. Let's just hope it lasts.

 

Exactly the same for me. The car never was a smooth shifter, but it has definitely gotten worse. Leta acura condemned the mf today. 59k. I hope this is not an ongoing problem, but it appears it will be...CAR FOR SALE!!!

 

My old 99TL tranny died at about 50k....Changed it and had no problems since....Sold it with 106k miles...