2000 stock TL - on 2nd tranny
Intermittent problem.
Start car, TCS light comes on & engine revs a little high. If I leave it in automatic, tranny won't shift into 3rd, 4th or 5th by itself (will down shift by itself, though). Have to use manual (sport shift) to drive.
I can stop the car, turn off engine & restart and all is well. Automatic works as it should.
This can work well for months & for no apparent reason, the problem arises.
The problem can be there for 1 trip or can stay with me for a week.
Because it is so intermittent (and not caused by temperature or wet or dry weather) I'm thinking that it is NOT a tranny problem but either an electrical or other problem - ie: a faulty chip; loose hose etc. I'm trying to narrow it down.
No Acura dealer here & the Honda dealer's service is abysmal.
Any ideas appreciated
Thanks

 

Are any other lights coming on other than the TCS?


Pull the clock back-up fuse for 15 minutes to reset the ECU.

 

anything get spilled into the center console-shifter areas... like a soda?
Underneath the shifter is a plastic base plate- mounted to the bottem of that plate are 3 microswitches that control shifting. Spill something there and problems appear

That shouldnt cause ALL of what you describe though
Get to a parts store and have the codes pulled for more info
If you get warning lights- there are codes

 

Next time it happens while the lights are on have the codes read. It could be something from the shifter unit causing it or a TPS sensor

 

If your check engine light comes on as well, it could be the throttle position sensor, which is part of the throttle body. I have had this problem several times. The TCS/check engine lights come on, the idle will jump a little (sometimes), and the transmission will not shift correctly if it shifts at all. I have to shift it manually (NOT sport shift) and even then it shifts very rough.

Sometimes I turn it off and then back on, and the problem dissappears. First time the dealer replaced the throttle body ($600). 40K later when it happened again, I pulled the the throttle body off and cleaned it with carb cleaner/ toothbrush. I also cleaned out the IAC (attached), as it can be responsible for eratic idle sometimes. Problem fixed for another 30K before it happened again.

 

Will try - THANKS

 

you dont have to wait 15 minutes- a minute should be fine
the clock fuse is the `secret backup power` to the ECU
Pulling it is lke pushing the power on button on the computor- to turn it off!
Forces a reboot- relearn, system check

 

their should be a dtc stored in the pcm if their is no shift and the tps sees voltage and speed range is will command for a up or down shift.you should have this diagnosed and see what is found im betting a transmission. very common shift problems with a bad transmission.