Well the inevitable happened today. Driving on I-78 on the left lane at 75mph and that was it, I hit the gas pedal and nothing but endless revving of the engine. I somehow managed to get the car back to my house and park it in front of my house but now gotta figure a way to get it towed to the dealer of my choice which happens to be about 40 miles away. FML.

My warranty expired at 100k but I knew the torque converter was on its way out since about 90k and have been complaining to Acura who "supposedly could never replicate the problem" and was always sent on my way. Now I'm out of warranty!

More messed up thing is not a single check engine light came on, even right now, the dash is completely normal. Car is semi driveable but it takes about 3 minutes to get the car up to 50 mph by revving it at 6000 RPM. Obviously not good for the engine so flat bed it is.

Anyone have any ideas for saving money on tow trucks?

 

Wow this scares me that it happened out of nowhere, you didnt have any signs at all in the past few months that it was starting to go on you?

 

Mine only made it a little more than half that.
Try driving it around the block tomorrow to see how it does. When mine went, it got to the point of drive being the same as neutral.
Actually , every gear acted like neutral. The next day it drove fine. (on a short test drive)

Trans shop said that everything that clogged it up to the point of failure had settled once the car cooled. They said that soon after it hits operating temp again , the same thing would happen though.
I was able to drive mine to be repaired. It wasn't even close to 40 miles though.
Good Luck

 

You could sign up for AAA, I had the plus membership for my truck and it included 100 miles of towing. I think it was around $80/year for the membership. there is a base membership too thats even cheaper but I can't remember how much towing was included.

 

careful with the tow truck guys. make sure the guy doesn't gouge anything with the hook in your front bumper. sorry about the tranny going poo. do you have road side service with your car insurance? AAA??? basic AAA will only get you about a 5-10 miles tow. the plus plan gets you 50 miles...not sure how many more plans there are...

take it to the dealer you complained to about the problem before. it's been noted in their records that something was wrong but they couldn't "dpulicate" it. as long as the complaint was documented, Acura should help you out. GL.

 

Good luck with your tranny OP.

 

OP, I feel your pain.
It was a sinking feeling when it happened to me. No warnings, whatsoever.

Mine is still at the dealer getting a refurbed tranny put in.

 

Just happened to me yesterday, I feel your pain...

 

I've already dealt with this crap once with my 2001 CL-S and I'm not looking forward to the day it happens with my TL. Good luck OP.

 

wow, makes me feel trivial about getting back into an acura. I'm looking at a 6 speed type-s 07 with low miles. I wonder if there is any thing I should look out for?

 

The automatic transmissions are the ones that fail.

 

Remember that class action lawsuit for the Acura being at higher mileage than it's supposed to be? like the odometer showed 50k but it really wasn't? and it was really 57k when the car actually hit 50k? So by virtue of the associative property, your 100k warranty should really go away at 114k assuming you bought acura warranty which was registered at Acura. Mine was never registered at Acura, but TLC thing took care of me, though I wasn't over my 100k miles. But give them a call, never hurts to ask.

I'm at like 122k miles and i think the torque converter needs replacing too. At 3rd gear, low RPMs like 2k and slowly revving up, the gas pedal would rumble/shake. Dealer could never reproduce it, but the service guy said, yeah, it's a known issue for lots of Hondas. Knock on wood.

 

It happened to you guys too...

 

Yup only a matter of time.

 

I had up to 100 miles annually included with a plus membership. I let my membership run out a few months ago, maybe its changed since then?

 

^^i think it might have gone up to 100 for the plus. not sure what the basic plan gives you. i have double covereage with AAA and roadside on my car ins.

and i was serious about the tow guy. trying to fight with them to get damages fixed is painful (thankfully my ins handled it, but still). i dont' trust those guys. OP- i would be videoing the entire process or taking pics in front of the tow driver...of your car.

 

It would be worth the time if you let the car sit overnight and then jack it up so the drain plug is the lowest point of the transmission. Dump some cheap DexIII fluid through it and let it flow out. I would do at least several quarts. Then put the plug in and fill it up and see how long it will drive for. This is all assuming the car will drive for a short time when it's first started. If it won't move when cold, there's no reason in going any farther. Also, condition and level of the fluid would be useful.

 

wow, this makes me worry a little - next month I'm driving to CA from FL with a 5x8 in tow - I have 122K miles now and it's as good as new after having the fluid changed and sensors replaced by the dealer - never any issues actually

 

Ok... so $250 and a 30 mile flat bed trip to the dealer, now I wait to see the verdict and fate of the next hit on my wallet. And thank god I'm not currently lowered or else I'd have more problems getting Acura to pay up.

I basically contemplated driving it as when I started it up this morning it did work.. sort of... but problem is if I got stuck in a tunnel or a bridge or a highway and then requested a tow truck from there it would end up costing me somewhere in the $500 range because I wouldn't be allowed by highway patrol to make a cerebral decision and would be at the mercy of whomever, so this seemed the safer route.

Second, the AAA membership that people talk about, I did pursue. They changed the stipulations a little and basically the way it works is, you must be a basic member for 1 year first before you are allowed to upgrade to their plus service that allows the 100 mile free tow, so that was out.

I called Acura Road side assistance to see if they would allow me to use their rates, and the lady who answered was extremely nice. Eventhough she couldnt allow me to give me a tow for free, she provided a list of tow companies and got on the phone and got me the cheapest company. Better than a big F U I guess.

Dealership will get back to me tomm AM so ... stay tuned.

 

How did you know the TC was on the way out? I've read some of IHC's posts on this topic, but I'm curious what happened prior to your trans failing.

 

Even though the one you are looking at may come with a manual transmission, the 07 and 08 TLs come with a different automatic transmission than the 04,05,06.

I have an 07 TL with 176,000 miles and the transmission runs butter smooth.

 

Sorry to hear about the transmission. Hope it works well in your benefit.
I was really worried when I saw the RJ kit gettting on a flat bed but then again like you said, its not sitting that low. Mine, no way i get it on flat bed. But then again the trasmission has been fine soo far, have been changing the switches and doing the 1x3 Amsoil trans fluid every year since 2008.
In for updates.

 

I knew my torque converter was acting up for quiet some time and hence I complained over and over again to nauseum. I would feel this distinct shudder between 2nd and 3rd gear at very low rpms that I could easily replicate on call, but the dealer couldn't.

With Teins it would not get on for sure. THank God im not on teins right now.

I did this and it semi-drove ok but still didn't want to chance it. Weird part is, not a single light came on before any of this and even right now the dashboard is completely normal. I heard people's dash board lighting up like a christmas tree when this happens. I'm gonna call dealership in about an hour .. lets see what they say. I was already told that Acura denied the claim under their extended warranty so good will has been initiated, waiting on answer.

 

 

Shouldn't your 2006 TL have an "updated" tranny design? I thought Acura greatly improved the case and internal design in early 2005 and used it as a replacement for the 2001-2003 CL.

I posted about any "upgraded" transmissions in this TL thread:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/cl-tl-transmission-making-last-894613/

 

I'd make some noise about you complaining about this prior to the warranty expiring. There is a chance they will still cover it.

 

the dealer I deal with doesn't even work on the transmission if there's something wrong with it, they just replace it with a new one - if you don't like that option they tell you to bring it to a transmission specialist to get it fixed

I think you should be grateful if goodwill helps you with 50%

 

^ I feel like most dealerships are like that, they don't troubleshoot much, they just replace things.

 

I dont know if I will feel grateful if they only cover 50%. I would actually feel the opposite and that is cheated. I paid good money for that extended warranty. Why should I feel grateful after I have known about this torque converter failing and transmission slipping since well before the warranty expired and have brought it up to their attention? I feel they neglected to diagnose it because according to them they couldn't pull any codes. And guess what... even now there is not a single light or code that was thrown.

If I had no signs or symptoms prior to warranty expiration, and this happened all of a sudden, then I agree, I would be grateful for 50% goodwill.

 

Update is so far: Acura Extended Warranty (which is a 3rd party) has denied the claim hiding behind mileage and out of warranty. Dealership's manager has gotten involved, drafted a letter explaining me being the owner of 3 Acuras and 2 Honda's in the past, all purchased from same dealer and send the letter to corporate requesting for goodwill. A meeting was scheduled with the district rep yesterday evening so sometime today I will have a verdict.

 

be firm and persistent. the dealer is acting on your behalf which is good...so best to be nice to them (which it sounds like you are).

interested to hear the outcome. if they cover most of it...that would be better than nothing.

 

Good luck!

 

I'm hoping they do at least 50%, man...especially since you had documented concerns early on and their inability to "recreate" the problem should not now fall solely on your shoulders.

I'm sorry to hear this.

 

Sorry to hear that. Really sucks!

 

Good luck. I have a feeling it's going to go well.

 

So the offer they have put on the table is they pay 65% and I pay 35%. Even though 65% is a lot, 35% is also a big chunk for me. I'm going to contact the manager myself tomorrow and ask their reasoning for coming up with that figure and their explanation as to why despite having this problem well before warranty expiration, I do not qualify for 100% and proceed from there. I will also get dollar values tommorrow as well and post up.

So far I have no qualms with the dealership. At the dealership level they have been stellar. My fight is with Honda/Acura corporate. Lets see what a new day brings...

 

hey Elegant, which dealer did you go to? I usually go to Valley Stream. Norm is the service manager there and he is pretty good.

 

hmm...not bad, but certainly doesn't hurt to ask. i have heard that corp. goodwill has been a little tighter. do you have any regular service history with the dealer?

 

Glad to hear it, looking forward to your outcome.

 

I think you're justified in getting it 100% paid for by Acura. It's not as big of a deal as it seems. Sure, they're losing $4k in profit but they're not coming "out of pocket" by much. Even if you pay only $500 they're not losing a penny.

If the car was having problems before and they failed to properly diagnose but if it was properly diagnosed it would have led to a replacement under warranty, I think they should cover 100% of it now.