TL Fanatic

My friend and I are thinking about going to the Acura dealer and checking out the 04 TL. Even though I am a huge fan of the TL, I would like to know that after spending that much money that I will not have many problems. Honda has a great reputation for being reliable and my current Honda has helped in backing that reputation.

My friend currently has a 02 CL Type S, the transmission started acting up so he took it to the dealer and they replaced it. Now the new transmission is acting up and he has barely put 5k miles on it. He is considering replacing it with the 04 TL. Just wondering if the 04 TL is acting up. I have ready many posts in the forum and seems like many people have had problems, but not sure if these are older models. Also have read various post stating that the transmission has been changed, still using the same one from the last generation, and it now uses the NSX transmission(?). I'm thinking the 04 TL is not giving many problems, since i'm looking under the 3rd generation forum, but have noticed replys from older model owners rather then current model owners. If the 04 TL owners and any technicans out there could give your input, would be greatly appreciated.

jimthegreek

The new TL does not share the same tranny as the 99-03 do... The problem has been fixed with the new TL and you shouldnt worry about it at all. I have several clients with well over 20k miles on the new TL's already, and have no issues whatsoever with them. Buy the car, Enjoy it. dont worry about it..


so... wanna buy a car??


just kidding

Teh Jatt

so what kind of "acting up" does transmission do, so I can look for certain "acting up"

TorontoTL

Absolutely no transmission problems at all. I have had my 04 TL auto since Oct.

neuronbob

This early build owner with just over 6000 miles has had no problems. New tranny in this model of TL, so hopefully no issues.

dre596

all set with my 04 TL NO ISSUES 33,000 AND GOING STRONG

phil17

from what i've gathered there is no widespread problem with the 04+ TL's. there were some early production ones that had to have an oil jet intalled to return more fluid to the 2nd gear but nothing like the previouse TL's experienced. as long as all the regular work is preformed i'm sure it'll be okay

neuronbob

I'm just over 50k miles and there's no problem with my tranny. It's a far cry from hanging out at the 2G forum while I had my 2G TL and wondering when (not if) my tranny would blow.

DFBRL8R

We bought our TL in Oct. '04 and recently turned 41,000 miles. We have an A/T and I drive in SSS mode more often than not. I have not had any problems whatsoever.

JoganJani

Bough 04 in Dec 03, 35K+, no problems. This is MT.

sftroy

WRONG car man. And, in my opinion, you should worry especially if you are buying an 04TL.

Review the following TSB:

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B04-020.PDF

The first ~14K 04TLs were affected by the safety recall due to the 2nd gear lube problem. Same as the 03's...

My POS 04TL's Tranny started to make noise well before the recall was made. They performed the recall work, but it was too late. My tranny was damaged and only got worse (whines, hard shifting, burnt fluid, etc.). Acura denied that there was anything wrong with my car, and stated that the noises were normal. The Arbitrator in my Lemon Law case thought different and Acura now owns that car.

Based upon all the problems I had with my 04 (early build, vin # in the 500's), I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one. Caveat emptor. Take my advice or listen to the car sales guy above.....

sftroy

AlexTL

well i have an 05' TL and i just recently had my tranny and torque converter replaced. i have 36,000 miles. the tranny was acting up when it would shift from 3rd to 4th.

TLVR

The key is to find out when the 04 TL was build. That would be your best course of action. The VIN # should reveal the actual build date. There were early build 04 that had tranny problems. Consumer Reports also has that area also partially black marked as a problem area. The problem was resolved on the production line midway throughout the year, could have been May, June or earlier. Keep us posted and good luck!

ubnpast

If I post my vin, can someone tell me if it was an early model? I bought the car from my aunt, she had the recall already done with the new transmission (auto w/54k miles). The car seems funny, it doesnt slam gears or anything, but it takes almost 2 full seconds to shift between gears when floored, and just seems strange. My dad has an 05 auto tl and his car seems tight, but it is very slow, I mean you punch it and it doesnt burn out or anything (he uses regular gas), and my tl when you punch it, the tires smoke up. Any thoughts on the transmission?

sftroy

The recall affected 04TL VINs 19UUA66.4A000001 thru 19UUA66.4A014224

The TSB was issued on April 8, 2005 and the recall work was scheduled shortly after.

If it was a high mileage car, I'd worry that the repair work was too little, too late.

KJSmitty

My 04 has over 20K miles. Vin in the high 16000's. The only anomaly that I would remotely mention is a slight delay when first placing the car into drive. It however has done this from day one and hasn't remotely changed in the past 20K. No fluid burning, leaking, or shift issues.

Sure the initial 2nd gear oil jet issue put a bad taste in every-one's mouth but after that my guess would be all is OK. Their are bound to be a few bad apples out there, but it is built by humans and is a mechanical object that can fail.. Statistically, I bet the percentage of tranny issues with the 3G TL 5AT's is the same as any year of car/manufacturers tranny issues etc..

Acuracy

i have an 04 with 33K on it and no problems at all. AgainstAllOdds on the forum has a 3rd gen supercharged and its holding up fine and he drives hard, he also just added a 35 shot nitrous and he says it still shift beautiful.

gstais

To All,

Anyone out there know the symptoms of the alleged transmission issues? My TL is at the dealer today, because I have been hearing a loud, high pitched whine coming from under the hood. This sound is really loud (it can be heard at freeway speeds with the windows closed), and the pitch rises and falls as the car shifts throught the gears. The first thought I had was a transmission problem.

My TL is an early '04 that has already had the 2nd Gear Oil jet replaced under the recall. This was done within 6-months after I took deleivery of this car in November 2003.

This car has over $66,000 miles on it, and I am now starting to get concerned over issues like this. This is only one of several problems I have had in the past 3-years.

Thanks in advance

sftroy

Oh I know that high pitch whine very, very well. Some background - I had an 03 Accord V6 that had a high pitched whine, esp. at freeway speeds. It changed pitch as I changed speeds. Honda said there was nothing wrong with my Tranny after many service visits. It failed when I was driving on the freeway the morning after I picked up my car from the dealer. I nearly got rear ended when my car jumped into 2nd gear. I traded it in on an early 04TL in Nov 04. I was told that the TL tranny was completely new and wasn't the same as in the TL. My TL's tranny began to whine in Jan 06. Same whine as the Accord. Acura said there was nothing wrong with my car yet couldn't explain why the whine developed. A recall was issued in April 05 covering the 1st 14K 04TLs built. The recall work was completed on my car in June 04, but by then, I had 20K miles on my car. They said they examined the 2nd gear and took pictures (which they wouldn't show me). They said my car was fine, however, the whine got worse and could be heard at all speeds. Long story short, during my lemon law case, the court appointed service tech determined that my tranny was close to failing - the fluid was burnt, the car didn't shift well in manual mode, etc. If you dig thru the paperwork on the TSB/Recall, there is a statement about a high-pitched whine as a symptom of a failing tranny. I believe that Acura would rather replace trannys as they fail rather than than do an advanced replacement - it is a $$$$ thing.

Sorry for the news, I'd make a stink with your dealer and ACS about the whine.

sftroy

btw - which dealer are you taking your car to?

sftroy

gstais

Tsftroy,

Thanks for the update. I got my car back yesterday from Acura of Pleasanton. They told me the problem was the auto belt tensioner for the serpentine belt. Apparently, the bearing had worn out. Now after one day, the whine is gone, and the car sounds normal.

However, I will make sure to contact them immediately if the whine recurs or I encounter any other symptoms. Also, during my next visit, I will have them service the transmission. At that time I will further press the issue.

Regards,

special-ed

good post, I just started to notice this whine also. I can have the car parked but as I step on the gas (while parked) the whine also gets louder. I'm hoping it's just a tensioner issue also.

havokgroup

I've had my TL since Oct of 04, it's currently at 15K in miles and I don't have any tranny problems yet. On a side note...at my dealership I haven't had any 4th gen come in with tranny issues as well.

unxadm

I have an 04 TL. Tranmission started making noises around 8K miles. After a couple service vists the whole transmission was replaced and the noise was gone. The werid part about my issue is that the noise only occured between 45 - 65 MPH with the gas pedal pressed down.

csmeance

no tranny problems yet, just a annyoying knocking sound from the engine, and yes, i use 93 octane and sometime 100 octane

special-ed

I don't think it's the tranny in my case. I've got the oil jet kit installed and haven't had any issues what-so-ever since it was put in over 40k miles ago. Also, since the noise increases with engine speed (while the car is parked), I'm convinced it's the belt tensioner.

leeherman

My '04 was built in May 2004 and now has around 8,500 miles.

No problems at all, and the car is still a pleasure to drive!

special-ed

Problem confirmed! Bad tensioner. Replaced today under extended warranty thank goodness.

mmichel

I just traded my 03 CL-s last month because my second trany went within 500 miles of the first one (39k on the car at trade-in). I went with the 6-spd TL, that way I don't have to worry about the Honda auto-trany issue anymore:-)

TorontoR

I hear a rattling sound and it seems to be coming from right under the shifter. Its a ticking sound that comes and goes (sometimes sounds like its mixed with a loose bolt rattling inside something). The sound is not consistent, and comes and goes. It was very prevalant 5 months ago, and when I took it to the dealer, it completely went away! As of last week it is back. This sound is definitely resonating from the outside. As other cars pass by, I hear the ticking sound reflected back at me, otherwise I cannot hear the noise form the outside.

Anyone see this scenario before?