I found a 2003 Acura TL S-TYPE that I'm considering buying, but this transmission issue is really scaring me. The particular one I found has 100k miles on it, and the transmission was replaced under warranty at around 60k miles. Can anyone clarify the extended warranty situation for me? If I understand correctly, a transmission replacement would no longer be covered since this TL has just passed 100k miles. Am I correct?

 

7 years plus 9 months, or 109kmiles (114.5 on odometer error vin's) whichever comes first
you can get the first date in use from acura usa 1 800 382 2238x5

essentially you are close to the limit

 

Thanks, I'll have to check that out. So how common is it for acura's replacement transmissions to fail in these TL's? Did the replacement transmissions have any differences that were supposed to fix the 2nd gear lubrication issue?

 

The warranty is either over or will run out soon. Dont buy this car. Replacement transmission are bad also. However, if transmission was replaced past 2005 Feb there is a chance its more reliable, but still POS. Look elsewhere. There are plenty of cars with 7 year old history that have clean record of transmission/engine problems and other problems.

 

I would only buy it if you're comfortable with a 90% chance of having to spend $4k on it in the next 50k miles. I'm making up those stats, but it seems reasonable to be cautious making a decision like this. Also, if you go forward with it, make sure to check the tranny fluid and performance for any signs of problems. For what it's worth, I had one of the post-Feb-2005 replacement trannys and it just failed after 88k miles. If you do buy, make sure you get a great deal, so you can put a few thousand into savings for this. If you have other non-2nd-gen-TL options, I would look into those instead. These TLs are great, but their transmissions are nightmares.

 

the oil jet kit -that was the recall -fixed 2nd gear lube issue but has nothing to do with the real prob of early clutch pack wearout
a warranty unit,,pre 2005 has original case and external 2nd gear oil kit
post early 2005, oil jet kit goes internal on new design case which also has better oil passages to the weak area- BUT still does not solve the issue
It cant be fixed- plain and simple
all you can do is rebuild it when the parts wear out

all in all- love my TL... and would not buy another of same vintage at this point in time.

 

I've had my TL since new and with a brand new tranny and a can of seafoam through the tank I absolutely love driving it again.

That being said I don't know why anyone would spend $6000-$10000 on a car that almost assuredly will need $2000-$4000 to replace or repair the tranny within 50-75 thousand miles - not to mention the cost of upcoming maintenance since most cars you'll see probably haven't had the 105K service done.

Good luck on the car hunt and if you decide you can't live without the TL just do your homework and get one with a post 2005 tranny, preferably with only 10-20 thousand on it. With regular drain and fills and a little luck you might get another 100K out of it. (that's what I'm hoping for on mine )

 

Speaking of post 2005 replacements with low miles, does anyone know if the 3yr/36K warranties on those are transferable if the car is sold?

 

warranty is not transferable.

 

Us owners on this site are driving resale value of our cars down. But I dont care, I got 1.5 years warranty left on my tranny, I am driving this car until its dead. so I am really not concerned with resale. So if my tranny goes, and my car is only worth 2500-3000, I am dumping it for donnation. very simple.

 

1. Transmission Rebuilt- failed within 10k (AAMCO) AT like 70k spent 3k
2. Transmission Swap- Failed within 15k (AAMCO) at 85k spent 2.1k

AND that happened 2 days after i just got my timing belt change.

Now 6 MONTHS later (it was sitting in my driveway) i'm about to go to an unbranded guy who is gonna charge me $1800 and swap it with a transmission he fixed. He said this new transmission is updated and everything. What are your thoughts about this?

 

beats any car payment~ 18 is a score,,includes install?

should be a post 05 case with aftermarket kevlar clutches and other better parts

 

its not us ziners driving down the cars value--
`consumer reports` is who rated the trans as horrible,, and the value guides base a lot on them

 

I didn't read this entire thread (since it is supper long now) but i figured that I would post my experience with the tranny issue. About 5 months ago I sold my 2005 Tl AT to the dealership. After them doing their little inspection of it they said that there was a "whinning noise" coming from the transmission. I said "I know, it has been doing that for a long time I thought that was normal". They said that it is not normal and that the transmission needs to be replaced and with this issue they would not be able to buy the car from me, which was the worst news ever since I had already bought my new car and needed the money from them. At this point I remembered that I had purchased an extended warranty (from National Warranty) when I got the car and they were able to replace the transmission under that warranty and all I had to do was pay my $100 deductible for a $2,000 - $3,000 transmission.

Moral of the story is that if you hear the "whinning noise" while you are on the throttle (very noticeable when going from coasting to throttle) your tranny is toast and you should try to get an extended warranty (hopefully no one notices this noise when they do the inspection of it) which will cost anywhere from $900 - $1500 and get the tranny replaced. Also, when you sell the car or just don't want the warranty anymore, you can cancel the warranty and get your money back for the portion of the warranty that you didn't use. Extended warranties are a must have, they will pay for them selves for sure.

 

Transm. was toast because of the noise? That sounds like it could be subjective, esp. if it was making the sound for a long time w/ no actual problems. Were there any codes? Did it perform ok, i. e., any slipping or other issues?

 

its an 05--posted in wrong gen,,, and any noise from trans needs inspection!

did poster change the fluid--ever?
gen3 has its own issues on 04 05 trans,, which were carry-overs from our problems,,
plus more HP

 

I guess I didn't really pay attention to the exact model year forum that came up when I saw the results from my search.

And I guess "toast" wasn't the correct term to use.

I have no idea what codes there were in relation to the tranny and it was there for a while so it probably wasn't critical to have it changed right that moment but it was going to fail sooner or later.

But to sum it up, if you have this noise it is not normal and it does mean that you will need a new transmission at some point.

My appologies again. Now I will find the correct thread in the correct forum to post my original post.

 

we appreciate your sharing a gen3 experience,,our trans problems carried over
Its good warning to those thinking of `upgrading` to a gen3

 

Good News Today; After waiting for a week and a half for an Acura Goodwill response, today got an answer..

They offered to do 50% of the repair for a total of about $2200!! with 3/36 and new ECU. I think this is a fair deal and told the guy to go ahead. Also getting a loaner..

Thinking of having them do the 105k Service since they'll have the car for a week. The car has 102K what do you all think? I dont have a price for that yet.. will post later with the details.

Pat

 

Good to hear Pat!

I'm sure they'll feel pretty good about doing your tranny 50/50 if you let them do the 105k service too - dealer makes a killing on that one from what I read around here. Surprised at your mileage that they haven't "offered" to do it while they have the car.

What kind of loaner did you get? I had a 2010 TSX, 4-cylinder .... I was so happy to get my TL back!

 

They did not offer to do the 105, he did say that my right side motor mount was done. He did offer to replace with no labor (119.00) since the trans will be out.

I am having them do the belts, water pump, motor mount and tensioners.

Got my loaner today, a white, 2011 TL AWD Tech with 1800 miles

Pat

 

service writer bs= front mount most common to fail
and it gets reduced labor with trans out (its actually the L side of the engine but called front for front of car)
that part should run 120 or so and 15 minutes to install
Definetly do it if bad now

a passenger side mount is next common failure and has no relation to trans removed or not,,its 75$ and 30 minutes install

 

I'm going to get my 2gen tl on tuesday.....but im scare after reading some of this tread and to make it worst the tl has 148k miles

 

If you haven't signed anything (dealer or private party) or handed over any money or collateral (private party w/o signature)...it's probably not too late.

 

run away if you can, even if it cost you few hundred bucks to break the contract

 

Hey guys is there any way to tell if my trans has been replaced? 02 s-type with D5

There are no records that I can find so I want to know if I can physically check

 

answered your other thread and its been posted many times=
blue paint on the bolt heads for trans means warranty unit

like everyone else says- DONT buy a TL with that miles UNLESS you have 3 grand set aside for trans failure/rebuilding
also has the 105 timing belt and water pump been done?
thats an easy $$1000-1500 or even more,,, if not done yet,
will also need egr port cleaning, valve adjust etc--the full major service

 

how does the trans fluid look and smell- red and like aft? or dark and burnt sugar smell?

owner have history of regular fluid changes once a year?
if not--go find a nice accord!!!

 

thanks so much for the quick replies!

 

so whats the deal???--a signed sales agreement from dealer with some trans warranty you will be using soon-
or just looking at the car and fell in love, came here hoping for good news?

 

Got my car back today.. Runs smooth. Since, I keep hearing 01tl4tl talk about the blue heads on the new tranny bolts, I took some pictures for the next generation of people asking about it.

Top down looking at the "ATF Bolt" Look ma, no oil jet kit!!

Front of tranny with serial number

ATF FILTER



Hope this helps someone..

PAT

 

the big bolts that go thru the trans,,are painted blue as well

yours was done correctly!!

 

wow...EXACTLY what mine recently started doing, over the last 2 weeks. Even felt this when I pushed it yesterday.

Thing is, I called Acura to get my VIN checked when I bought the car. The tranny had the oil jet installed around 40k miles...I'm now on 96k miles.

The tranny is replaced as long as I'm under the 108k miles? No questions asked? If I have to come out of pocket, I'm gonna just do a 6spd swap.

 

I don't see anything about a "trans extended warranty" in the recalls section, but I do see the "Your 2003 Acura is included in the 2001-2003 3.2CL; 2000-2003 3.2TL; 2004 TL Automatic Transmission 2nd Gear Campaign." message.

 

2nd gear campaign was the oil jet kit--which has nothing to do with clutch wearout we suffer from,, and that generated the `extended warranty` by court case

IF you are `covered vin` ---which it sounds like you are not (ck your vin against the list found online or acura 800 or dealer)
acura.com will show `trans extended warranty` if you are covered

if covered its 7 years plus 9 months or 109kmiles,,or 114,5 kmiles on `odometer error court case cars` whichever occurs first
the 800 382 2238 x5 can tell you date first sold -thats when warranty clock starts
If you are `covered vin` and dealer tech finds its failed from the right things,,you get a rebuilt one no charge!!!

if you are NOT covered vin then you negotiate with acura for a discount from free to 2500 for a trans

do that research on covered or not
beware a 6speed swap will run you 2500 to 4grand,,same as rebuilding your trans~

 

Update: Called (I registered as the new owner back in 2008) and she said my car does NOT fall under the extended transmission warranty.....sweet.

 

Just realized...I think my tranny has already been replaced, based on the above pics:

 

Hi all! i'm new to this forum and i have a question. does anyone know how the TL model VIN # cutoff was determined for the 2003 production run for the tranny replacement and what Acura did to the trannies at the production level that fall outside the recall?

Our 2003 TL's tranny blew last thur. I talked to a well regarded Acura mechanic who said it was most likely a second gear plate failure. Acura Client Care told us we have to tow it to the dealer for a diagnosis before they will address the issue. Our TL falls outside the VIN # cutoff for 2003. It has 108k mls.

 

Vin was picked to settle the court case, had nothing to do with a fix and acura knows it

Depending on your relationship with the dealer and acura, you had the car a few years, used them for any type service,,oil change, brakes,, or own several acura/honda cars..
then you may get `Goodwill assistance` where they may cover all,, to half of the cost

if you read the last 4 pages of this thread you will learn all you need to know

have you changd the trans fluid.. ever? at the dealer?

first step is dealer has to diagnose, if goodwill is granted= the diagnosis is covered by acura, you dont pay 100 bucks

 

Well sold my parents my 2000 TL last year. Begged them not to buy it. Transmission went last week. Car just hit 108k miles on it. Sold it to them at 88k miles.

Local transmission shop quoted out the door 2400 for rebuild, as well as replacing front motor mounts.

Seem reasonable?