no, 171K is not a long time for a trans to last

'82 chrysler has 380K on original trans
'89 sable 196K on origial trans when engine blew
'92 sable 143K on original trans when the car was totaled
'94 honda lx 230K on original trans and is is still going strong....

'98 honda 3.0L V6 first trans at 87K three more rebuilds betwen that and 100K
'02 acura CLS first trans at 70K and second one at 79K...wow this next trans better last me another 150K......

Older hondas had ZERO trans reliability issues, why can't they get it right like before?

 

because they went from a simple 4 speed to a complex 5 speed in too small a case to hold enough clutches and other important parts
The TL makes a lot of torque~

I dont care about other type of cars- apples to apples only- look at cars with tiptronic transmission and lasting over 50 is a blessing~ not to mention acura is the only company offering goodwill coverage to those out of warranty

Get your new trans and sell the TL, get a nice reliable older car from the list you mentioned and enjoy

I know other cars lose the trans at 50 and the engine at 100!

 

ok u keep driving a car where you expect the trans to last 50K........honda did not build their rep on producing crappy cars.....

contrary to popular belief, building an automatic transmission is not rocket science.....and yes I EXPECT an automatic transmission to last the life of the car when properly taken care of

and just so you understand it is an apples to apples comparison

1992 sable AXOD-E electronically controlled 4spd auto
1994 honda accord 4AT electronically controlled 4spd auto

if you are thinking just because you can manually select gears via a updown stick and paddles, that's just a SOFTWARE thingie.....has nothing to do with the auto as you can manually shift any automatic...........

you know why acura's are loosing their resale value so fast.........lol you guessed it.....peice of shit automatic transmission......doubt me? go look what you can get a 3 year old TL for.....under 20K easily

 

99 tl3.2 had tranny@50,000-60,000 66,000 (2) in 2008 dammmm

 

99 tl 70,000 mi on car top end knock will acura good will this one?

 

 

my wife has 00 tl @66k and they will not replace her tranny

 

As long as Acura is taking care of it, by replacing the trans and giving you a loaner car it shouldnt be an issue. At 171k things can fail, wear out and so on. Maintence is key. Obviously we can't follow the 60k change intervals to allow them to last that long so just change the fluid more often.

The transmissions they are putting in now seem to be fine. I can feel a huge difference with this transmissions shift points, gear selection, smoothness over my original. It's much improved in all aspects.

How many times did the head gaskets blow on that 92 Sable?

 

actually in the '92 not once....in the 89' 120K before the first one went and the engine detonated at 196K

my trans was just put in less than 5 months ago and it only lasted 8K...now it is time for another one.......


i did a simple test and verified with an SOS analasys.......

drip trans fluid on a clean white paper towel and let it sit....the fluid was a darker red than the light pink it should be.....but the more disturbing factor was that it left a rust colored residue around the ouside edges of the fluid....


sos lab at work indicates that there is an excessive amt of clutch material in the fluid........

 

They are dicks, try another dealer. Make sure you speak with the service manager first before dealing with a service advisor. My dealer here will still cover it and it's also a 2000 with 90K miles. I recently had it checked out and they said if it tested bad they would get it replaced free of charge.

 

i have a 99 with 98k and i just got a free tranny...

 

Perfect example, way out of warranty by time but still under the miles so the dealer helped him out. Many others here were way over time and/or miles and still managed partial or complete goodwill replacements.

 

quick question: does trans replacement incl the torque converter?

 

I believe so, mine did. One of the CEL codes was for the Torque converter.

 

yes it does include the torque convertor, but if it needs an ecu thats usually extra.
Front motor mount is often found to be bad at trans time as well- $120 part $30 labor when trans removed

 

hey guys. 1st time post. here is my problem. i have 03 tls a-spec. 4th time now
when car is cold i let it run couple minutes, then take off normal. after bout 500 feet it shifts real hard into 2nd then all lites go. d5 flashind vsa flashing engine lite on. major slipping. wat i do is pull over put in park and turn off ignition. cycle key on off 2-3 times then start engine. lites clear cept engine lite put into gear and continue driving. the car has done this twice when parked in garage unheated. and twice when parked at work plugged in -30/-40. have taken to acura dealer car out of vin range has had oil jet done. they did tranny
drain and fill i told them no power flush based on what ive read here. they cleared engine codes and advised no problem. last time they said i could take it to local honda dealer to clear codes and do engine oil change as acura dealer is 60 mi away honda only 19mi.my question is do i have a dying tranny and what can i expect from acura canada. i only have 130,000km/81,500mi.i love this car she's a beaut and 1 of only 2 in my province. only 800 made for canada.
any suggestions would help as i dont want to get rid of it but the tranny problem really worries me. NOTE. i do use ss occassionally but never usaully
take it above 5000rpm when i do.

 

I am looking at buying an 03 TL-s with 52k. Am I making a mistake?

Does EVERY tranny go eventually?

The one I'm lookng at is NOT on the VIN list for the extended 100k warranty, but I negotiated a 3yr/36k warranty because it seems too risky not to....

Any thoughts?

 

nothing less than warranty to 100k is acceptable! the trans is far too likely to go out and thats 4 grand!

 

And I have to work that out with the dealer? Or should Acura/honda honor it?

With all the discussion on these transmissions, I'm still not understanding who is covered to 100k and who is not.

Why don't they just cover everyone to 100k?

ANYONE NOT have tranny issues with their car?

Anyone hear the "your car should be fine if it was produced late in 2003" story?

 

Yes, many have heard that same story. It's a good story except for the fact that it's not true.

Acura did not correct the the transmission reliability issues during the 2003 production run. They may have corrected the big problems with revisions made to the design in February of 2005.

On the coverage question, every 1999 to 2002 TL was covered by the extended warranty. Only some 2003 TLs are covered and that depends on the car's VIN number.

The 1999 and 2000 TLs have all hit the 7 year 9 month limit on the warranty.

Cars with salvage titles are not covered.

 

it was a court case that got the extended warranty for us--
they needed a VIN to be able to settle so they picked one.

Because there was no real fix done at that time, acura is pretty good about giving 'goodwill warrranty' to those with VINs after the cutoff number
If you are buying used from the acura dealer they can CPO the car and give it a 100k mile warranty on the trans and other major parts
Deal with the Sales MANAGER not the salesperson
If they wont CPO certified pre owned check over of all systems-run far away-

Look for a good used car from a fellow ziner- click the Off Topic link top right of pages here, then scroll down to private sales- member cars for sale

Not every single trans fails, but more continue to die as gen2 gets its miles up past 70k-110
Trans seem to go out anywhere after 50, might be 70 might be 171,,but if you are a member of azine--yours will probably fail,,,and you know how to get a free or cheap replacement!! Its like getting 1/2 a new car free~

 

ask the service dept manager how many gen2 trans they still do as warranty per week or month
and how many gen3

 

Most likely that transmission is toast. I don't understand how they say "cleared" the codes. The lights were on for a reason and they should have diagnosed them. Bring it to Honda or Autozone and have them explain the codes to you. Most likely the transmission needs to be replaced.

 

THX. BIG question is do i from now on drive aggressive using s/s further stressing tranny into earlier failure or is my symptom only because of cold fluid and higher pressure shifts?

 

wow,,this is very discouraging,,i just got my tl a few weeks ago,,now im scared i might have to hold off on the mods incase the tranny fails,,99 tl,,with 111,000 miles,,tranny shifts like butter,,but for how long?i have read some consumer reports of people with very high mileage tl's with no tranny failures what so ever,,keeping my fingers crossed

 

aspec- what's acura canada got to say on the warranty issue and miles limit there?--

the 7year+9months/109k miles we talk about is from a usa court case

Changing the fluid when the trans has a problem is a good way to get it to fail soon- it just happens,,,possibly from removal of particulate clutch material and grunge giving the clutches some friction

To preserve a weak trans: be easy on the shift into 2nd and 3rd- thats the weak clutches, so 2000 rpm is better than 4000
Once up to freeway speed you are good to cruise, in town will be the most wear

 

jp welcome to the group!!

Lets hope you have not unleashed the acurazine curse,,, where someone comes on saying how well their trans with xx miles works--the 7 day countdown clock begins,,,,,,,now

member phee has a `just rebuilt` 99 trans for sale--might be something to remember~

 

on the upside- the 99 with 4 speed has a much better/reliablity trans than the 00-03 5 speed

 

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan y'all are scaring me... or maybe I scared myself.
I had a 1999 accord. trans blew at 176000 miles, got it rebuilt. theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen it was totalled 8 months later. now i havr an 02 TL. Acura maintained and last owner bought it ceritfied and had allllllll recalls taken care of and trans was checked at 68000....... if i keep up on the trans service, will she keep giving "new car" joy?????????

 

lol,,thanks bro,,lets see if i come back with bad news a few days from now,,thanks for the info on the 99 tranny for sale too,,ill deff keep it in mind

 

01TL4TL REPLY
acura dealer says out of vin range advisedthat if tranny went their manager would go to bat with acura also called selling dealer in other province(state) and told them all about it .they assured me they would go to bat as well as this was an original lease return with
92000 km(52500 mi.) on it.what i got was a real creampuff of a car looked like it had just come off showroom floor.very well looked after.
i am hoping that acura canada will look after me same as acura us has but have my doubts tho. i havent been able to confirm results from other canadian owners.

 

BTW :
am i accomplishing anything by stopping and turning of the engine and cycling the key a few times.at least tcs lite and d 5 areno longer flashing and car drives fine till next cold start without warmup idle.

 

Well, screw it…I’m gonna do it. It’s got 50k and if it goes out it’s covered. I will deal with it then, if it happens and just unload it asap.

My 96 TL pooped out on me and I need a car now. I love that car, but I swear dropping it KILLED it! Yes, I know I will hear otherwise from people on this board but I had it for 9 years lowered and it destroyed the ride quality. I will never drop my “everyday” driving car ever again.

I mean, I know you can’t get that look any other way…but to me, the money you end up putting into the “problems” from lowering or just the added expenses aren’t worth it to me.

I use to be on an Acura forum a long time ago…can’t remember the name, but I thought I heard of it merging maybe with this one? I don’t know…

Funny, at that time everyone was creaming over the 2nd gens, now we are at 4th gens already! Lol

I think the 2nd gens are still tight tho, especially the tls – and also cuz it’s all I can afford right now lol. But I think I will keep this deathtrap for a year or so and than grab an RL.

 

if you plan on keeping it less than 2 years, then a 3/36 on the trans with sale is enough warranty for your needs, and gets you into a car
Make sure the other mechanical things are checked over before sale

 

2002- you are still under warranty 7 years PLUS 9 months from date of first sale. or 109k miles whichever first
call acura to get the date sold 1-800-382-2238X5 register as the new owner too

 

Hey guys I realize there are 50 something pages here and my questions are probably answered elsewhere....I tried reading it all.. I really tried

Anyway a couple questions...

1) I'm not sure if I'm just overly sensitive ( i listen to every shift now lol ) or not but I'm sure it is slipping a couple hundred rpm once in a while on the 3-4 shift. Bad sign right?

2) What has been people's experiences dealing with Acura Canada? I hear alot of people talking about 100k miles.. does Canada have a similar 160k km program?

3) People also talk about a certain VIN that is covered for the 03's..... what is the number I need to look for there?

4) I sthere an easy way to check what has been done to the car/transmission in the past?

BTW I have a 03 tl with 110k km ( 65k miles ). I've owned it almost a year and enjoy the car but I don't like the feeling that the tranny could explode at any second!

Thank you for your help!

 

call acura canada--
one of your countryman-can you provide the website and phone?

 

Hey all, was posting on other threads till I was instructed about this one. Just wanted to share my story. I'm the third owner of my 03 TL. Its VIN is out of range for the warranty extension. Big surprise, my transmission went up at 105K. I have never taken this car to an Acura dealer for service, always had the service done at an independent. Anyhoo, despite being the third owner and not taking the car to an Acura dealer for svc., they're going to do the job for 65% off. I don't feel too bad about this, as I was about to drop $4300 at my independent before contacting Acura.

...oh, a little hint about contacting Accura. When you call (800-823-7555) and if your car is not covered by the extended warranty, CHOOSE OPTION 5 and, "ask for assistance from Acura on the cost of your new trasmission." It felt like I was speaking code, but it worked.

 

1-800-382-2238 x5 gets a real human from customer care center
You ask them to start a case file and have a real acura manager call you back

canuks- a tip from insider says: change the trans fluid at 60 and keep receipts- they want proof you did at least 1 basic 3 quart oil service to the trans in its life--then much easier to grant goodwill to you guys
Follow the owner book maitenence schedule on the trans

 

canada will have a different phone number,, so be sure what you are posting--mine is for usa cars only