2k2 TL-S

after 100,400 miles.... I finally get to join this club

towed it in to the dealer, new tranny should be in in a few days, gave us a tsx to drive until it's fixed

looked at the new tl-s while we were there... $39k??

alphason'sac

I understand the frustration behind the tranny going and the entire cost not being covered, but for them to even go half on that with you seems like a good will gesture to me. I just went through the whole tranny replacement dance, and my process was pretty smooth considering the situation. If a car is out of warranty, you will have a hard time getting someone to do anything on it. The fact that they would stand up and go half with you, sounds fair to me. It is not great, but it seems fair. If it was another manufacturer you would not have had any leg to stand on. Look at it this way, you get a new tranny at 112K miles is like starting over almost. I hope that everything works out for the best and you are back out on the road soon.

qstorm78

Well I own a 97 CL and have tranny problems and seriously thinking of getting a TL (2000 - 2003). Reading through this thread has helped me alot, because i thought the tranny problems were more of a first gen CL 3.0 issue, but I guess i was wrong.

I love the TL's but with so much tranny problems not sure what to do now. But i do know if i do get one get something with less than 100K miles. for sure.

diggerdave

Don't even think of purchasing another Acura. I wouldn't buy another Honda/Acura product. The dealer that replaced (I won't say fixed) my transmission made it seem like they were doing me a huge courtesy. The service manager even went so far as to lie and tell me that my car was out of warranty and that they were replacing it as a kind gesture; he didn't know that I had already spoken with Acura US and that they had told me that my car was still under the extended warranty.

These catostrophic failures should have been recalls. I'm sure that any reputable auto company would have issued recalls after monumental failures of this nature, if only to save lives and not save face. This is DANGEROUS. Honda/Acura did not warn of these known failures even thought they were well aware of the issues years in advance of their remedy - "a kind and warm gesture" warranty extension for transmission replacement. They are merely covering up for negligence by being "good sports" and adding the warranty extension. If this caused deaths (and I'm not certain that it hasn't), there should be a massive class action lawsuit lodged. My transmission went dead in a major intersection that was just past two main railroad crossings. I could be dead due to their negligence in not recalling these POS Acuras for known malfunction in design. Insead, I had to wait until my POS nearly killed me before it could be remedied, and there is no assurance that the replacement transmission will not fail, because if you read more threads you'll see that those fail repeatedly as well (only we will now get a fine 50/50 deal, so we only have to pay half). What a great deal; roll the dice that your POS will not kill you, and they only have to flip half the bill. My car only had 77,000 miles on it when the tranny dropped, and I'd had two cars go over 120,000 with no problems whatsoever. My Acura was not a high mileage car to have a transmission drop. I never beat on it, I only used the sport-shift 10 times or so the entire time I owned the car. I never raced it around and I never did any performance modifications that would have put added stress on the transmission. I can see that there would be an occasional transmission failure with cars (flukes), but this failure is known and documented, and if you own one of these cars, the transmission will inevitably fail.

These are not the only Honda/Acura products with these transmission failures. Do a Google search and see for yourself - Odyssey, Accord...

The bottom line is that my advice to you is to steer clear of Honda/Acura, and that they knew about this WAY back and had done nothing to remedy it, until the petition came to light with a few angry lawyers.

Edward'TLS

Just for the record, the Chrsler A604 tranny in the 1990's, which was widely used by the Minivans and sedans, as well as the Ford Taurus SHO's 3.4L-V8 engine, would both self-destruct after accumulated enough mileage due to design defects. In both case, the manufacturers didn't issue any recall compaign despite customers complaining, but simply fixed the broken units under standard powertrain warranty period.

But whether Chrysler and Ford are reputable auto companies is up to everyone to decide.

kamdog211

I just picked up an 02 TL Type S about a week ago with 83k. The tranny was replaced about 6 months ago at 75K. I knew about the tranny issues when I was looking for a car, so I made sure that what ever TL I got would already have the tranny replaced.

Here are the things that I have noticed about my car. Some of it might be because I am paying so much attention to my tranny.

1. When the AC is on, the shifts seem to be harder.
2. 2nd to 3rd seems a little harder than any other shift
3. I will say that the shifting is much different than any other honda or acura I have ever had. Example: Shifting from 1st to 2nd is really fast, like at 5 miles and hour and 2nd to 3rd is at like 15 or so. Is that normal?

Again, these might be things that I notice because I am paying so much attention to the way my car behaves.

But all in all, this has been my farvority Honda/Acura so far and that's out of 8 that I have owned in the last 8 years.

sacha

If the car shudders when shifting from 2nd to 3rd that means the tranny will fail soon. That's how it starts.

The previous owner most likely noticed this which is why they sold the car to you. Acura hasn't redesigned the transmission. They just replace it with a fixed up old tranny (they call it a rebuilt tranny) and give you a 36k mile warranty, so that should tell you something. They only consider it good for that long. After that you're on your own.

This is something I find unacceptable which is why instead of spending $1500 to fix my out-of-warranty (by only 3000 miles) Acura, I will just have it towed away and take the loss. It is a safety and peace of mind issue. I don't want to own a car which has failed me once already and the manufacturer refuses to do anything to prevent it from happening again.

AcuraTLowner

Dude-- thats kinda hastie ---- dont bag a $5000-$6000 car for a $1500 Transmission.. fix it and sell it on craigslist.org

AcuraVibes

So i got my transmission replaced on my 2000 tl with a rebuilt one luckly i was covered i had 129000kms on it. it runs ok now for how long? here is a list what they did. (hopefully it helps some ppl about it)
- replace transmission- J72 OR J73
- replace PCM for A/T transmission
- replace fuel pressure regulator
- replace front engine mount
- regulator assy, PR
- ECU
- MTG rub assy eng

olemed

How'd you mange that on your 99? My 99 is out of warranty because it has a 'production date' of November 1998 and the tranny just died at 75k.

fsttyms1

If i remember correctly it goes from original sale date of the car.

olemed

I'm trying to find this info out. All I'm being told by the dealer is that it goes by the PRODUCTION DATE which they have on the records for being Nov 1998. I am the second owner, purchased in 2001 with 19k, so I'm not sure what the original purchase date was by the first owner. I will inquire with the Service Manager. Waiting to hear back from the "service advisor".

sacha

November 1998 production date is still the 1999 model year which is what matters. They are trying to rip you off, wow, a dealership trying to rip someone off, what a surprise!

Acura sucks. They couldn't care less if your transmission fails and you get into an accident because of it. They should replace these transmissions NO QUESTIONS ASKED, FREE OF CHARGE. It is Acura's fault that they are failing, not the customers. The transmissions have a design fault. Acura should stand behind their products instead of trying to weasel out of its responsibility.

Acura is the new Ford. Remember the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire fiasco when people died from tire failure related rollovers? All Ford did was tell people to put more air in their tires, even though they knew it was the tire itself that had a problem. Eventually Firestone did replace the tires but it was clear that Ford just didn't care.

olemed

Sacha - you are right. They are weasels but thankfully in my case it wasn't the transmission. They figured because I'm a girl they can tell me a story and I'd fall for it. Had it been the tranny I would have fought tooth and nail and I'm still not certain I want to keep the car. It's been a great car and I do enjoy it but I am worried about a tranny issue at some point in time so my gut is telling me to get rid of the car by the year's end, so we'll see. It's so hard to predict the future.

Bob_F

Since you have a 1999 TL with the 4-speed automatic, you might have many trouble-free miles ahead of you. The 4-speed still has reliability problems but it is more reliable than the 5-speed transmission used in the 2000-2003 TLs.

The original transmission in my 1999 TL made it to 173,000 miles. Since your TL is at about 75,000 miles, you could have 100,000 miles to go.

Bob

fsttyms1

Tell me 1 manufacturer that does that? without a recall beign issued or forced uppon them. This issue is old and the NTHSA already looked into it and deemed a recall not needed. They already did more than most by upping the warranty when not mandatory.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

I dont even know were to begin on that statement..........

olemed

Cars drive me nutts. Don't know how you guys can stand them, but more power to you. I drive my brother nutts with all my car headaches. LOL!!

I'm going to shut up and stop worrying about it. Going to have my mechanic check her out soon and fix some annoying problems so I can fall in love with her again.

Some questions for you experts:

1) Car seems sluggish (about the past few months or so)- I depress the gas and it I can only describe it as the car seems to be noiser and need more effort to move. It does move but before it didn't take much effort. My mufflers sound louder than usual but not overly so. Sounds more like the engine - hard to describe. Thinking it's time to get new spark plugs and maybe get the fuel injectors clean. Anything else I need to check into to get this car running like it has power. An old lady driving a late 90's Corolla beat me the other day. How embarrassing.

2) Should I start using synthetic oil from now on? If so, is Mobil One the best choice? Should I go to a shop, the dealer, or have my nephew do it? I always get regular oil changes at 3,000 miles at the local Monroe shop.

3) I've had hoses replaced and fluids checked but never had a full coolant flush. I'm guessing it's time, yes?

4) My steering wheel vibrates/pulsates a bit when driving 65mph and above. Thought it was the Goodyear tires I had before and I had them re-balanced and re-balanced only to have the problem continue. Had my local mechanic check it out and he couldn't find a problem (it seems the wheel will only vibrate when I'm driving, no one else seems to be finding this issue!) He replaced my inner tie rod ends which were looking bad. Problem still continued. After driving a little over a year and 11,000 miles on those tires, I figured the tires were simple 'not compatible' and I have since put some Yokohamas. Problem disappeared for a few days and then returned (with me cursing up and done while driving on the highway that morning!) When Acura had the car recently I mentioned this and they found only a slight pulsation - nothing like I had this morning, which eventually disappeared and wasn't as bad (the vibration/pulsation comes and goes, which makes this even more annoying). What the heck could it be? Normal driving on side roades under 50 produces NO vibration of the steering wheel.

4) My air conditioner, when on, I can hear a whirring from the engine that gets worse as engine speed increases. When I turn the AC off, the noise goes away. I also need to get the AC recharged, it produces almost no cold air. Is this all it is or am I possibly looking at a bad compressor?

5) What other 'maintenance' stuff should I consider at 75k?

mockim

I just changed my tires today and on the way home on the freeway, my car wouldn't shift up form the 2nd gear. i was using the sports shift, so i thought if i put it back to the D5 that would solve the problem. but it didn't. But after i set the car still for a while it work again. i've had enough of this bull shit and i'm very scared. I want to know the best way to get rid of this car($ wise). help me please

2003wolfman

OK, newbie here trying to catchup on the 2nd gen TL transmission issue. I just bought a 2003 TL 2 days ago with 45,000 miles on it. I stumbled across this forum and saw this thread. Now, I am a bit leary of this car now that I have seen all of the transmission problems reported here.

The thread is really long and I seemed to understand that some of the later replacement transmissions are working. Is that true or not? Has anyone been able to get a replacement transmission from Acura that did not fail? Is Acura just putting the same design flawed transmission back into all of the recalled cars?

I registered the VIN from my car at the acuralink owners site and found that my car has had action on the transmission recall. I called the acura national 800 number and they told me where the recall work was performed. I called that dealership and gave them the VIN and they told me that the transmission was replaced when the cars odometer read 41,888. The car now has 45,000 miles on it.

If this is going to be a persistent issue of changing transmissions every 10,000 miles or so, I want to avoid all of that hassle. I think that I may still may be able to cancel the purchase of the car within 3 days of purchase. Any opinions on wheather or not I should keep this car or not? I really like the car and was really disappointed to read about the transmission problems in this thread. Thanks!

Bob_F

Welcome to Acurazine!

The most important thing for you to do right now is to figure out if your TL has the extended warranty on the transmission.

Acura extended the basic warranty on the 1999 -2002 TL transmissions to 109,000 miles or 93 months, whichever comes first. But Acura only extended the warranty on some of the 2003 TLs. They apparently thought that they fixed the problem during the 2003 production run. The general belief on this forum is that they did not correct the problem at that time.

So call Acura with the VIN number and confirm that you have the extended warranty. If you don't you might seriously consider cancelling the purchase. Or check OwnerLink since you're already registered.

There is some cautious optimism that Acura did correct the transmission problems with design changes made in February of 2005 but they jury is still out on that. There have been a couple of post Feb '05 transmission failures reported in this forum but it's not clear if that's significant from a statistical standpoint.

Since your transmission was replaced recently, you may have the latest version of the transmission. Call the dealership back and ask when the transmission was replaced. But I wouldn't be too comfortable with it if I didn't have the extended warranty.

Also, the "Recall" item on the transmission involved an inspection of the 2nd gear and the installation of an oil jet kit. That recall does not address what's causing the bulk of the transmission failures.

Bob

2003wolfman

I checked on the day that the transmission was replaced and was told that it was replaced in August 2006. I checked with the Honda dealership where I bought the car and they said that they would not let me back out of the deal at this point if I wanted to. Hopefully the replacement transmission will be OK. I hope those are not the proverbial "famous last words". I really like this car so Im going to roll the dice and see where I get. Especially with the extended warranty from Acura to 109K miles.

Bob_F

So you did confirm that your 2003 TL is among those that have the extended warranty? (Again, not all 2003 TLs are covered.)

If so, that's great. And your current transmission should have the Feb 2005 revisions so it may last quite a while.

Good luck with the new car!

Bob

fsttyms1

That doesnt mean your tranny is dead. Its not a common thing but it does happen from time to time. I had it happen a few times and the trans never died shortly after.

Jimmmmbo!

I just bought a 2002 TL Type-S and have noticed what seems to be called a shift "flare" between 3-4 (rpms increase by about 500 just before the shift occurs). It only does it when driving easy (mild acceleration). To me, it feels like that the torque converter is locked up when in 3rd and in preparation for the shift to 4th it unlocks, hence the increase in revs.

Does anyone else experience this type of problem, and is it an early sign the tranny is starting to go?

fsttyms1

The slipping between shifts is the main sign. Its the 3rd gear clutches slipping. Id bring it in to have checked out. You should also notice it in the 2 -3 shift as well

Jimmmmbo!

Hmm, it isn't happening (that I can tell) between 2-3. I'll pay more attention to see if I can notice it there, too.

I googled and found this answer in a different forum for a different car. Is this a good description of what could be happening here as well?

joey721zx

hello all im new here
and i have an Acura TL 3.2 Type S 2003
i was just wondering,
how do u know when your trannys going out like does it not shift properly or what im not sure and secondly what happends when your tranny dies what does your car do, can u still kinda drive it for a second or seomthing?

fsttyms1

No. Its a slipping there as well.

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

pariawan

Just got my 02 TLS back from the dealer due to Transmission. This is my second tranny replacement. 1st at 12500 and now at 62000.

conseit68

Well...add me to the list of bad tranny's. Luckily I had 90k on the car, took it straight to George @ Frankel Acura in Baltimore, MD and without question he gave me an 07 as a loaner until they replace the tranny. Hopefully everything goes well.

sixfifty

My god... How common is this problem? Now I see why so many TLs are for sale with around 109k... I'm looking at a TL for sale from a dealer with 108k and a fresh tranny... How common is the faulty tranny? I'm just wondering if I'm getting so bummed out since this is a thread dedicated to tranny failure or if it really is that common...

Bob_F

It's hard to say exactly how common this problem is. From a human nature standpoint, TL owners with transmission problems are more likely to search out forums such as This and post their experiences. Those without problems are less likely to post. So that will distort the results somewhat.

But there are definitely significant reliability problems with the 2nd gen TL transmissions, even if the exact percentage with failed transmissions is unclear.

Consumer Reports reader based reliability results give the 2000-2003 TL transmission a "much worse than average" rating. That's the lowest mark they hand out.

And some TL owners have gone through several transmissions before reaching 100,000 mile.

A TL with a recently installed replacement transmission may not be a bad deal since there is some hope that Acura corrected the major transmision problems with changes made in February, 2005.

But personally, I would look for a TL with more miles left to go on the warranty.

Bob

sixfifty

I see. So you're saying that a transmission replaced 6 days ago (which is the case on this certain car) would hypothetically hold better than a tranny replaced before February, 2005? I was really set on black leather interior, but this car is Heather Mist Metallic with gray leather which isn't too bad. I'm very attracted to it tho because of the dealer replaced tranny, and they said they'd issue a 1 year, 12k mile warranty as well with it.

sacha

If I were you I wouldn't buy the car unless it came with a 3yr/36k warranty. Unless of course you don't mind shelling out $4000 for a tranny replacement in the next couple of years. Remember that the tranny in that car isn't "fresh" it's just a rebuilt unit from an old TL. Who knows how long it will last?

sixfifty

I thought replacements issued after February, 2005 were supposed to be the improved version of the tranny?

sixfifty

So I just checked out an 01 with 70k on it, for a decent price. Once we hit the year 2008, will the warranty be up, even with around 80k on the car? Or would Acura be kind enough to fix it under warranty if it still had under the 109k mark?

Bob_F

The warranty is 109,000 miles or 93 months, whichever comes first. So the warranty will expire 93 months (= 7 years + 9 months) from the original sales date. Check the original sales date for the car to figure out exactly when the warranty will expire. Acura can tell you that if you give them the VIN number. The expiration date can vary quite a bit depending on when it was first sold.

Acura has covered some cars with expired warranties but you can't count on that.

Bob

Hollywood...

Hey I joined your little club. 03 Type S - 77 thousand miles. But it's covered and I get to drive a 07 RDX in the mean time

sixfifty

Well after some looking and calling around, the 01 I'm looking at seems to have the original tranny that it was sold with back in 01. The car has 74k on it, so maybe it was just one of the rare ones that came with a halfway decent tranny? If that isn't the case, the car was delivered to Acura on 11/28/00 so I'll still have around 39k or till next September to replace the tranny under recall. IMO, I think I may have found a good one... we'll see, I'm going up to check it out this Saturday...