soriano11

Is it possible for anybody to tell me what the best thing to do for preventive maintenace, if there is anything, with the transmissions for the 2002 acura tl type-s. Mine has 119000 roughly.

When i bought it in 2008 it had about 88000 miles. i learned it went to an acura dealership to fix the recall for the transmission at roughly 67000 miles. I do not remember if it was before or after march of 2005. If that means anything.

Just would like to know any input on the topic!

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

Tough, I wouldn't risk changing the tranny fluid without knowing if it was changed before. Changing the fluid on a 120k tranny without a fluid service could hurt more than help.

totaledTL

Just this board- there is a ton of info/many opinions about it.

junteschan

I do a drain & fill w Honda ATF every 5000 miles on mine and added an ATF cooler and never used the sports shift.
I would conclude it helped as I already have 176000 miles todate with original tranny.

01tl4tl

Look at the trans from above:
if there is blue paint on a number of bolt heads associated with the trans= its a warranty replacement trans!!!

If the oil jet kit is in the atf filler hole and have blue bolts, pre 05 replacement

no oil kit and blue bolts- post 05 replacement= better case design!!! (oil kit moved internal)

no blue paint and oil kit installed- original trans to car

once thats determined you can change fluid or not
Always start with a 1 time 3 qts drain and refill (may drain up to 3.4 so measure)
see what the fluid looks like and how it drives after- go from there

Honda's `new atf` has less friction modifiers- which seems to help our problem

oil coolers have no effect on the real problem..there is not enough oil pasasges to the hot areas- thats our prob without a fix~
slightly lower temp may help but its not a cure

some cars are lucky and get 200kmiles on the original trans
those probably changed the fluid yearly or more, change the external filter, etcetc

use of SS is a damage issue only when used to downshift into 3rd and 2nd at max rpm-repeatedly =causing severe heat to the weak clutches

01tl4tl

for noobs to azine: the trans recall was ONLY to install an external feeder line into the normal atf filler hole- to provide direct spray to 2nd gear and shaft- it was snapping from heat stress/no oiling--locks up wheels as it downshifts into 2nd at 70mph!
The recall fixes that issue and no more problems with that

As part of that recall they also use a boroscope camera to look thru the filler hole at the possibly heat strained parts
If specific damage was found on them, the entire trans was replaced under warranty right then

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

I've theoretically proven that an ATF cooler will help our problem. Unless there is ZERO atf getting to the clutch pack, it will help. If you have the post 2005 trans that should allow a little more atf to the clutch pack, then the atf cooler will help MUCH more.

Simple science. Then again, the world does weird stuff.

Edward'TLS

If your 2G tranny is gonna fail, it will. The tranny is defective by design.

No amount of preventive maintenance is gonna prevent it from failing if it wants to. Thus, simply follow the owner's manual for scheduled tranny service is all that you need to do.

01tl4tl

the owner manual was written long before they knew of the trans fluid problem and the need to change it before 60kmiles!!

if you want to follow the book, use the severe service part- sooner everything

per our megamoderator fsttyms1 (fast times Won)
The 3 trans that lasted the fewest miles in his car- had an oil cooler add on!

He went thru 3 acura rebuilt units, and 2 more he rebuilt himself---in 200kmiles,
before going with a complete CL-S engine and 6 speed manual trans install -DIY!!

Edward'TLS

The main cause of the domed 2G trannies is insufficient fluid circulation. It's a design fault. There's not enough oil passages inside the tranny block to extract the internal heat to the outside.

If the 2G owner doesn't have the final version of the updated tranny, which can alleviate the heat problem, the 3rd gear clutch pack is still gonna burn out, even if the owner changes tranny fluid every week.

It is not uncommon for Honda to send revision notice to car owners to correct mistakes contained inside the owner's manual.

So if Honda thinks a more frequent tranny fluid change will fix this 2G tranny problem, it would have issued such a TSB long ago and then problem solved, rather than keep working on the hardware fixes for almost 3 years long.

Think about it, who else knows the 2G trannies better than Honda itself which designed and manufactured them.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

The people who test it every single day?

fsttyms1

He is right, you could change the fluid every day and it wouldnt help. I changed mine every oil change and it failed with the least amount of mileage of my 5 failures. Fluid isnt the issue. Getting fluid to where it needs to be is.

Edward'TLS

Tell me, what do these people, who test it every single day, know about the 2G trannies ? Failure mode(s) ? Out of tolerance clutch packs ? Remedies ? Band-aid fixes ? PCM reprograms ? Permanent fixes ?

What do they (and even myself) know, other than these :

- almost lost control of my TL/CL when the car suddenly downshifted to 2nd gear from 5th with no warning, while cruising on the highway.

- the VSA and D5 warning lights lit up on the dash like a Christmas tree.

- the 3rd gear was gone.

- the reverse gear shift only after a long delay.

- the tranny occasional hiccuped downshifting one gear before upshifting.

If it was not the NHTSA which opened up a case, and the release of the Honda 2G tranny investigative report which was submitted to NHTSA as a result, we (as outsiders) would NEVER have gained so much inside information of what exactly was going on inside Honda which was so furiously trying to fix the tranny problem.

Thanks to EricL for the NHTSA reports :

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-transmission-recall-q-55/nhtsa-case-summary-pe-02-081-a-436653/
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-transmission-recall-q-55/summary-very-long-whats-wrong-auto-tranny-440072/

Let me rephase my sentence.

Tell me who else knows how to fix the 2G trannies better than Honda itself which designed and manufactured them.