Hi Folks,

Been lurking on this forum for a while and now posting for the obvious reason(s).

My 03 TL-S has about 110,xxx miles on it and is at Nalley Acura service, just got a call saying I'll probably need a new transmission.

About 2,000 miles ago the transmission started creeping on the 2nd and 3rd gears. On the way down from a roadtrip to a football game this weekend I got the D5 blink when I was accelerating from a stop on the freeway. The car has been able to shift through the 2 and 3 pretty well as long as I stay below 2k rpm.

So... They are finding a price for a transmission for me and I'll go from there.

Just want to make sure I'm taking the right steps: Work with the service manager on best price, ask for some goodwill assistance if I can get it and (if all fails) talk to Acura CS... This sounds right to everyone?

This forum is a lifeline for people (aka, ever acura TL owner) with this problem. My brother has a 03 TL S as well and his tranny failed about 18 months ago and I think Nalley helped him out, est. $1,400 for the repair. Hopefully they can do the same for me or better.

 

ck your vin for coverage by the court ordered 7 year 9 month/ or 109kmiles-
114.5kmiles on cars with odometer error (certain vins)

1000 miles over -they should give 100%, and your family owns more than one acura.
Do you get it serviced-oil changed at this dealer? that helps

call acura with vin, 1 800 382 2238x5 ask if covered by trans extended warranty
VIN can be found on insurance card, reg paper

or look it up online by vin

service writers want you to think there is no coverage --they earn commission

Service MANAGER should already be on the phone with acura regional warranty rep asking for goodwill on your behalf

Let it start thru the system, wait to hear back- if not satisfied speak with service manager about goodwill, belonging to acurazine.com and being a good customer with brand loyalty
there are more steps if needed, but lets hope for the managers call- your car will be ready wed. and its no charge

 

AcuraKidd decided to put his tl(with tranny issues) on auto trader...guess what's the kicker? according to him, the car is in perfect running order


http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

Thanks for the good input 01tl4tl, much appreciated! Thought I'd provide a little update: I called the service department and they got an email from the Acura warranty folks and they'll offer me 50% off, which is roughly $2k.

I spoke with the Acura customer folks and gave them my vin, I'm barely out of the transmission warranty via the miles but several month out of the 7y9m time frame. However, they said I should receive a good bit of help all things considered.

So... Now I've left a message with the service manager at Nalley, Todd Starns, and we'll see if he can help me. My family owns 3 TL's and just purchased a new Honda Pilot touring so, I'm hoping I can get something better than the 50% off they are offering me.

Thanks again for the help and I'll keep everyone posted as things progress.

 

no--thats as far as its likely going down,,any more is direct off the dealers profit

corp did a 2nd evaluation when you didnt take the first offer, they know its them or the rebuilder and they want you to stay with them.

dealer got word by email that acura oks 50%,,so corp will provide the trans to dealer for about 1200 and 500 for install--total includes 300 for a 3/36 warranty which goes with the car if you sell it-- a major selling bonus worth 1000$ at least in resale value

the parts dept takes the hit on the trans sales profit off retail, or the first offer, so a box of donuts or ice cream bars for their dept is a nice goodwill gesture from you

jump on it if you can!!--
otherwise, why did you push for more discount if you were not ready to act?

 

i posted a while back how my car was trippin..the tcs and check engine light was on and my car wudn go past 20 and hard banging shifts....i took it in and found out some of my issues...

first they put my ride on and said there were 2 many codes poppn off, so they cleared them drove my car and said everything was cool
i had my tranny flushed, but i need front and side motor mounts...which is way better then when i thot i needed a new tranny which would cost me more than my car is worth right now. ill say this..these cars are built to last. call acura.com and find out if u have any warranties left and get your regular check ups....

holla

 

bad front mount causes vacuum leak that will make a mystery miss, and left long enough- other problems
get that and the side replaced,,see other threads about price from our sponsoring dealers

important- after fixing a long term vac problem or any problem, reset the ECU by removing the CLOCK fuse on passenger end of dash for a minute then reinsert-
that forces a master reboot and scan of all systems..hopefully it sees its been fixed and changes the other things back to normal setting

 

dealer or other shop `flushed` your trans fluid?
was it a manual drain and refill of 3 qts using Honda ATF
or the newer method with engine running and car on the lift AT ACURA

or other shop,, powered machine using Dextron3 fluid--thats death to our trans and the shop is rsponsible if wrong fluid was used!

acura calls a manual drain and fill 3 times a `flush` to be used if dex3 is ever added in an emergency

are you still in the trans extended warranty period?
your symptoms are severe for what they suggested to repair it, so watch the trans for slipping--revs without car going forward,,sometimes that happens after flush and needed crud to hold the clutch packs togther gets washed away
`acura care`= for info on your car warranty and recalls 1-800 382 2238x5 usa cars
1-888-9acura9 canada cars

 

hey everyone, i want to hear your guys opinion on my tranny


while driving it shifts very smoothly, i can bearly feel it!

its only fault that i am aware of is..

whenever i put the car into gear, regradless of what position it was before (park, reverse, etc) i feel a delay in the tranny hooking up. i have to hold my breaks pressed in until i feel the tranny hook up. otherwise it makes a jerk like movement...

whats everyones

i hope the end of my tranny isnt reaching soon

 

One or more of your motor mounts is shot most likley.
Check for a weird fluid dripping under car or arround the mounts.
If the motor moves a lot when reving then there most likley shot.
A transmission shop would be good at diagnosing this.

our cars have "special" fluid filled vac. boosted mounts, and they eventually break.

 

Hey guys I'm a new owner of a 2000 tl with 92942 miles. I've noticed a few of the dreaded symptoms on my transmission slipping, rough upshifts. I called acura and I was told the vehicle met the transmission recall they didn't specify whether the trans was replaced or whether the oil jet kit was the only thing done. I took it back to the dealer (not acura) and they're taking care of it. Hopefully they don't low ball me. Does anyone have any experience with out of warranty transmission issues. What have you done? Any suggestions?

 

please see the main `tranny failure thread` for 18 pages and 6 years of info
Skip to the last 3-4 pages for current info on goodwill from acura

depending on the used car warranty you got, the seller may turn the car over to acura and get a reduced rate on an acura rebuilt unit, or get yours rebuilt local

goodwill freebies out of warranty require finesse, and ice cream or donuts~

 

to low ball you = would be quoting a low low phone price to get you in the door... where they dismantle the trans into 1000 pieces

then the estimate keeps going up! up!! up!!! as they find more damaged parts and hidden problems with shafts

You cant take that basket full of parts anywhere and ask them to rebuild it for you!!

So then they have you by...lets all say it together: Your low balls~
you can only hope they apply the squeeze gently

 

you really have to push the 800 people for info,,,there is a warranty history on your car if they bother to look

for you to know instantly if its an acura replacement trans: look at the end of trans -see all the bolt heads painted BLUE,,big ones into the trans case, little ones holding parts one,,blue bolt HEADS means acura rebuilt unit

 

Hello guys, I am a new member to Acurazine though not unfamiliar to the forum as I have been a huge Acura TL fan for years now and I've snooped around this forum without actually registering many many times. Enough with the introductions...

So I finally bought a long awaited Acura TL 2003 S-Type from a used car dealership (AS IS) with 73kish miles on it. Knowing this model has transmission failure problems I had my uncle who is a mechanic briefly check the car for any indication of transmission failure soon to come before buying the car. He did a test drive and told me there wasn't any erratic shifting of gears so he said buy it since it was a pretty good deal $7500 compared to most others I saw around the same milage for $8000-$8500. And that we did and I had my hands around a long awaited Acura TL. I loved the car, still do, but recently its been giving me a great deal of concern.

I've been driving this car to college about a 30 minute commute everyday under normal driving conditions, maybe a little bit of speeding here and there but nothing crazy. Last few days my car's transmission seems to be acting up. Whenever I come to a full stop or close to and then speed up again (normally not rigorously accelerating) and often on turns and while trying to park the car basically acts like it dropped to neutral. I have to either stop again *completely* or manually shift the gear to neutral and back to drive to get the car back into 1st gear (when I do the shifting form neutral to drive I always get a jerking motion). This happened like once in awhile but since yesterday its been happening much more frequently almost 3-4 times during a 30 minute local roads drive so now I am concerned.

It has only been about a month since we bought the car from the used car dealership and unfortunately I am having this problem (it kind of sucks because I really like this car too...) But in any case knowing about this model's transmission failure history and since we bought the car AS IS we had bought a warranty at the same time which should cover this what is bound to be costly repair. I had our local mechanic take a look at it and he drove it around the block a few times accelerating and decelerating at different rates and he said theres some jerking when shifting gears so its basically indication that the transmission is going to fail soon enough.

My question for all you guys is what should I do? Should I just keep driving the car until the transmission becomes a more severe issue or till it completely fails and locks up on me? Or should I get on it right away? And if I should get the transmission serviced/replaced should it be by my local acura dealer or through my local mechanic? I ask because I wonder about it being a used car, will my local acura dealership cover the replacement/repair/rebuild (or whatever needs to be done) to the transmission? Or should I just contact the warranty I bought and see what they say?

I am so lost/frustrated about all of this...

 

first is it a usa car? not salvage or rebuilt title?
is it `covered VIN' for the trans extended warranty to 7years +9 months or 109kmiles

read your purchased warranty before calling anyone abut repair, get background info

if acura covers it, thats the best option. call 1 800 382 2238x5 with cars VIN to register as new owner- ck recall status to be sure they are all done and ask if `covered vin` in trans

otherwise insurance pay for acura unit done at dealer would be good

These are trick transmissions-local shops often take 2-5 attempts at assembly before its done right
and in 05 a better case was made and used on warranty rebuilt units, making acura unit preferred

there are no brand new trans -all rebuilt--either in your trans case/ housing or in a different one and swapped out for yours

It will get bad in a hurry--get on the phone and do your reading
Dealer may assist in aftermarket warranty so you dont pay out and get reimbused
call and speak with the service MANAGER not the service writers

 

I've learned a lot from all those on Acurazine. Yesterday i had the dreaded D-5 flash, with Traction control & turn off engine lights. Read the threads here and hoped for the best. Took veh. to Ann Arbor Automotive Acura and they ran the diagnostics and discovered it was mice that had been eating the sending unit wires. They found nests, nuts, you name it. So after repairing the wiring & diagnostics $230, all set to go. For anyone experiencing the same problems Jim the service tech advised that 95% of the time when the dreaded D5 flashes, it's a sensor of some kind, and may not be the trans. My advice, check your wiring before you take it in. It may be a simple fix. Not to say Acura dealers would sell you the new tranny fix when you don't need one, but why take the chance. Good luck to all.

 

Thanks for the responses, so I called up that number you mentioned 01tl4tl and unfortunately the guy told me I missed the extended warranty by 8 months or so (my rotten luck). I talked to him a bit and he told me maybe if I goto my local Acura dealership and talk to the Service Manager he can maybe contact the district manager and figure something out that may work in my favor because the transmission is a fault on Acura's part and we just missed the warranty by a couple of months.

Also, on a good note, the warranty I bought seems to cover transmission failure so if Acura says they aren't going to cover it I guess I'll hit up the warranty and see what they say. It should cover getting everything done by the dealership. But I figure if Acura will say they will cover it first why bother using the warranty

As for the mice thing, thats a funny story bigrin. I will be sure to ask the dealership to check the wiring before doing anything drastic, thanks for the heads up.

 

use the extra warranty because you paid for it, and dealer makes money on it vs a goodwill warranty discount to you

8 months out isnt much,, but contact warranty company first
tell them acura says it needs a trans and what should you do

 

I know the warranty I bought is going to make me pay a deductible so I figured what I would do is figure out which method turns out to be cheaper for me and go in that direction obviously. If the dealer agrees to do the trans without charging me I'd rather just stick to that path but if they just give me a discount and it ends up costing me more than the deductible then use the warranty. Would that not be the better way to go for me or am I missing something here?

 

dealer first, speak with the manager about the aftermarket warranty and your situation as told by corp, 8 months past

they will probably handle everything for you--they can with most companies

since you just bought the car and have no history with acura to generate goodwill from, you are past warranty limits,,dont expect goodwill,
expect the aftermarket to cover it for you!! dealer likes to make money..

whats the deduct $500? thats the least acura is going to charge if you have a golden relationship with them of service history
Instead- you are golden by having wisely purchased extra coverage!! use it

let the service manager work his way to get your trans replaced

 

I just got back from the Springfield, NJ Acura Dealership and speaking with the Service Manager there Robert Avison. He was straight forward with us, he said that in his records after looking up the VIN this car was recalled and the trans was already jetted, he also confirmed that the car was now out of Acura's manufacture warranty. Then told us just as you mentioned the only way Acura was going to assist us in covering the cost of servicing the trans was if we had record of customer brand loyalty to Acura (Given we bought this car a month ago and from a used car dealership we clearly did not meet this category).

So then I asked him basically out of desperation:
"we're in a bad situation here, what do you suggest we do?"

He asked me if I bought an after market warranty when we got the car and I told him yes and that I believe it should cover replacing the transmission. He told us that most after market warranties want you to take the transmission apart and replace parts individually and his guys aren't trained to do that. The service department there will only be willing to replace the transmission with an Acura remanufactured one.

So we decided we are going to drop the car off there on Tuesday morning and let them run a diagnostic on it. They will find out what the problem is and how much the repairs will cost so that we can report that to the after market warranty and see if they are willing to cover it.

The deductible is only $100 so hopefully they agree to cover the costs for what ever Acura finds that they have to do which is bound to be replace the trans with a remanufactured one.

 

so without reading your actual warranty coditions,,
he wants 100 bucks to do absolutly nothing for you by `diagnosis` which will say worn clutch packs, trans slips

a full diagnosis on whats bad is total bs
since you must remove trans from car and dismantle to find out whats really failed and needs replacement

acura does not do that!! they only swap in rebuilt units acura has made somewhere

then you still have to take the car to a local shop for rebuilding!!

get out the phone book and ck www.angieslist.com for shops, call or go in person and ck the place out,,workers, attitude and cars in the shop

get estimate based on other TL's they have done- if they cant provide that --do NOT be their test car,,bad news for you
Let a place with experience do it

read your warranty for its details, it may specify a place they use
never trust anyone else to know--without looking,, its just wanting your money for nothing

 

Sorry you misunderstood what I was trying to say because of the way I stated it in the last post. The diagnosis is being done by the Acura dealership (The Service Manager didn't specify at the time if he is going to charge us for that or not). After the diagnosis is done and Acura reports what needs to be done to the warranty provider the warranty provider will have to decide whether they will cover replacing the tranny with a remanufactured one by Acura or require to have the tranny dismantled. If the warranty provider requires the dismantle path then as you and the Service Manager states Acura will not do it. In that case I plan to take it to my local car mechanic who we know as a family friend. We already talked to him about this situation and he said he has replaced a transmission in a 2003 Acura TL (non-S type) which was his own car that he sold off after, so he kind of knows his way around the 2003 Acura TL. Though I do not think he has actually dismantled the tranny to rebuild it before in a 2003 Acura TL. In any case hopefully the warranty provider agrees to cover the cost of the tranny with the $100 deductible. I am a bit worried because its only been 1 month and we are already making a claim this large on the warranty. The Acura dealership Service Manager himself said that the warranty provider will probably be very suspicious that we didn't buy this car already with a tranny problem and just wanted to use them to get it fixed after buying it.

 

you bought a used car from a used car lot who also sold you a warranty--thats normal

A problem soon appeared on a used car? your kidding right??

If you bought a new car and were in a crash a month later,,did you buy a car just to crash it!!?

insurance is to cover just such failures, dont let the SM bs you, he's bummed they wont make 4 grand off you

insurance will cover acura diagnostic cost, since they require it

They will only pay a `licensed` trans repair shop to do the teardown, inspection and rebuild--
not your buddy!
look from their position,,a shop has legal liability-should know what they are doing and offer a warranty to protect you and the insurance

 

So I guess I would have no luck at all with Acura? i have 3rd blown tranny at 215k Any suggestions?

 

Each replacement tranny comes with a 12k mileage failure guarantee... But if you're over that on your third tranny, your best bet is a goodwill warrantee if they realize that you're on your third, then they obviously have a problem...

 

215k MILES? and you want warranty???

I suggest you go to a transmission rebuilder

 

acura appears to feel 60kmiles is a decent lifetime from the trans
anything more is a bonus for the owner~

 

Hello, I'm new here

I have a '00 TL with the third gear slipping as well. When I have the trans rebuilt should we be installing a redesigned third clutchpack or is there such a thing? Does "clutchpack" refer to the friction plates or is it the part that houses the friction plates? Does anyone know of any mods that can be made during a rebuild to improve this transmission?
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
Stan

 

Hello, I'm new here

I have a '00 TL with the third gear slipping as well. When I have the trans rebuilt should we be installing a redesigned third clutchpack or is there such a thing? Does "clutchpack" refer to the friction plates or is it the part that houses the friction plates? Does anyone know of any mods that can be made during a rebuild to improve this transmission?
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
Stan

 

rebuilds from trans shops include the newest and best parts including better friction plates aka clutch packs

motorcycle riders know them as the stacked disc style, 1 friction one smooth metal one = repeat until out of clearance for more plates

you get a better tq and kevlar stuff where available

best thing to do for trans life is avoid SS to downshift at redline rpm into 3rd or 2nd--thats excess heat for no reason--ok if track day fun, mountain play etc. but in general avoid it

beyond that: change 3 qts of its 7.3 every year/15kmiles, every other oil change do 3 for the trans ,,easier than engine oil change!!

make sure the shop has a tech with several TL trans jobs under their belt--dont be the car they learn on!!!

 

Just wanted to post an update on my situation. So we took the car back to the Acura dealership for the diagnostic. You will not believe the result! they checked the car on a lift and they said the transmission was fine!!! So then I told the service manager there to take a drive in the car with me around the block and guess what I got it to do its neutral like drop thing twice. He agreed then the transmission needs to be replaced haha!

So we got back to the dealership from our little ride and he called up the warranty I had. Apparently out of shear coincidence the warranty had a good relationship with this particular dealership I went to. The service manager and the warranty rep talked for a bit over the phone exchanged some paper work and they agreed to cover the costs to replace the tranny all done by Acura!

No idea how happy I am things turned out this way I was expecting to be in a much worse situation here to be honest. While I wouldn't call a failing tranny lucky I must say it came through in the end.

So basically I am paying $100 and Acura will replace the tranny in the car with a remanufactured one as soon as they find one and I should be getting my car back soon!

So my questions that remain are:
1) are the chances high that my tranny is going to fail again ?
2) what can I do to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again?
3) is there going to be an extended Acura warranty on the tranny now that they put in the remanufactured one?

 

acura uses their own rebuilds that are done in mass for them
they wont go looking for one~
It takes a few days to ship from the warehouse to the dealer

to keep the new one healthy:
change 3 qts of fluid every year
Dont use SS mode to downshift into 2nd or 3rd at max rpm on the street-without purpose
just stay out of SS for now

all trans will fail at some point- -hopefully you get 100+ out of this one!!
it should come with acuras own 12/12 or possibly 3/36 warranty on the unit, ask service manager- you can buy the 3/36 for 300 if needed

It is very lucky to get a TL and fresh trans right away- you get half a new car for 100 bucks--thats awesome!!
now that warranty purchase really was a wise decision! thank the salesman

 

I must be bordering on compulsive but since hearing about the transmission problems of the TL I have been draining and refilling with ATF Z1 every three months. A case is $75 which is cheap insurance. I just changed the external filter at 78,000 miles and my wife asked what I did to the car because she cannot feel the shifts (it wasn't bad before, it's even better now). I never see any further discussion on the filter, but it really is worth doing.
After reviewing the initial instructions I can tell you it really is necessary to have an offset 10mm box wrench. Sears has a ratcheting offset wrench which is great.
And I never saw anything about removing the plastic u-shaped piece which hangs down off the intake. One clamp to loosen and it gives you all the room you need to make the job possible versus torture.

 

15k miles/8 months after the rebuild, it's time for another one!

 

I had the same issue. I put about 15K in 15 months on a rebuild and then it failed (I had a 12/12 warranty). The worse part about the way it happened to me was there were no signs the tranny was going like the first time. It just died on me while driving (like two hours away from home). I have about 2K on the new rebuild and so far no problems. I'll be done with this car soon though. I already have a replacement car and I figure since I've spent so much on trannys I have to use the car a little more before getting rid of it.

 

Hello All,

Wanted to provide a closeout update just in case anyone runs into a similar situation... After I got my initial repair estimate and then the 50% discount I spoke with the service manager at Nalley Acura. He asked for my transmission service records (which I provided) and he then called Acura on my behalf.

When speaking with him I asked for any goodwill he could provide, making him aware that I knew of the transmission issues and the extended warranty, my family and myself have done a fair bit of business with the service center and dealership so I mentioned this as well.

About 3 days later I got a call from my service rep and he let me know that Acura reviewed everything on their end and offered me 70% off the total repair which brought it to roughly 1400 dollars or so.

I'm OK with that. Just passing it on to listen to this board and the members that know whats up. And in my experience it pays to be knowledgeable of the issue and request some goodwill.

Cheers and thanks for all those that have helped put this goldmine together.

 

persistance pays off!!
1400 is a score on the trans

 

Hey thanks! Again, appreciate all your help with this. Glad Acura and the dealership worked with me and for those going through similar sets just keep positive, let them know you love your Acura and you want to keep on lovin' them.