Transmission possibly in limp mode? A little help please!
 

Well, I was driving home on bald tires in the first rain in 8 or 9 months. needless to say the roads were SLICK! I was about 5 minuts from home when I lost control around a long sweeping corner doing about 30. the front end slid out for about 15 feet, I got that sorted just before hitting the curb, then the rear slid out and I gave it opposite lock but couldn't regain control. I hit an above average height curb with my TL that is lowered about 3 inches. :tomato: SO no injuries no other vehicles involved and no body damage, OEM lip kit is safe too, thank god. There appears to be no frame or suspension damage either. I will know for sure when I get it up on jackstands and tear the front end apart.

ANYWAYS The car stalled during impact and the transmission appears to be in a sort of limp mode or something. I was in manual shift mode in 4th when it all went down. now when I turn on the ignition the 2nd gear light lights up, and the D5 light flashes. I hear this is an indication of limp mode but I'm not sure if I have a bigger problem. I pulled apart the console and saw nothing wrong with the interior half of the shift linkage. I can move the shift-er through the entire range of motion. but even though the ignition is on the the brake depressed I can't get the lever into or out of park unless I press the button down that is by the shift-er to bypass the locking mechanism.

There was some brush involved so i'm wondering if a plug got dislodged or possibly broken off. or maybe the shift linkage is broken elsewhere Anyone have any suggestions on where to start? I'll get the code reader out after work tomorrow and see if it will give me any info.


Anyway lesson learned. The first place the TL will drive when it's running again will be the tire shop. I am lucky I was on a road by myself. and lucky I was going slow enough to not overturn when I hit the foot and a half high curb completely sideways. I've always been an advocate for not being a cheep ass with tires, and I didn't even pay attention to myself. I let my girlfriend slap me for being a dumbass, :tomato:

I hope your trans just lost a plug or something is off but..

If driving has told me anything is that when you hit a corner of a FWD car with any front wheel it can and it will possibly damage the transmission itself, Since the impact goes from the wheel to the axle and into your diff.

Ill wait up for that OBDII code to start the issue hunting.

Yeah, start inspecting the side that took the hardest hit. Look over all the obvious things for damage or things out of place. Could be anything that came in contact with that curb.

You're just gonna have to closely check out where the force of the impact struck the rim and/or the undercarriage components.

well, by the time I hit the curb I h d locked up the tires, just trying to get the car to slide parallel to the curb, the anti-lock breaks were working against me though. I am hoping the tires were locked up when I actualy impacted. There was no damage to my wheels or tires. and none to the A arms like I said. So I don't think too much stress was put on the transmission. I'm pretty sure the forward-most cross member took the brunt of the damage. because I hit pretty much perpendicular. so the crossmember rode up onto the curb, probably lifting the wheels a few inches off the ground before they even hit.

Check for any loose connections like they've said above. Disconnect your battery for ~10 minutes (I don't think it's gotta be 10 minutes, but... :shrug:). Then reconnect, and start the car again... Here's hoping the lights will disappear!

Hopefully you can get somewhere like an Auto Zone to read the codes if there's still any....

OKAY! I got the car into my garage and up on jack stands. turns out the first thing I thought when I tried to get the car off the curb was right, I broke the shift linkage. The plastic connector right where the cable enters the removable inspection plate. I removed the inspection plate and shifted the trans into park via the lever the linkage attaches to, and the car starts! hooray! :thumbsup:

D5 is still flashing I am getting a CEL and the code is P1768. Which means the trans is in fail-safe mode. I will order a new shift linkage and clear my codes and see where I'm at. hopefully be back in a week or so with good news! :wish:

BTW: catfisha. love the quote. Somewhere deep inside I was hoping to have killed the tranny so I can justify an M6 swap. but it looks like now is not the time.

Ok, The code is actually Control(Linear) solenoid Valve A failure. I wonder if this is caused by the shift linkage breaking, and maybe the lever was forced to move outside it's specified range of motion. or is this something different I need to look for?

Also it doesn't appear I can order the part from any of the typical online parts distributors. Anyone have an idea where I can get the entire shift linkage? http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...3s0k01_b35.png

The part that is broken is right by bolt #28 in the pic. I thought 19 might represent the entire cable assembly but appears to be only the guide for when the cable goes through the floor.

Alright, I called oem acura parts and they told me #19 is the entire cable. So it is on order. hopefuly here by the weekend if they will ship it tomorrow. If not then next week. In the meantime I have a valve job and an axle to replace. (axle is worn, I already had it on order before the crash)

Have you looked at where solenoid A's connector is on the transmission housing? Just to see if it's loose or damaged?

I thought solenoid A might just be an internal sensor or something that's part of the shift linkage. I'll find a diagram so I know where to look. I'll examine when I get home today.

I replaced the cable and was able to shift the trans fine. but I was still getting a CEL and D5 was flashing. Took another look underneath the car looking for broken/disconnected plugs and didn't see anything. My buddy walks up and reaches down next to the battery and says. "do you want this thing connected?" he connects it and everything works fine now. I was sort of in shock. Glad everything works alright now though.
Also turns out the crossmember under the A/C condenser was bent bad enough that it also bent the upper half of the support. and moved the hood latch up about an inch. Nothing a 30lb slide hammer couldn't fix though!

From body work to mounting/dismounting tires. that slide hammer is one of the best investments I've ever made.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Bent crossmember support......
 

:wish: .... Hey Laid67, it seems like ya got lucky getting everything back to working order. Hope everything holds up without any future surprises down the road.

I'm assuming that your first trip was to get the old worn tires replaced. Then next, an alignment / front end check would be advisable. Have the damaged bent area of the subframe closely inspected for rust or weakness as apparently it was compromised by the impact with the curb. Do this, or else your "GF" might need to slap ya again !!! :2cents:

WHEW! I'm glad it wasn't anything major tranny-wise! :thumbsup:

I still have the bumper and headlights out, as I am clearing and painting them right now. So I haven't done any driving besides a quick test run around the block. but Tires will certainly be my first stop. My tire store also happens to be my alignment shop, which is handy in this case.

What I called the front cross member appears to only be for radiator support. As it was relatively easy to bend back into place, I can't imagine it is critical structurally. I still did a thorough inspection, there were no kinks or tight bends, it was a smooth bend over the entire width, I've sanded it down and re-painted it with no indication of metal fatigue. All should be well structurally! Glad to be back to modding instead of fixing broken stuff >.>