i have a 03 tl s and i noticed that when in sportshift
i accelerate and the car automatically shifts from 1 st to 2nd with me shifting up. but the rest of the gears i have to shift them to get into the next gear.

whats up with that? is it normal does anyone eles have this happen to them. my car only has 500 miles on her.

thanks guys

 

yeah thats normal.

 

Yeah that is normal. They dont want you redlining 1st gear and you might forget that you left it in sportshift mode when you stopped at a light or something.

 

asloudasitgets


Maybe a gander at the owner's manual might shed some light! I do'nt mean to dissrespcect but pull it out! You would be surprized as to the info Acura puts out on their product..

Iggy

 

Yes its quite normal all 2000 & up TL & 5 speed Auto Tranny CLs do this. ACURA changed this on the 2000TL the 1999 4 speed auto TL will not do this.

 

It's one of the reasons I dislike SS.

I personally prefer to manually shift, or shiftgate shifting as some call it. It also let's me downshift at 30MPH in to 1st when I need to.

RUF

 

Ruf -- talk about wear and tear on an already inferior tranny! I wish you many solid miles on that transmission, and since I know you are an experienced manual/auto driver, I respect your use of the transmission -- you have guts I don't w/ this transmission.

 

um .... did someone forget to read their manual???

 

RTFM please!

 

Actually Peter, I suspect that leaving it in D5 and even possibly D4 is more damaging than what I do.

The reason is that when switching from D% (overdrive) to 3rd, there is a lot of force exerted on the tranny. Think about it like this. You are sitting on the sofa and suddenly jump up and run the 50 as hard as you can. Now compare that to a scenario where you are jogging and then suddenly take off in a full run.

Which is harder on your body? Which is more likely to result in a pulled muscle?

This is a bit over simplified, but considering the tranny in loafing and then it has to make the sudden transition from OD to 3rd under WOT with VTEC kicking in and everything else. No that's real punishment for the tranny. It's why many manufacturers recommended that you not leave it in OD unless you are cruising.
Too much shifting in and out of OD is not a good thing. Especially if the person is racing it and leaving it in OD.

It is also the reason I did a poll on the CL Forum asking about shifting styles verses failures. The poll while not conclusive did show that those leaving it in D5 or D4 had about a 3rd reported failures. About 20% using Sportshift reporting failures. And no failures for those shifting like I do, but that was only 2 people.

Anyway, I've got over 67,000 on my 4Runner driving it that way, and over 100K on each of my last 2 cars. Granted, none of them had this sort of power, but two past cars had more power and they lasted a long time.

So only time will tell my friend, but if it should, we'll never know if the trannys really suck, or if it was me.

RUF

 

leaving at D4 is better than u have full load or going up hill...

sportshift on hwy for passing

or else D5 all the way

 

nicely said ruf....i couldnt agree with you more all them people saying that ss and gate shifting is different in reality its no difference....if not actually better cus you have more control over your 1st to 2nd shift....

 

FWIW - I talked to a service guy today about my 15K check up. I asked about the trannys and mentioned my belief that the OD unit and or it use is partly to blame. I mentioned my use of shiftgate/manually shifting and he didn't see that as a problem. Matter of fact, he tended to agree that when "driving spiritedly" manually shifting up and or down wouldn't hurt it, and was probably less demanding on it.

Anyway, we will probably never know what the problem is. It could be program logic shifting from D5 down under acceleration or shifting up that gets confused/messed up and ends up wearing and eventually tearing the tranny up. Sort of like you missing gears in a manual, grinding them or getting into the wrong gear. Eventually it will take its toll on the weaker components and fail.

This could be the problem as the failures are sporatic, meaning not everyone is failing. If there was a bad part, Acura would have figured it out, and or there would be more failures. Right now the failure rate is not high enough for me to believe it is a component failure.

So until then, it's BALLS to the WALL! Downshift manually, chipr that 2nd gear and whip that Maxima.

RUF

 

I agree with RUF87. It is making some good points. I usually drive in sportshift mode. I try to get it into 5th as soon as possible and leave it there.

Mr
03 ABP TL-S
New Jersey