hafids

Here I am, ranting and raving how much I love my TL...66K miles and drives like it's brand new.....

...until a week ago I noticed it slipping going into third gear when the engine was still cold. This of course would happen about once b/c the engine seems to warm up so quickly. Anyway, today, I'm driving around....lalala, I noticed a BIG slip going into third gear.....I revved to almost 5K before it found it. Stopped to run an errand, start back up and drive around some more and it's slipping again, now everytime I go into 3rd! Yikes!

So, I'm pretty close to Acura North Scottsdale, I figure I'm just going to go there.....driving along Frank Lloyd Wright blvd doing about 50 and suddenly the check engine light and the TCS light come on.

Now it's noticeable, it's seriously having issues finding third gear. I drive right to the dealership and explain what's going on....of course, it's not like they hadn't heard of this before.....the service guy Randy tells me....

"you model (2001) has been having problems with the third gear clutch pack. we're going to replace your transmission"

nothing new here to us acura-tl.com readers of course!

So anyway, they're saying I'll have my car back in 5 days with a new tranny....here's hoping

Anyway, this is the first problem I've *ever* had with my TL. Okay, the next thing to do is report it to the NHTSA?? Is that right? If anyone has the link to report problems, can they reply?

Thanks for listening....what a sad day

haf

_________________
01 TL std w/Navi
Satin Silver/Black int.
30% tint all around
02 Tails
H&R OE Springs
17x7 Konig Glides (solid black)
215/45 P7000 Supersport's
8-way indiglo gauges
de-badged

and now, a failed tranny @ 66421 miles...

AK_MOBBER

damn halfids!! Sorry to hear about that... Well hopefully you will get your tranny fixed pretty quick so we can get a phoenix meet going on!!
I just hit 40,000 miles on my 99 TL and the tranny is running like a champ(knock on fake acura wood).

Somebody chime in with the NTSB link!

hafids

here's the link...already filled out a report.

https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/oscri...Q/VOQ/voq1.cfm

I'm on for a phoenix meet! Was hoping to take pix of the car this weekend to post but that will have to wait. I'm driving a PHAT kia optima right now with 200 miles on it...woohoo!

I'm just happy this didn't happen with me doing 100mph on the 101...that could have been ugly.

haf

2007AcuraRL

I feel for you. It happened to me a month ago. They will also replace your ECU too when the replace tranny. Its got shift points recalibrated so for example you wont be in 5th gear and lugging the engine anymore when you are only doing 40MPH.

hafids

recalibration of the shift points is good to know. I would leave it in D4 a lot around town b/c I didn't like it shifting into 5th.

I will the new ECU quicken this shift response with using the SS? Mine seems to have a hefty delay when shifting gears.

2007AcuraRL

the only delay i ever had in SS was a slight pause going from 2nd to third. it was less than a half second though, but i did notice it since the car was new. Honestly, since they changed the ECU i havent really noticed whether its better now but i will try in tonight on my way home and i will let you know.

bug230

hafids,

Sorry to hear about your trany issues.

Is this your loaner that North Scottsdale Acura gave you? I was just wondering b/c I had my car a Bell Acura for 3 days getting warranty work done and I got to choose for 5 different cars.

02 RL
02 TL (silver or black)
02 TL-S
or a
03 CL-S

I chose the CL-S b/c I've never had the experiance.



ALSO - lets try to get more ppl involved in this AZ MEET (check the meet fourms AZ ppl)

hafids

Man, sounds like I should've gone to Bell Acura (although I don't know where it is - I'm assuming it's on Bell rd?).....they were out of loaners at the time I walked in the door so behind that entire row of dealerships is a Hertz rental and they just paid for an intermediate car for me for the next 5 days....could've gotten a convertible at no charge but that's no fun with all this rain!

Miss my TL already

bug230

I live in Scottsdale and it only takes me about 15min to get to Bell Acura. Just take the 101s to 7th ave. take a left on 7th ave. then a right on Bell Rd. Bell Acura is just a couple blocks down on the right side.

Next time you need service I suggest you give them a try. They are the best dealership in the Valley hands down! It is well worth the 5 extra mins. The best service manager there is Chad. So speak to him when you make your apt.


BELL ACURA 602-375-3750


When I took their loaner out for three days I used about 1/2 a tank of gas so I filled it up. When I got there I told Chad that I had re-fuled their car and the said that I didn't need to do that. Also when I droped my car off I was running on empty and I knew that they had to take it off the lot to do some body work. So I told them if they needed to fill it up just throw a couple gallons in and charge me. He said "ahh...don't even worry about it." When I picked up my car my tank was half full. when you are paying $1.91/gall that will add up.

hafids

Good to know! I'll keep that in mind, they sound like they go out of their way to be helpful to you.

AK_MOBBER

Bell acura is pretty good. The only beef I ever had with them is some guy named Steve that was a total b*tch when I asked for a test drive. At first he said no I can't test drive it and I said, "ok there are other acura dealers that will" I test drove a 00 TL-P with navi @ 30 k miles and they had it for a great price (20K).

I ended up not buying from them because he was such a gay wad. Doesn't mean the whole dealer is bad though because I bought lots of parts from them for my 99 TL until I found acuracarland.

2007AcuraRL

Okay here is the deal, i tried it out tonight and the GOOD NEWS is that the replacement ECU has had the delayed SS shifting removed! MY TL always shifted fast between 1st and 2nd, but there was always a small lag between 2nd and 3rd. might be good for an extra 1/4 sec in 0-60 time.

hafids

Excellent news! I really hope I notice a quicker shift difference with the SS. What's funny is the Kia Optima loaner I'm driving has a SS in it and it shifts fast but what's better is it rev matches on the down shift a little so that you don't jerk as much! kinda surprising....although, heh, it doesn't rev match quite like an M3 SMG, but who's comparing?

2K1NighthawkTL

bug230

^^^^^^^^

??

2K1NighthawkTL

where did you get that pic of the kid skidding on his tricycle?

bug230

http://www.makesyouthink.com

hafids

Okay, so the car is ready today, go take back that little Kia Optima to the hertz behind the north scottsdale dealership....go to Acura....get the car, miss my baby she's looks wonderful all washed and cleaned...........sit inside...drive about 2 feet and then I notice something.

My needles on the tach and the speedo are pointing STRAIGHT DOWNWARDS!!!!!!

Left the car running and go in to get the service guy and to say, "um, hello? what did you do to my gauges???" He scratches his head and says to me maybe they didn't swap out the speed sensor with the old transmission (does that make any sense? I don't know these cars well enough).

5 mins later he says the new sensor didn't fix the trick so he hands me the keys to an RSX and says they'll call me.

So sad ....why on earth would they mess with the indiglo gauges when replacing the transmission? Anyone know??

I have to say this RSX has some STIFF suspension........wonderful for taking corners but owie owie owie on bumpy roads...I felt like I was in a hummer H1 !!!

Is the RSX type S even stiffer? My H&R OE's feel soooo smoooooooth....

2007AcuraRL

maybe a wire was yanked when they were working on the car. How and where in the electrical system were the gauges wired up?

hafids

Gosh, just not sure. The gauges were just layed over the original dials and hooked up to the fuse box...no interference with anything else. They didn't even remove the needles when they installed......so, imagine your dash works when you take your car into service and then you get it back and your tach and speedo are just pointing straigh downwards and won't move....what could they have possibly done?

2007AcuraRL

Blown fuse or wire came loose? IF it was just the speedo gauge that would be one thing, but if all of them are out together then its either the whole cluster or a connector that goes to the cluster. Perhaps there is a connector from the ECU to the gauge cluster that wasnt plugged in.

hafids

Possible....they called me and said they had to order a new speed sensor...comes in tomorrow. Here's my beef: the needles naturally "rest" on those little things at the lower end of the scale (0mph, and 0 revs).....why would they have been moved to the point that they were pointing towards the floor? I'm very confused about that. Even if a fuse or wire came loose, shouldn't they still just sit in their one resting place just like when the car is turned off?

2007AcuraRL

yes, they naturally stay at zero. Although some gauges hold at their last settings until the ignition is turned on, at which point they all reset to zero. I dont recall whether the TL does that. In either case, the only way the needles could be BELOW the zero pins, is if they went all the way around clockwise. That would be impossible without going 160MPH at 9000 RPM. Highly unlikely.

My best guess is that something may have zapped the whole cluster and it caused all the gauges to peak. IF thats the case, they may have to replace the cluster....

Keep us posted. I cant see how the speed sensor by itself would cause the position of your gauges to be where they are at the moment.

hafids

So, here's your update: Tranny #2 - we're all good there. Now, my speedo is fixed. Coming from the service guy:

2 sensors are in place here. A speed sensor and a 2nd sensor for the rev counter (forgot the name). The speed sensor has 2 functions: 1. to match speed on the dash 2. to adjust power streering strength as your speed increases or decreses. This little device is supposed to remain in the car whereas the other sensor is changed with a new transmission.

So, everything works, but I feel like my speedo is off by about +10 miles......hmmmm, I'll watch it over the next few days....maybe I can find one of those "your speed is...." devices and see how fast I'm really going.

haf

2007AcuraRL

glad you got the car back and the indiglos are still good to go! Now go out an enjoy the faster SS with the new ECU....