pokin

I stopped at a traffic light on my way to work this morning... light turned green and tranny refused to shift into 2nd. I tried manual shift - same. I had to limp back home on 1st (luckily, only a couple of miles away). This is certainly a surprise for an 07 with no previous hints of tranny problems.

Good news is that I have Acuracare - 6k mile short of expiration. Waiting for tow truck....

renedcruz

iTrader: (8)

Man that sucks. Hope everything works out.

And the good thing is, it happen before your warranty expired.

omnuts

That will spoil your morning, sorry to hear hope warranty covers everything

08WDPTL

all these tranny issues make me re-think my decision to purchase an Acura in the first place.

CBP08TL

iTrader: (2)

^^ Agree. I'm experiencing a vibration on the pedal and i read someone had a similar case and there transmission needs to be replaced. I'm beginning to have doubts with this car...grrr

bkmchenry

are these problems with the tranny all with the AT models?

ttribe

The one's where the trans self-destructs, yes. The MT had its own set of problems with 3rd gear (I believe).

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

AT's have never been Honda's strong point, which is why I've never purchased a Honda or Acura with an auto. I've had a '93 Accord, '99 Accord and now an '06 TL, all manuals.

I don't know why Honda struggles so with Autos.

lexsteele

dammnn..well Im about to purchase an 05 auto TL...what are the chances (persay) that the tranny is going to go?? Is it highly likely even if all the routine maintenance was done on it??

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

you guys are all lucky u want some kind of warranties. im out of a warranty on my car and my tranny is slipping on the 2-3 shift. drives well except for that problem, i fear that one day my car will leave me stranded somewhere and i wont have enough $ for a new tranny.

P1zzaman

iTrader: (1)

My 07 base has 57K miles. I did a 2 x 3 with Amsoil type-f about 1000 miles ago. It's still going alright.

I notice a slight lunge between 2-3 gear but nothing dramatic. I am going to replace the sensors soon too.

ttribe

I wish I could tell you. They seem to be coming out of the blue in many cases. I'll admit I'm a little nervous sitting at 87K miles and my warranty almost out.

i_love_cars

iTrader: (1)

chances are pretty damn low on 3rd gen TL's beyond a certain set of VIN's on 2004's.

many threads on this on these forums.

I think you will be fine. Most Hondas will run to 200k if you do the intended maintenance and take care of the vehicle. I believe in driving cars, not babying them, but that also doesn't mean beating the ever-loving p*ss out of them.

I have an '05 AT that I bought off of lease in 2008 and I'm up to 111k miles now with no problems at all, and I put my car through its paces, no doubt about it. My buddy is always amazed when he looks under the hood in regards to how clean it is for how hard I drive it. I floor it to pass people on the highway a lot, I accelerate from a stoplight typically at half throttle, and generally work to put my car in front of the pack. Never had a hitch with the transmission.

The caveat is that I swapped the 3rd and 4th gear oil pressure switches at 75k and also put Redline D4 ATF in, per IHC's recommendations.

3rd gen TL auto trans will most likely be fine if you can control the heat generated by the transmission, which is precisely where the Redline D4 fluid comes in, or just change the Honda Z1 fluid more regularly (every 30k miles or so).

lexsteele

Sweet, I really appreciate the info. I pretty much nixxed 04s off my list because I have heard so many trans horror stories. What are the vin numbers in 04 that are safe?? I've been searching for a TL for the past month and if I can consider an 04 that may greatly help. I was under the impression that all 04s were plagued.

CyDogg

Is the type S trans in 07 good? I heard it's different from the base model trans

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

+1

Drewman752

04, 150k. tranny is running strong. yeah she shifts hard when im being a lead foot. but when i drive her proper she shifts smooth. had the car since 130k miles. not to sure if the tranny has been replaced prior or not really.

lexsteele

If an 04 had the tranny recall done...would it be a safe bet that the transmission would be good in a vehicle such as this?? Also, what are the VIN numbers in 04 that are safe in regards to the tranny?

coykiam

It is scary, Im just out of the Basic warranty and the only thing I have left in my 06 is the powertrain warranty. And even that the dealer will try everything to money out of you! trust me i know! I found out the hard way...

maddsiick

sigh...been there already with my 05...30,000 miles and it died. got it replaced by Acura with some nice perks for the trouble, but it didnt make up for the aggravation.

pokin

Update...
The transmission was replaced - no questions asked - and I just picked up my car today. It drives great! Everything, including a loaner, was covered by the Acuracare warranty. This is actually the second big repair that has been covered by this warranty - the first was a Rack and Pinion replacement at 60k miles .

I do not know what warranty comes with the replacement transmission (service reps had left when I got there). So, I will have to check tomorrow.

All in all, I am happy with the result. However, since the 07-08 TLs have a stronger variant of the 2G RL transmission and mine drove just fine, I was shocked when and how this happened. So, I may have to rethink the prospect of keeping the car long-term. Great car, but tranny its is a crapshoot.

Chad05TL

I replaced the switches on my 05 and after that, my gas mileage went up and I noticed when crusing, the gear stays in harder. In other words, I have to press down a bit harder to make it slip out. Which is a good thing. I think the switches were allowing my transmission to slip the gear too easily, and reduce gas mileage. I can only assume that would cause the pressure plates to wear down faster. Fortunately I only drove it with "reduced gas mileage" less than a year but not sure exactly how long. But I don't put anymore than 10k miles on my car per year. It has 63k now. And I recently moved within a 10 minute walk of work. So, it stays in the garage all week unless I need groceries. haha Mainly a weekend car for now.

DejaVu85

I have a 04 TL and I sort of a problem with my 3rd gear tranny.
I feel the car, has a hard time switching from 2nd to 3rd gear.
When I accelerate slowly I feel it happen a lot. The pedal sort of shakes and then eventually it switches. I can avoid this by just releasing the gas and pushing down on it again and it switches fine, if I accelerate fast enough it doesn't happen either.

Any ideas whats wrong with my tranny?...sensor or is it something really serious:S

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

3rd and 4th gear sensors changed every 50k.

3x3 with a Racing ATF or less FM fluid like D4 change every 60k miles or 1x3 every other oil change.

These two things will assure that your transmission lasts for at least 250k miles.

DejaVu85

Is it expensive to get these sensors changed?
I usually use Honda Tranny Fluid.

combat mediC

iTrader: (1)

You should always use honda tranny fluid... I've heard horror stories from mechanics of people using autozone fluid, and destroying the internals.

ParaSurfer1979

It's not different from base. It's different from 04-06 transmissions as the 07-08 tranny has a version of the RL's transmission which holds more torque than the old trannies would. I'm shocked that these are showing signs of failure as well. I'm at 43k miles now on my 08. When I'm done with rehab since i got menengitis ill be getting Acura to switch my fluid to Redline racing ATF.

ParaSurfer1979

Honda ATF fluid was the problem. Even Honda knew this and switch to a new synthetic fluid.

J Dubya

^^^ What he said about Honda switching to a different fluid.

I did a 3X3 to Redline D4 July 2010 and have now over 20,000 miles with the D4 with HARD driving in my 07 TL-S. I only use the paddle shifters for upshift & downshift and no problems what-so-ever.

eduthesamurai

I think it was for 99 to 2003 models. Sorry to hear your transmission is not working properly.

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

$70-80 for the 3rd/4th gear sensors through our vendors.

Takes about 20 minutes. Up to an hour for newbies.

Never use Honda fluid. They're threads all over about this. Search for "Racing ATF" by Innacurate for the longest read of your life.

Basically, the more FM in a fluid is bad.

I've never heard "horror" stories about "Autozone" fluid. Though, I do not recommend buying Autozone fluid, I'm sure that Autozone fluid is probably very slightly better than OEM fluid. You have to stick to name brands for this.

Mobil 1 Racing ATF, Redline Racing ATF, Amsoil Super Shift, Amsoil Type F, and Redline D4 are all good. Yes they may cost $100 or so, but you can be assured of a "smooth" shift and a longer-life transmission.

Before you ask, a 3x3 means 3 quarts of a "drain and refill" multiplied by 3. You drain and refill once then drive your car, go through all gears including reverse and neutral then doing it again until 9 quarts, at least, have been used. To be on the safe side, introduce a "Type F" fluid slowly by doing 1x3 every 3k miles or every oil change till you fulfill the 3x3.