Dealer (Park Acura in Akron, OH) called me yesterday and informed me that my car is a late model '03 with a VIN that falls outside of the extended warranty program...."WHAT!$%^&*(*&^%$)"... I am then told that since my maintenance records are all on time, they are going to honor it for me and cover it. Kudos go out to the top notch service team at Park and to Acura in general for stepping up on this one.

 

Did you get all your maintenance done at the dealership, even oil changes?

 

your tranny is toast. It needs to be rebuilt. The tranny it self can handle alot of power, its just that the 3rd gear clutch packs were under designed for cooling. Supposidly in early 05 honda came out with upgraded parts to make them last. So far no one has had a failure with the new trans, but it is aslo kinda early to tell. I had 20k hard miles on the new parts when i had a fluke torque converter lining failure and the 3rd gear parts were still in good shape. Talk to acura client services and see if you cant get them to work out a deal for you, like you paying for labor if they replace the trans. many members have had luck with that

 

thanks for the info...I feel better about owning the car now.

 

okay, so i AM covered - thank god. now i guess i'll just drive it 'til something goes wrong.

i'm so glad i found out about this forum.

 

Yes, even basic oil changes... I guess it's well worth spending the $30 for an oil change at the dealer... If I would have been cheap and tried to save the measly $30, they might have said "Sorry, we don't show any records of maintenance, so this is coming out of your pocket"... I guess I'll need to take lunch in to the service dept to show my appreciation.

 

My transmission finally decided to give up. The car would shift from 2nd to 3rd but 3rd gear would not engage. It was like I had the car in neutral. I had to use the sportshift to change it into 4th. I took it in without scheduling an appointment and the service advisor said he'd try to get someone to take it for a run before the end of service hours then he'd call me with an update. No phone call, so probably no diagnosis. Now my car's sitting at the dealership. Tomorrow, I'll probably get a call from them to tell me there's nothing wrong.

 

I had my new tranny installed a couple of weeks ago. I noticed yesterday that when you put the car in gear or if you put it in park it makes a "click". I noticed the same noise for the first time a few weeks ago and my tranny died within a few miles.

Is this "click" normal? Honestly I never noticed the noise before the day that my tranny died. I put it into park at a drive through and heard the "click" for the first time, and remeber saying to my fiance "that didn't sound normal." About 5 miles later my tranny died.

Is this a normal sound that I never noticed and coincidentally the tranny died right after the first time I noticed the "click"?

The car has been driving fine. I'm just a little worried. I'm sure that all of you that have had their tranny fail are a little parinoid now and notice every little sound that your car makes now. I'm just wondering if any of you can shed some light on this.

 

3 weeks ago, i started to experience some problems with the trans. Driving on the highway around 50-60, brake little sharp due to the traffic (not coming to a halt)and then when i acclerate the gear would shift from 2 to 3 and then downshift to 2, causes a jerk and then upshifts to 3, 4 ....

Mine's at 92 k. Went to the dealer, Service advisor diagnozed and confirmed the problem. AHM replaced it for free!!! Thank God it happened b4 100k.

Got it y'day... so far so good. Hope it runs trouble free for rest of the car's life.

 

I haven't done any oil change at the dealer and they have no record. But when the trans failed they did replace without saying a word.

 

I owned a 99 tl for three years, great car but always wanted a type s. So I traded in my 99 for a tls. I love the tls, it's fast and handle great I even put my h&r in form the 99. I have owned the tls for 4 months and the tranny went at 151000 km so it was covered by acura. I just fell kinda of scared to open up the car again after I break in the new tranny . Still love the look of the car and still want to buy even a newer tl one day. I hope this tranny well last I have to keep it for at least 3 to 4 years. I just needed to vent thanks for listening.

 

Took my 02 TL-P in for the 60,000 mile maintenance last Thursday and asked them to drive it because I thought the trans was slipping just a little from 2 to 3. Gave me a new 06 TL to drive. Got a call on Friday saying I'd be getting a new trans. Picked it up today Friday with a new trans, ECM and a new motor mount. Seems great.
I thought the dealer was great to work with. (Jeffery Acura in Michigan) Even remembered to deduct the trans fluid change from the cost of the maintenance and applied a 10% discount that I had forgotten to bring the coupon in for.
Though it would be good to hear a good story (at least for now) to go with all the complaining.

 

1st tranny failure.
Took it in to Stevens Creek Acura (CA) and they replaced it. Test drove a 06 TSX for 3 days. Not too fast, but loved the NAV. I wish i had nav now.

2001 TL Mileage 53650

They replaced ECU, Engine Mount rubber, fluid free of charge

Very happy with the service by Emily.

 

First post...

2002 TL
Tranny failure @ 52000 miles

started out being hesitant to shift from 1-2 and 2-3... occasionaly
then problem gradually became more consistent.

Check engine light finally came on when i was getting on the way so ineeded
to pick up speed quickly to merge with traffic.... car was stuck in first
went up to 5000 rpm stayed for a while... then shifted to second and di the same thing

D5 started flashing, Check enginel light comes on, as well as TCS...

being that i was merging with traffic... this could've turned out a lot worse

Brought the car in today (tuesday) they say they hope to have my new transmission
installed for me by the weekend... No courtesy car ("none left") and wanted to charge me
30$/day for a rental...

I knew there were issues when i bought it a week ago (yes i've only had it a week)... but figured i was safe under the warranty... but now that i'm reading stories about 2,3,4+ failures... i'm kind of worried

I'd love to see a thread about problem free transmissions... i need to know they exist...
like Santa and the tooth fairy.

I mean... they do exist right?

 

My dad's 70,000km '02 TL-S tranny was failed 2 days ago. never realize there are problems with TL tranny. Can anyone point me where to find the TSB?

Also, does 3rd generation TL (04+) has this tranny problem at all? My bro just bought a '05 TL in the beginning of the year. :p

 

Not much info in the TSB for you. (dont know what your looking for)

and the 05s are fine

here is a link to read, make sure to click the links in the thread

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113297

 

Thanks. That's what I need.

So all 04+ got a newly designed tranny?
we never receive any recall in mail. Maybe because we moved?

Does Canadian TL qualified the extention of the warranty for the tranny? US TL does, right? The reason I ask is because the 5 year extended warranty my dad bought is going to expire next month. Never realize the tranny has. It's the first Honda/Acura ever that my family had ever had major problem.

 

As I recall, the recall mail was sent from Honda directly. It may have been lost in transit as you moved. All Dealerships should be aware of the TL extended warranty on the trannys. Call a local dealership and describe the issue. eg. slippage on 3rd gear. If one wont honor it try another. Sometimes one shop provides better customer service.

good luck

 

Can you provide insight into the trans fluids Honda prefers, and also what is considered compatible for the earlier TL's? Thanks for all your help.

 

Honda only wants honda ATF in their tranny. They havent approved any other fluid other than i think amsoil. Michael Wan is the man to talk to on tranny fluids and oil.

 

My Dad's TL-S was back yesterday. On the list of item serviced, there is ECU on the list.
Why does the ECU need to be replaced? hmmm....

Now my dad is considering extened Warranty for 7 years+ since his 5 years/10,000km warranty is about to due very soon.

 

I have a question, can someone help me please?

I have a 03' TL-S with 35,000 miles. I am covered under the extended warranty and I don't believe i'm having problems with my tranny as of yet. Maybe I haven't noticed, but should I take my car into the dealer to have them install an oil jet kit and check the tranny? or should I just drive it until I notice significant problems (maybe i'm one of the lucky ones). Cuz from what i've been reading, the new trannies are also giving out after 10k miles over and over again. Any suggestions?

 

Replaced my transmission last week

2002 TLS 438xx miles.
symptoms: hard downshifting but only when transmission has warmed up, slipping in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear.
resolution: rebuilt trans and ECU. Service Advisor says that the cars main computer was reprogrammed along with the transmission and transmission ECU being replaced. Something about the two computers not talking properly.
Service: McGrath Acura Westmont, IL Excellent service with a loaner for 5 days.

 

I assume the job was done under warranty and there was no charge for the ECU. Right? Any others have comments about the ECU replacement as necessary with the transmission replacement?

 

I have a quick tranny question for you guys. I have a 2002 TL-P with 79,000 miles on it and im thinking that my tranny might be going bad but not sure because when I am accelerating my car seems to have some type of surge or jerking of some sort (not quite sure how to explain) but it only does it in 2nd and I wasn't sure if I took my car in to acura that they will even look at it because I have I/H/E will it still be covered? Thanks

 

also it does seem as if their is some slippage

 

even with your mods it should still be covered.. unless they can find proof that your mods were the cause of the failure.. but highly doubtful

 

my tls got its 4th tranny yesterday at 94500. the last one lasted 10k. they tell me as usual that they are fixed now and that wont happen again as they always do. i didnt see where my ECU was replaced but hell its the 4th, they may have done it the last time i was there. i want to keep my car but at this rate it will be impossible. that 6speed swap keeps getting prettier.

 

too bad, i wish they figure it out, but i dont think so, my third tranny been on for 10.000 miles, so far no problems.

good luck with the new transmission.

 

*sigh* I've called Acura Client Services to work out a deal... no luck, I've called the service manager of every acura dealership around me that the car would be able to make it to, no luck with that at all.. no matter how polite I was they would not budge away from the $3500 estimate they proposed. What the hell. I've been looking through these posts and other than the ECUs, no one else went into detail saying what exactly was replaced then their transmission was rebuilt. By any chance, does anyone have a receipt at hand listing the parts that were replaced in their trannys? I'm going through hell over here

 

They replace teh tranny. The dealer itself DOES NOT rebuild them, so you dont get a parts list.

they baisically replace all wear items and any thing inside the tranny thats worn, (ie clutch packs and clutch plates for all the gears, the updated shaft and drum)they also replace selonoids and sensors. You are baisically getting a new tranny. 3500 isnt bad for a dealer tranny that is installed and comes with a warranty.

 

Geez, then what's with the service manager saying to me the place he's at (First Acura) would rebuild the transmission as an alternative? Not a swap, a rebuild for a case like mine.

 

maybe misunderstood him saying that hed replace with a rebuilt?

 

No one knows exactly what's going on inside the faulty transmission other than those Honda engineers back at the Headquarter. Even Honda dealerships are not allowed to open up the dead transmissions which have to be shipped unopened back to Honda for any warranty reimbursement. Unless someone is willing to cough up a few grands for a rebuild transmission to examine what's being done inside.

 

I know, ive seen it. I have the parts that failed in my garage. its as simple as the clutch packs wearing down. Have you ever seen a clutch before on a manual car?

 

I have seen the clutch on a manual car. What does the failed TL clutch plate look like ? Pictures ? I'm also interested in knowing how you can get your hands on the failed clutch.

 

The clutchpacks on the TL (any auto) has 4-6 of them in a drum., they are also 4-6 inch in dia, and they have them on for each gear I they are a thin disk with a small amount of pad material on it sandwiched between a flat plate with another clutch plate on top ect.... There are some exploded views ive posted. I cant post pics cause im not at home. How you get your hands on them?? i hapend to have rebuilt a tranny and had one rebuilt and have the parts laying around.

 

Parts 3 and 6 are the clutch packs and plates
part 4 is the drum they all mount in (kinda like a motor cycle clutch)

 

Is it possible to give a link to where you posted the pictures? That'd be awesome. I'll write a bit more and post later on today

 

I don't think I did, he told me that there's two options, either a rebuild if it's something minor like a small range of parts, or a complete replacement of the transmission. He explained to me also that if I'm able to find out which parts are worn, it may be cheaper just purchasing the oem parts needed and have someone rebuild the transmission with the new parts and warranty it from that shop. He also claimed depending on what I'd need, parts would range from $600-$1200 at locations north of me and then the typical installation charge on top of that at the shop I'd go to. Does that sound just about right? Also, I was informed but am uncertain about the tranny update... the updated parts, other than for the 5AT, have there been any made for the 4AT?

Oh, by the way, do you happen to have a link to the pictures of the worn parts you were talking about?