[QUOTE=darksom1 I put the "good shit" in when I had the problem, and I have never, I mean NEVER had the problem again. ! [/QUOTE]



....Dark, how many miles have you racked up on the 'good shit' so far?

tks man, ez....

 

Went and picked up my car after two days at the dealership. They claim to not being able to reproduce it. Called corporate Acura and the rep there was even worse. No help at all. Claim to never even heard of this problem and when I brought up the 3rd gear TSB, he claimed to never seen it and ask for the bulletin number. I was on the road and didn't have the bulletin handy with me. Just told me to bring in the car when the problem progesses. I'm so angry right now.

 

....Dark, how many miles have you racked up on the 'good shit' so far?

tks man, ez....[/QUOTE]
I can report around 40,000 miles on my GMSFM. Though my '04 manual TL never had any of the 3rd gear problems reported by others, I changed the factory fill as normal maintenance anyway. It's overdue for another drain and fill.

 

Quick update:
My car is still in the shop because they are going to change out the reverse gears and syncros while they have my baby opened up. Apparently there is an updated reverse gear/syncro set?

 

Anyone have info on this? I haven't heard of any issues with reverse other than some people having problems after the 3rd gear fix which sound like they were errors by the dealership.

Anyway, picked up my car a couple days ago after a week at the dealership. Had them taking care of a few other things in addition to the 3rd gear TSB. So far it has not jammed in 3rd but we'll see. I noticed that sometimes going into 3rd is still a little "notchy" but not as bad as before and it hasn't gotten hung up yet. Hopefully this is the last time I have to deal with this issue but who knows.

Here's something I didn't expect. Part of my "to-do" list for the dealer was to lubricate the rearview mirrors because both of them have been "popping" when turning down while in reverse. Well I pick up the car, look at the parts list, and instead of lubricating the mirrors, they completely replaced them! Works for me since one of my mirrors had a nice rock chip in it. Wouldn't expect that from a dealership.

 

I'll jump in here - I had some difficult shifts into third every now and then (maybe 15 - 20% of the time about every third trip or so, if that makes sense). I have a 2007 type S with 11,000 miles. Since the problem was infrequent, I felt the fluid change would be the best first step rather than have the dealership rip into my transmission. I put in the GMSFM over the weekend and the very first drive I could feel an improvement in all the gears and no notchiness in third. I will keep an eye on this thread and update the long term results, but so far it's very positive.

 

I agree I always go to Marin Acura and altho the service guys are nice, their canned response is...I've never heard of the problem.. AND... the tech guys couldnt reproduce the problem.

Im sure they've heard of it but what can you say at that point?

 

I know right? They act like the nicest people, but they seem to want to avoid any real work. Someone suggested Dublin Acura... but that's quite a drive ... So I don't know I'm still stuck... should I just put in GM synchromesh? That won't void my warranty? I mean I'd rather they not 'rip' into my transmission either, but what if I put this stuff in and the problem doesn't get fixed? If I take it in and they say "oh you put in this stuff ... it just voided your warranty"... then what then? I'm stuck...

 

Happy to report that after a few days after having the TSB done, my car started shifting smoothly in all gears. Seems like it might've just taken a little driving for the new fluid to properly circulate...

 

I experienced the same thing after having mine changed with the new Acura MT fluid. It felt stiff after the drain and fill. After putting some miles on it, the gearbox shifts smooth and very crisp. The new improved fluid the dealer is using seems to be better and the car shifts like it's new again. I never really had any issues but wanted to do it as Pre-emptive maitenance more than anything. Next change I may try the GM stuff!

 

So what other place is there? Oakland? Pleasanton? Anyone have this done in the Bay Area yet? With a dealership that will actually admit to the third gear issue?

 

I had the third gear problem frequently. I changed the MTF a month ago to the GM fluid and have put over 2k on the car since and not had a SINGLE 3rd gear hang up. Not only that but the car is MUCH more confident changing between gears at full throttle.

 

I have my car in the dealership for another warranty item. I mentioned to them if they could also do the 3rd gear TSB fix.

The service advisor says that all it needs is new transmission fluid.

I'm going to bring in a copy of the Acura Service Bulletin to show him when I go pick up my car.

 

I wouldn't let a dealer TOUCH my car knowing that the GM fluid works this good. It's like asking if you would rather have a doctor cut you open for your stomach ache or just give you some Tums. Both might solve the problem, but ones going to be a lot less painful.

I'm mechanically inept (still don't change my own oil) and with $50 worth of tools from Harbor Freight I changed the fluid in about an hour. 30 minutes of that was me looking for a 10mm socket!

 

Great simile. How many miles on your 6M since changing to the GM fluid?

all the best, ez....

 

Got my car back finally. Get ready, they replaced the 2nd/3rd/Reverse Gears! So far so good. Just got it back a couple days ago so Ill keep you posted on how it turns out.

 

If one turns out to be a more permanent solution though, I'd rather have it done while my car is still covered under warranty instead of having to pay for the TSB to be done later.

 

I took my car back to the dealership to have them look into the 3rd gear problem for the second time (the first time I took it in for this issue they told me I probably wasn't engaging the clutch properly. Duh!). This time they were able to get the car to pop out of third gear. So, they are fixing it. I really don't like the idea that they are ripping into the tranny on my "new" car, but I'd rather have it done now than have somthing happen when it is out of warranty. My 08 TLS MT has 10,000 miles on it and I would have to say the third gear issue started immediately. Of you guys who have had Acura fix the third gear issue as per the TSB, please let me know if it fixed the problem.

Thanks.

 

I had the TSB done over 2 months ago and have not had any 3rd gear problems since, I was having them on a more or less daily basis before the TSB. I don't normally put a lot of miles on my TL in the summer because I ride my motorcycle everywhere, but with the rain we have been having I have logged more then normal for the past 2 months.

 

if you have a 6mt they will rebuild the tranny, if you have an auto they will replace it but, basically its a lot of work...

 

I'm also going on a few months since having the TSB done and so far everything is working as it should. It's nice driving again and not having to worry about 3rd gear hanging up. If you have a decent service department that is willing to do it, I would get it done.

Like most TL owners here I was very uncomfortable letting the dealership open my car up. I went back and forth for awhile before taking it in, but now it's fixed and I have the piece of mind that the "fix" was done by Acura in case something happens to go wrong down the road (ie, they can't blame me using different fluids, etc.).

 

This topic/TSB only concerns 6mt, not automatics. Also, they don't rebuild the tranny, it's a replacement 3rd gear set that is installed. You are right though, it's a good amount of work.

Somebody feel free to correct or add to this. I don't have my copy of the TSB here to verify what is actually done under the fix.

 

brought my car in for an oil change.

they said 'we couldnt reproduce the gear thing at all - so we cant fix it'

dude this is why i hate my acura tl 05 -
Man this is the first and last acura i'll ever buy.

 

Just got my car back after having the 3rd gear TSB done. The Coggin Acura dealership in Florida ordered the parts ahead of time so they only had it a coupe of days. So far so good, but it's only been one day. We'll see how it goes. I already bought the GM fluid before I got word of the TSB so I'll probably put that in anyway at some point.

 

Put my 06 is a week ago Monday for the power steering recall & to have them check the 3rd gear issue which was an intermittent problem.

Got a call in the afternoon that the power steering hose was replaced but that they could not reproduce the problem on 3rd gear.

Told them about the TSB & that it was an intermittent problem. They asked to keep the car over night so they could try it from dead cold. They called mid morning on Tuesday to say they had the problem & were replacing the 3rd gear set.

Car was picked up on Thursday of last week & so far (about 300 city miles) its been much improved as far as smoothness going from 2nd to 3rd. All the notcheyness is gone & no sign of it popping out of gear.

 

I had noticed the 3rd gear issue a few times before finding the posted TSB online. So I just dropped mine off wednesday at Acura Carland (duluth, ga), to get the 45k maintenance checkup (that the previous owner missed), and I mentioned the TSB (as well as a few other TSB's), 2 hours later I got a call saying I was keeping the loaner 08 TL over the weekend as they were able to repro'd the 3rd gear issue and were going to replace it

i'll be picking it up monday/tuesday and will let you know how it goes. But im with some of the others here, it's a dealer, trained technicians, and it's covered under warranty, would make no sense NOT to have them fix it. I feel much safer knowing it's Acura fixing it, and not jerry-rigging it with some fluid band-aid. I totally understand that some dealers don't have the best tech's, and people have had issues, but in my opinion, owning a $20k+ car also means taking the time to find a service center you can trust to help you maintain that investment properly.

cheers.

(btw...I actually don't like the 08 model at all!!!, the dash is too busy, don't like the steering wheel design at all (thinner, feels too stiff, doesn't have the meaty grip that the 06 steering wheel has, and for some reason I feel like im driving a standard rental car versus the more simplistic/sophisticated style of the 06..., actually, on second thought, I think im just getting old....lol!)

 

So I have an 07 TL Type S 6MT. I've been having this "3rd gear" problem since about June when the car had about 13,000 miles on it. Took it to Acura dealer and left it for a day, got the response that they could not replicate the problem and there was no TSB on it. They just lubed up the shift linkage. Worked for about a week and then started having the same problem.

So I went over to Acura dealer again today to make an appointment to have snow tires put on and oil change etc. I told the service guy I was having the same problem, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. Said he's never heard of it.

Looking at the TSB, it was released is April, so when they looked at my car in August, they should have been able to fix it yet didn't. Now I am going to print this TSB out and hand it to them when I drop off the car on Wednesday and see what kinda look they get on their faces.

We are all busy with our lives and should not have to do the work for these lazy a**'s. This kinda stuff pisses me off.

 

Print out this entire thread and the other ones too! Thats what I did! lol. Gave them something to do to keep them busy. They play ignorant bc it costs them a lot of time and money to fix it but they know they have to do it!

 

I took the car in today, showed them the TSB, the service girl said she will change out the tire and test drive the car to see if they could reproduce the problem. Got a call 2 hours later that they were able to reproduce the problem and woulld keep the car have the 3rd gear set replaced.

Told me to come pick up a loaner. So I am driving around in 2009 TSX w/ 4000 miles on it. So far, its been an awesome loaner.

Thanks to everyone on this thread, I am finally getting my car fixed!!!

 

Hey Everyone - I'm new to this forum, but I loved this coverage of the 3rd gear TSB for TL's. Great feedback all around. I'm currently looking at a manual 05 TL with 38k miles and was 'this' close to pulling the trigger. Then I got home, looked up the first part number listed on the Warranty Repair History list the dealer gave me, and wouldn't ya know it - transmission assembly. So, after the requisite 'what the...' and several hours of reading forums and searching the internet - here I am.

So, what I am curious of is how this 3rd gear replacement 'fix' has worked out over time. I saw that many of you had the fix done, but it was difficult to tell how many miles you've driven when reporting the 'all clear'. Could any of you who had the TSB 3rd gear replacement done after April 2008 report back on the current condition of your transmission (any lingering problems? any new problems?) and the number of miles driven since the fix?

I love this car (immaculate condition inside and out, including engine and transmission - that I could tell), and would hate to be stuck with a crummy transmission...but on the other hand, I dont want to pass it up for something that really is a non issue.

Thanks so much!
Jeff

 

Had it done a year ago. Put about 12,000 on car since then. No problems. Shifts smoothly and doesn't get stuck in 3rd gear. Its been holding up.

 

Man Acura of Reno was a bad dealership to go to. They didnt even want to try it again and were giving me grief saying "its not a problem that ever car has.

But then I moved back to CT and went to the dealership I bought my car. Acura of North Haven. Dang they said they'll fix it and didnt mind to fix it cause it keeps their mechanics busy. He said that its their 10th one too - so i'm happy now that I know it will be fixed.

My issue was happening almost everyday when I drove it.

 

Hey Jeff,
I picked up my 04 manual TL about 5 months ago from an Acura dealer. It had around 50k on it and was also immaculate (Acura certified pre-owned). Best car I've ever owned and so far I find the transmission flawless. I doubt that the dealership did the TSB before selling it but either way I have experienced 0 problems. I wouldn't let it turn you off the car. For piece of mind just make sure you get an extended warranty with the purchase.
Good luck and post pictures if you end up buying the TL.
DJ

 

Thanks for the responses. I decided to go for it! Unfortunately, I couldnt get the dealer to come down from $20,400 (I was at $18,400 and willing to come up if the dealer came down), so I left - intending to come back the next day to try again. Well, the car was sold the next morning for $19,300! Needless to say I was quite upset. So, I'm back on AutoTrader trying to find another gem - this car is a rare one - but I think it will be worth the wait!

 

I took the wife's '06 MT in for an oil change today and just told them to just take a quick look at the 3rd gear as I didn't even know about the TSB. Sure enough, I am now the proud user of an '09 loaner and will have mine back in a couple days. I am glad I am not the only one this has happened to and I am also glad that people state no problems after the repair.

 

10,000 miles since having the 3rd gear tsb done. No problems shifting into 3rd gear anymore.

 

By the way....2 months later and it is still great. For those of you on the fence about having this done...DO IT! This was a known problem that Acura has addressed and the techs are not from Jiffy Lube. I think that the consensus has been great. Why not? Have a little faith

 

My 6MT is in for the new 3rd gear set. I'm hoping for the best. Has anyone had theirs done out of warranty ? Just curious if Acura picked up the entire tab for that. I'm getting a 90/10 split. Not bad, but maybe I should ask for 100%.

 

I have a 2009 Accord V6 Coupe 6MT and I'm having the 3rd gear issue as well. Happens once out of every 100 3rd gear engagements but its annoying. I'm oin the fence about going to get new fluid or having Honda open up my brand new car.

Hopefully they don't try and play dumb since my year isnt listed on that TSB.

 

I have the same problem. It happens rarely, so I'm not sure if i want to go through all that trouble.