jazzman_q

iTrader: (1)

Good day all,

I have noticed that my 2002 TL-S, has developed a slight "Pulse" occasionally when shifting from 2-3 gear. This does not happen all of the time. The car has roughly 119K on it, and the Oil Jet and Transmission recalls were completed back in 04 and 05 when the car had about 55K on it, by previous owner.

So it appears that the second trans has lasted 65K miles, which does not seem too good, mileage wise.

So after reading through post after post on the transmission issue here, I am still left to wonder about the reliability/durability of the Acura Tranmissions. I have read that the Post 2005 transmissions seem to be working out ok for some folks, but others are still having problems.

Since I don't have an Acura dealer with any customer service skills near me (I called Acura Dealer in Annapolis, left a detailed message as requested, and the POS did not even return my call, so it kinda takes them off my list for spending my money there) I called my local Honda Dealer (GREAT FOLKS, so far) the Sevice Manager answered all of my questions, clearly, and concisely, and ball parked a replacement trans @ 3600-4000, but would like to check it out before saying for certain that it's the trans. He talked about possible solenoid issues.

As a double check I went by an independant transmission shop, and talked to them: First thing the guy tells me is that I need a "Power Flush", so I tell him that I heard that PF's were extremely bad for my transmission type, and info gaathered from here about them. He tells me no they are not, but that is the best way to get all of the gunk out of the transmission, and goes on about mixing clean fluids with contaminated fluids being badd for the trans.

So I asked him for his ballpark price on the transmission replacement, and he quotes me 3500, and talks about warranties 1/12, 2/24, 3/36 and Lifetime.

Did not think to ask him what type of transmission would go in (honda v Jasper)

So all of this to ask:

How long should Trans last?

Are the Trans holding up better now?

Jasper V Honda: Which is bettter.

What about solenoids?

Thanks, gotta go will check back shortly

Bob_F

I wouldn't give up on goodwill coverage yet. You could get a significant discount on the replacement. 50% coverage is not unusual and some have even received full coverage.

Call the Annapolis dealer again or better yet, drive there in person. As described in the Tranny Failure Thread, you'll want to speak directly to the Service Manager, not a service advisor. The customer care group will sometimes get involved and help out.

If that doesn't work out, try another Acura dealer. And call Acura's national customer care number and ask them to assign you a case number. Be sure to describe your difficulty getting a response from the dealer.

Good luck!

fsttyms1

Call the dealer back and talk to someone. Dont give up on some sort of goodwill.

Elg0rd0yadigg

hey guys i had the same issue on my car yesterday ive had the car for about 4 months now i got about 112k on it and tranmission always shifted good not butter or new car but nothing noticeable unless i really punched then a subtle very slight jerk btwn shifts was felt......but then yesterday the car shifting from 1st to 2nd gave a lag btwn 3000 rpm and 5000 rpm....so it reached 5000 and shifted into second...smoothly none the less no hard kick or anything...but now im driving the car in fear....i wont even use the tip mode even though i like driving my stick shift better it still fun to play around with that......anyways getting back to my point....what do you guys recommend i love the car none the less....should i try a a power flush on the tranny or start some sort of case or something with my local dealer.....cuz my tranny has blue bolts so i know it was swapped once already....and they didnt really help out a buddy of mine who went to them here in ny, curry acura in westchester.....lastly i called and random phone girl told me that extended warranty was only up 100k now is that dash mileage or from the last one put in.......sry for the long paragraphs but you guys seem very knowledgeable and the other tranny threads didnt answer these questions as far as the pages i read cuz there are alot....lol

reloaded

So this problem is the transmission?

I too have the same problem it seems like. Every once in a while, when I pull out of a driveway and go right, I accelerate and the RPM shoots up and seems like it won't shift until maybe 3/4 seconds later; then it'll eventually catch the gear.

So what you guys are telling me is that I should call the dealer and tell them that I heard this is a common problem w/ TL's? I have a 2002 type-s, only owner, with 75k miles..so it's not anywhere near the 100k people are feeling it at.

Bob_F

Many TL transmissions have failed at 75,000 miles or less. You might want to bring it in to the dealer and have it checked out.

What was the original "in-service" date for the car? Some 2002 TLs have already hit the 7 year 9 month limit on the extended warranty.

You might also want to post in the Tranny Failure Thread.

AZN.M3NACE

^ I would have to agree. Take the car into the dealership and see what they can do. They can either goodwill your tranny, or pay half the cost and you pay the other. I should have done that instead of taking my car to AAMCO.. what a rip off. I could have just faught and paid for half the cost of the tranny.

reloaded

Thanks you two for your input. Yea, an extended warranty is pretty much out of the picture since it was never purchased when I originally got the car. I'll take it in and see what they'll do for me.

What is a goodwill transmission? Is that a transmission that they fix up? I'm a little paranoid w/ having any used part in the car...I may as well fork over money for a new one...w/ the half price of course though...

jazzman_q

iTrader: (1)

Well took it to the dealership, and had them check it out. The SR recommended a flush of the ATF, which I was hesitant to have done. I expressed my concerns, and about having read various threads here about the mechanical flush being a possible lead in to the failure. He stated that the fluids looked dirty, and that he understood my concerns, however he stated that if all that is holding it together is the fluids, then no matter what it will fail.

That of course made some sense, but i was still not convinced, But in the Spirit of building some history with the dealership (as if it might matter later), I asked if they could download from Acura Customer Care the service history, so they would have it going forward, show what was done, and where it was done at (previous owner was Acura frequent flier for everything, so hoping that since I loaded that data under my use name I'll get some credit for it )

I went ahead with the flush as they recommended, once again building some history with them. Upon completion of the flush, I have been unable to duplicate the pulsing for a couple of days. It is shifting smoother, faster or at least on the "butt dyno" it seems too. But I will keep my fingers crossed

Bob_F

I'm very surprised that an Acura dealership would recommend a transmission flush. Are you absolutely sure that they didn't perform a "drain and fill" servicing? Based on what i've read here over and over again, Acura recommends the drain and fill procedure. And I've read several reports where transmissions failed shortly after a flush treatment.

russianDude

Did you find out what year and month last transmission was installed on?
You can always get this information by calling acura cutomer service and giving them your VIN#. It would be interesting to know if you have post Feb 2005 transmission

jazzman_q

iTrader: (1)

I too was surprised by the flush recomendation, and spoke up about having read here about how "Bad" the flush was supposed to be, the SR said "That is the best way to get all of the old dirty fluid out."

As far as the tranny the repair dates are: Oil Jet Recall: Install Oil Jet per Recall 12/28/04. The replacement date for the Tranny was around 4/7/05.

Was the Feb date some major date as far as the replacement trannies went? Did they roll out some "new" casing design, or something?

Bob_F

The general concensus on this forum is that Acura made several changes to the design in February of 2005. I've never seen a detailed listing of what was changed. I think one of the changes mentioned was a more durable 3rd gear clutch pack material. And the case design was also changed to improve oil flow, thus negating the need for the oil jet retrofit/recall.

Perhaps someone else could offer up more details.

russianDude

That sucks, this would be another post 2005 Feb transmission failure. Only 1-2 month off, so maybe you you got older version, at least this is what I'd like to think. As far as updates, Acura made number of minor updates to this transmission, the only public acknowledgment was in September 11, 2002 , see http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/11/autos/hy-acura11, which we now know was a lie or their wishful thinking:
"Spencer said Honda engineers identified the root of the problems a few months ago and have redesigned the transmission".
What a sack of sh*t!
(thats their reasoning for not covering all 2003 CL/TLs by extended warranty)

After that they said nothing and continued with updates (sort of like "lets try this and see if it works"), but unconfirmed sources say that updates continued because , the last one was in Feb/March 2005. Looks 2005+ is more reliable, but not the best. On top of that you need to add all kinds of problems associated with rebuilds (manual process which is error proned) and installation screw ups. Statistics show rebuilds have higher failure rate due to human judgment (for any car).

jazzman_q

iTrader: (1)

Well I'll guess we will see, as I said I have been unable to reproduce the pulse since the flush, and I have continued to drive as I did prior to the flush. it does seem to shift smoother, so maybe it was the fluid.

Or maybe it is the beginning of the end, only time will tell.

If it does in fact fail, then we will see about the goodwill option. But I will definately stay on top of the fluid changes for the trans.

Thanks for the info folks.

russianDude

Its jusþ funny, according to acura problem should have been fixed 03, but it was not, it was simply trial and error on their part, and in feb 2005 they gave up with their last update. They just can't do it in the same case. I think 03 they put a bandaid to avoid NHTSA safety issues of tranny locking up, so now it does not lock up, it simply slips

acutee

They may use the term 'flush' but could actually doing 3x3, and bill for flush job. It would sound weird for the writer or tech to say 'we will do drain and fill 3x3....'

R2D

My 03 TL was doing the same thing so i took it to acura and at the time i had 75,xxx on the car.. to make a long story short they gave me a new tanny and it cost acura about 8k to fix my car because i was still covered by acura and it took about 9 days to get my car back