LikeMyTL

Is this possible or not?
And why do you think so?

thoiboi

LikeMyTL

What about cvt? Looking into options of getting better gas mileage with more gears.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Dude, you're all over the place. The fast answer is, unless you spend a bucket load of Ben Franklins (which will buy all of the gas for the rest of the life of your car), you ain't gonna be able to swap in any transmission which will imbue your car with better fuel economy. The only (relatively) inexpensive solution would be to swap in a 6-Speed Manual transmission, and that will still take upwards of three to five thousand dollars (depending upon who does the work, and by the sounds of it, you are not qualified to do the work). Even then, the best you might hope for in a fuel economy improvement department is five to eight percent tops).

The best advice is to enjoy your car for what it is, maintain it well, and when the times comes, move on to a different car.

Midnight Mystery

I've never seen someone want all of Honda's bad trannys, lots of good ones out there, but OP is picking the three worst trannys ever put in a Honda. Isn't that a bit ironic, nah!


OP do the AV6 tranny swap or a 6speed swap, drive with a light foot, take out the spare and interior and call it a day!

LikeMyTL

What's AV6?
As for 6spd - presumably you refer to a 6spd manual - which one do you recommend?

Midnight Mystery

Ok, so on 2gen TLs (2000-2003) the transmissions would fail so frequently that the AV6 swap was done by many owners to have a more reliable version of the same transmission. A is referencing to Accord, V6 is referencing to the V6 transmission.

All this is, is basically taking the transmission for a 2006 or 2007 model year Honda Accord with the V6. It has to be a V6 tranny, not one from an I4, 4 cylinder transmission is too weak for your TL.

Go to a salvage yard and get a 2006-07 Accord V6 automatic transmission and have a shop reinstall vit into your TL. Some will not understand this but it's really nothing. Many people have done it and had great results. There is even a 2000 TL for sale locally that has had this done, and, IMO, it makes the car much more reliable.

Now this won't change how it shifts or uses fuel, but it will be a reliability upgrade.


You could get a 6 speed manual, but that is a different job and you would need an ECU (main conputer unit) among other things. Plus, it would be a manual transmission, so a stick shift!


These TLs are great on gas on the highway, but city MPG will suffer. I know lots of guys here who have modded tgeir TLs, bud did so for power, usually helps fuel economy, but many of them drive like the Fast and Furious anyway. Well, some of them...


F/E should be 16/20/32, BTW!

LikeMyTL

More gears = better fuel economy.
So - how about installing an 8-speed, 9-speed or 10-speed transmission, from honda or other car makers?

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

so you want to spend a few thousand dollars putting in a different transmission to save money on fuel economy?

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

No, more gears does NOT mean better fuel economy (although it can help a bit depending upon gear ratios), what it typically means is better acceleration. Long story short, there is literally NOTHING you can do to your car which will pay off in better fuel economy so as to justify the change.

Think about it this way, lets say your average MPG is 22, and if you were to make a bunch of changes to your car and it was to go up to say 24 (roughly ten percent, which, in the grand scheme of things is not possible), and lets say the changes you applied to the car cost you $2,000. Now let's say you drive that car 100,000 miles and the average cost per gallon of gasoline is $3.50, the net fuel savings for that one-hundred-thousand miles is $1,325.75. This means you're still nearly $700 in the hole. Now let's say your average gas price is $4.00 per gallon, your savings in fuel would amount to $1,515.15; still in the hole by nearly $500. The reality is, IF you make the change, and IF you can do it for only $2,000 (a very big IF), and IF you get a 10% bump in fuel economy (highly unlikely), and IF the car lasts 100,000 more miles (kind of unlikely in and of itself), then the only way you'll break even is IF gas prices make it up to $5.28 per gallon.

Long story short, drive your car and enjoy it for what it is. If you want a car with better fuel economy, buy such a car.

dopeboy1

If you want better gas mileage then you should first be taking a hard look at your driving habits. No more vtec bro.

Silencer_

This.

Midnight Mystery

Light foot and 50 psi in tires, your best bet, but you might die!

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Ummm, 50 psi is not exactly good advice; makes handling squirrelly and exceeds the max inflation point for most tires.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Like horseshoez also mentioned, you'd have mating problems between the transmission and engine. The bell housing of the transmission will not bolt up to the engine. I'm sure there's some sort of way to make it work but it's certainly not plug and play. To add insult to injury, you'd have the ECU to figure out. The ECU you currently have wouldn't know what they heck to do with the new transmission. The ECU controls both the engine and transmission parameters so swapping in an ECU from the donor vehicle probably wouldn't work either since it wouldn't know what to do with your engine. There might be a way to tune it if you at least got an ECU from a donor vehicle with another V6, but the 2rd gen TL vs. any vehicle with a newer transmission like that is going to have pretty different setups (different sensors, probably different fuel injection system such as direct injection, etc.).

It's a nice idea in theory but I'm afraid it's completely impractical. The amount you'd have to spend would be far more than the car is even worth.

Does anyone know if the 6MT from a CL would work? It would probably be difficult to find one but that might be the best bet.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I have heard anecdotal stories that the CL 6MT can be used in both the 2G TL as well as the 6G Accord V6 models.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

It seems like it would since the engines are the same in the CL and TL for those years (except for the TL-S I believe). Even then it would be one of those things you'd want to confirm. I believe on the 3G TL that the 2004-2006 has a different bolt pattern than the 2007-2008 so I wouldn't put it past Honda to switch up the TL and CL for those years just for kicks and giggles

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

My understanding is the V6 bolt pattern was the same for all J-Series engines in CLs and TLs through 2006, and J-Series equipped Accords through 2007. It is also my understanding J-Series equipped Odysseys and maybe MDXs of that era had the same bolt pattern as well; I am just less sure about that.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

The ECU might still freak out and throw transmission codes. He'd probably have to get the ECU from the CL as well. And hope that there aren't any major differences between the TL and CL ECU

That whole deal probably wouldn't be cheap either. Parts and install. But at least it would have a chance of working.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

To be sure converting a 2G TL to a 6MT is not something for the faint of heart or the light of wallet.

thoiboi

People have done the CLS6 swap on a 2nd gen TL before.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Agreed, just saying it ain't cheap or easy.

thoiboi

money is no option