I need some feedback.

My 03 TL-S has 20k on it now. The oil jet kit was installed. At the time I commented to the advisor that the tranny fluid is light brown. They told me the recall doesn't cover a tranny flush and if I wanted one it would cost me $180. How successful has anyone been in getting the dealer to do it under warranty in the SF/Bay Area or other parts of the country?

The Oakland Acura dealer has a tranny flush machine they use. Should I find another dealer that doesn't use a machine. I heard it hurts the tranny.

 

Well, I don't know about a flush, but my dealer gave me all fresh tranny fluid when they installed my oil jet kit. I think your dealer is fukkin wit ya and trying to save their

 

I had my fluid changed after my oil jet kit install- go to a local Honda dealer- they can work on your car and did my trans flush and fill for $42.00 tax included- cheap price for peace of mind. The dealer is gouging you if they want you to pay $180

 

180.......damn. Do they give you the stick that they rape you with also? My dealer chaged me 80 bucs for a flush, oil change and free wash.

 

Man u gotta be KD me..my dealer only charged me like $90 CDN for tranny flush and oil change

 

ok, prices range here quite a bit, but I think I can figure out why some cost more than others. For those of you that paid under $100, they probably just drained the tranny and re-fill it. As for the $180 price they should be flushing out the tranny through a time consuming process. The $180 price is where they drain the tranny, refill it then run the car for a little bit, to mix/move the oil around, then drain it again. This process is done several times till the tranny fluid is as red as it is when it comes out of the bottle. The dealership normally goes drough a case of ATF when to do a flush. I have gotten my tranny flushed and watched the whole process, yes I was bored waiting for my car to be done, and yes I paid $180.

 

So yours was done by running the car. Oakland wants to hook it up to a machine and flush it. I was wondering if that was better or worse.

Still pissed I have to flush a tranny after only 20k. Tranny fluid should still be pink at that mileage.

 

whats a oil jet kit?

 

It was the tranny recall where the oil jet kit is installed to prevent the 2nd gear from overheating

 

thanks for the update!
is this something we can request or get ourselfs for protection?

 

Just take you TL in and ask them to do the tranny recall.

Well the cheapest tranny flush I have found was $129. Oakland Acura has a special on it now. Its a machine flush. Not your typical drain, fill, run the car, and repeat 3 times to clean out the tranny. Pleasanton will no longer do a tranny flush and will only drain and refill.

 

Yes that price is correct for a real tranny flush and refill...I found anywhere from $120 - $140 at my dealer. Anything less than $120 or so wont be a real flush - that does take time.

 

Chet03TL-S - I heard that the machine forces the fluid through the system and is not very good for tranny. That was what I was told by the mechanic that is why he prefers the drain/re-fill/run the car process.

 

Yeah, $129 is reasonable, esp for a machine done tranny flush. It was the original $180 I was outraged over. Still pissed I need to flush a tranny with only 20k miles on it.

It is strange but its Oakland Acura that is recommending I do the machine flush. It will get out more of the fluid out than the drain/fill/run method.

Which is better I have no idea.

 

If your fluids brown at 20k you've got some tranny damage, leave it in untill the recommended service interval and wait for the thing to fail.
Mine was brown at 20 then failed at 27k, brown at 45k failed at 50k,brown at 70k failed at 78k. Trying to get it bought back before its brown again.

 

OMG yield2s !!! Did I count that right ? 5 ?

 

step1. attempt to remove the rock under which you are sitting
step2. use the search, if you dont know what the oil jet is by now, then your tl should be taken from you

 

 

Ya I'm cruising on tranny #5 right now. It just so happens that for most of my 100 mile daily commute my tranny whould be in that self destuctive low fluid movement stage which is depicted in the recall notice advailable on this site. Not from racing or hard driving but from letting the car "lug" it's gears.
This last one is suppost to have the internal fix but who knows, I hope it's out of my hands before i have to find out.

 

I have a 80 miles commute as well. My fear is that my tranny craps out during the first week of the month. I am an accountant and I have to close the books. That would be a very bad time for me to get delayed due to me stuck on the highway with a dead tranny. I think I will get the tranny flushed to help prevent a failure if thats even possible.

 

they have 2 tranny problems. 1 the oil jet kit addresses and 1 they dont have any thing for. my 3 failures had nothing to do with the 2nd gear shaft and needing the oil jet kit

 

ya I know the original( and current) problem is from suppliers quality issues(or so says Honda)on the 3rd gear clutch disks. They're basicly burning-up due to the incredible amount of heat that certain situation create, Lets say a W.O.T. 5th to 3rd downshift that creates a 380* spike isolated to the clutch pack, This repeated will distroy it in time(doesnt sound like a suppliers quality issue to me) It's the 3rd gear that is subseptible to abusive driving.

 

If you already have tranny damage and you get a fluid change or flush, you can actually accelerate the failure.

The tranny generally won't just go out on you. It will give you subtle signs like brown fluid and shifting anomalies. Mine had brownish fluid for months, so that's not a dead giveaway. On both failures, for two weeks prior to failure I could tell they were going out because of clunky/odd shifting. On my first one, it was a hard reverse shift when cold, and eventually flaring on the 2nd to 3rd shift. On the second it was flaring from 2nd to 3rd under full acceleration and hard downshifting from 5th to 2nd occasionally on the highway.

When both of my trannys "failed" I was still able to drive the car. I wouldn't want to drive very far, but it's not like you're stranded on the side of the road.