Southbound

Damn, all of these continual tranny failures has me paranoid to take my otherwise super road car on a long road trip. I would like to put it on the highway this summer for a two week vacation. I love the car, but can't stand to hear these sad tranny stories.

QUESTION... To those who have experienced the tranny failure fiasco... DID IT EVER COMPLETELY STRAND YOU ON THE HIGHWAY, OR WERE YOU ABLE TO LIMP ON BACK HOME OR TO THE NEAREST DECENT CITY WITH AN ACTUAL ACURA DEALER?

I keep hearing stories from those of you who have had NO WARNING as to the impending failure. THAT SUCKS! I don't want to live in fear of my tranny, to the point where I'm reluctant to take it on vacation. And if I do take it, I don't want to spend the whole time tensed up in worry instead of enjoying the lean mean response. Can anybody assure me that it won't COMPLETELY strand me if the tranny went out on a LONG DISTANCE trip? Or does it just turn into a bucket of scattered bolts at that point?

Thanks for the recap of your bummer experiences
Good luck on your new tranny(s)!

STi

first of all, DON'T be scared of your tranny failing
on this site, it was quoted that around 2% of TL owners have problems with their trannies, but this guy who lost his tranny and got raging mad and began bashing the TLs in every chance he got said that it's 7%

anyways, don't be scared, just drive it, even if it does fail, he can still drive it for a while, just that the tranny won't upshift

it's like, any random guy can come up and kill you on the street, so does that make you stay home all the time? no, so there
good luck i hope nothing happens to the car and you have a great trip

garylee55

Southbound,

I experienced 2 tranny failures...in each case I was able to limp home...though one nearly had me stranded in the inside lane of a 6 lane highway at rush hour...I was fortunate that the tranny decided to FINALLY find a gear and get me home. That was the last straw for me.

I agree you cannot live in fear of a failed tranny...but, to me part of that $33k purchase price was confidence in a reliable car...so I dumped it.

Good luck!

P.S. The tranny failures here (over 50 now) and the tranny failures posted on the CL board (over 50 as well) are just from a small sampling of Acura owners. Who knows what the REAL numbers are.

oblio98

You are a moron. That tranny failure rate figure was for a select group of 140 cars, not a national average, and it was a REAL percentage, which has in fact grown to 7.8% at this moment.

Read the freaking post.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...535#post354535

Nobody here bashed TL's "in every chance" they got. Grow up.

The tranny failure rate is/will be A LOT higher than you think, NO BRAG, JUST FACT.

:-jon

STi

i apologize for my mistake, i must have misread, but someone is a little too upset?

and many people do go around and rub their tranny problems at TLers everywhere around this forum

i never said his figure is inaccurate!!! i quoted what i read (hence the WAS) and i post what he said, i never said anything negative

maybe you should grow up and control yourself, this is nothing toget so upset about, have some tea

and i DO feel your pain, why? read my posts, my 330Ci just lost it tranny, and a new one is on backorder
my friend's 325i's engine blew the second day he got it
my other friend's cousin's e320 engine blew, all sotck cars, we're pissed, but we don't go around rubbing it in everyone else who own these cars's faces
i've seen many mechanical failures in cars, i'm not impressed, but i'm also not surprised, that's all

Southbound

I didn't mean to start any harsh debates over a sensative subject that has been beaten to death. I just wanted to gain some re-assurance by learning how most tranny failures manifested themselves.

I'm NOT going to be held hostage by my car... I WILL take it out on a LONG road trip. But for some extra peace of mind, I was hoping to hear that...

1. The problem is a relatively small number overall, even though it seems to be way too prevalent on this board.

AND

2. For those who have had their tranny fail, it was not completely catastrophic to the point that they had to have it towed. I'd like to think that I could limp it on back home or to the next big town.

I don't want to test out how Acura TLC works on a deserted highway. Perhaps I should have waited and bought the Onstar... At least I have AAA...

PEACE!

eCo

Hey Southy,
Most tranny wear is due to city driving where it's changing gears a lot. On the open road you'll be in fifth most of the time unless it's reall hilly where it'lll bounce between 4th and 5th a lot.

So it's EXTREMELY unlikely your tranny will fail on the flat open road. It's not going to be doing any work at all to speak of.

In the case of hills, it is my understanding that most failures involve 3rd gear or below. So I still think you're pretty safe with it mainly working 4th and 5th.

Lastly, it would be interesting to see to see how many tranny failures brought people online looiking for advice/data etc. That could contribute to the high prevalence we perceive. But that's pure speculation.

Have a great trip!

HTH,
eCo

garylee55

That's interesting....because both of my failures occurred on the Interstate...in fact, 95% of my driving was on the interstate. I would be cruising along in 5th gear, then boom...the tranny would start searching for another gear and the car would be jerking down the highway at 75-80 mph...

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I agree w/ the folks that suggest the tranny won't fail you on the highway. Mine died gradually like a wounded animal. Eventually I couldn't shift outta first. In fact, it was MOST reliable on the highway since I was just sitting in fifth gear.

Best of luck to ya... maybe you should have the transmission fluid flushed and replaced before you go on your trip.

Pete

garylee55

Your experience is the exact opposite of mine, Peter. I never had any problem in the lower gears...when mine failed, it kept slipping out of 5th.

Slammed99TL

I drove my TL with a slipping tranny for about a month before I dropped it off at the shop this morning.........it would take like 5 secs.to shift from gear to gear :wow:

SilverBulletCLS

There are a few Nissan Maxima guys that are going through new trannies on there new 2000+ Maximas.

A guy just said this was is 3rd tranny! Every 10k its dieing.

When I had a 2000 auto max, its tranny died at 8k. Go figure.

Strannik

Regarding number of tranny problems - I was at the dealership yesterday to pick up a rental untill my tranny is replaced, and the guy there had a daily log in front of him - out of 15 or so entries, 5 said "trans" - just like mine!

About how my tranny failed: it didn't. I brought my car in for oil change Tuesday, and to check few thing (like brake vibration, mufler paint peeling, etc. ), and mentioned that my tranny shifts a little rough when cold. Lo and behold - they called me and told me that I am getting a new tranny...