TO ALL TL OWNERS:
At the first sign of abrupt shifting, noise, or sounds of transmission slippage, return immediately to the dealer to get the trans fixed. I am 38 years old, drive very conservatively, and have just experienced transmission failure on my 2000 TL. It was a very reliable car up until today. I brought it to the dealer, and was told he had 3 TL's in the repair shop for the same problem, all awaiting transmissions. The 'check engine' light and the TCS light both went on just prior to the trans acting up. I was told the replacement trans has the clutch packs from an MDX, that are allegedly stronger than the TL's- just thought everyone out there might want to know about another tranny failure. (Mileage was 32.3 K)

If you don't get a satisfactory repair, write to the administrators at Acura, and tell them this will be your last Acura purchased. I love the car, but if this is the beginning of a series of problems regarding the trans., I won't have brand loyalty to Acura or Honda, as I have in the past.

 

Good post! Sorry to hear about your bad tranny! Just for grins, where are you located and how long until you get your car back?

V.

 

what i find more amusing is 2 posts in a year =)

 

erdoc, I feel your pain. I had the same thing happen to me.. hope u get your vehicle back soon .. mine took a week.

service was second to none tho. they towed, provided rentals, and so on. made it mostly painless for me so I am grateful for that.

new clutch packs eh? hmm.. the service guy DID mention "updated transmission" ...

 

I'm from central New Jersey- Mercer County area- I was told my trans was going to be ordered this morning, but I don't know how long it will take to come in or be installed. I am also waiting to hear about a loaner car- the dealership doesn't have one available yet.

 

I took my '00 TL in to the shop last January because of a noise up front. It turned out to be a wheel bearing on the right front wheel. But before they found that, they replaced the transmission. I did mention that I thought the tranny had acted like it was searching for the right gear once, but that was long after the noise had started. I suppose they had so many tranny problems that they just replaced mine as a mater of course. I had about 25,000 miles on it at the time. I guess it beats having to fight with the dealer to get something fixed. At least they gave me a '02 TL-S to drive while they had it in the shop. After I told them that the car still had the noise with the new tranny, it sounded like the wasn't suprised. I took a different tech out for a drive and he knew right off what the sound was. I've never had a Honda needing anything as serious as a tranny, but at least the Acura folks stood behind it 100%. I hope the Ford guys support me as well with the '02 supercrew I bought from them. NOT LIKELY!

 

i have that tcs light...when it comes on by it self....that always means trouble...i have a 99 and working on tranny no. 5

 

hate*

 

 

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You are quite correct instructing one to get the car to a dealer ASAP when
shifting becomes erratic or especially slips in the 2-3 shift points.

My 01 TL-P is in the shop right now getting it's 1st (and hopefully last)
transmission replacement. In my case I started getting slipping a few weeks
prior to failure. A slip that could not be reproduced. Once it became
consistent I called the dealer and was instructed to get it there rigth away.
It was only 6 miles away. Did not quite make it. 1/2 mile to go and the this
downshifted from 5th - 2nd and all lights came on. D5 blinking, the works.
Transmission went into failure mode and I limped into the dealer.

It was only a matter of about 50 miles after slippage became consistent that the
thing melted down on me. I drive very conservatively 99+% of the time.

My TL has 50k miles.

This is the first I heard that they are putting MDX clutches in the tranny now.
I was told by Sunnyvale Acura that parts were cleared and replaced last Feb
and new parts were issued.

Has anyone else heard or had experience with MDX clutch packs in the TL???
Sounds logical but I wonder if it's myth or if they would melt down as well.

My loaner is an 04 MDX and I must say it's a blast (at least till I get to the pumps).


/Steve

 

i have recently heard that they had or were using the mdx clutch packs also, but i am not sure. i also heard that they are using different materials now. Mines being rebuilt so as soon as i find out what the parts being used or if they are upgrded ill let people know