I've got the 3rd gear problem most days, and the 2nd gear problem when it's colder. I'm taking it to the dealership to let them tell me what's wrong, even though we all know that it's the result a few poorly engineered parts, and in need of a TSB/Recall.

While there are numerous posts pertaining to this issue, there is no summary view of the information. I have read through many of the posts, but in my old age, I'm starting to forget things pretty quickly. I hate to think what'll happen after I turn 30..

Anyway, if all of you 6MT TL owners would care to contribute, it'd be nice to see an approximation of the percentage of affected owners, and their means of resolution.

Please include other pertinent information as necessary.

 

I have a 6MT TL (2006), and I have noticed an occasional "stickiness" at time getting into 3rd gear. But it hasn't been a big problem for me. I heard somewhere that the stickiness may be associated with colder temperatures before the gearbox warms up (and I live in California), so perhaps that's why others have more complaints about 3rd gear than I do.

However, twice in the past few months I did experience another problem: A "stickiness" trying to get the car into 1st-gear after a stop. That was more alarming for me. Has that happened to anyone else? Both times I left the car in neutral, let the clutch out, depressed the clutch again, and then was able to get the car into 1st-gear. Also, it has only happened twice and not at all in the past few weeks, so I haven't bothered to take it in to a mechanic.

 

If you are referring to a failure to engage first gear at a stop, the problem is most likely due to the dog teeth failing to insert into their slots. The "fix" is to move to neutral, let the clutch out some, the depress the clutch and re-attempt the shift to first.

 

I have an '04 manual TL, built in early July, 2004 and purchased by me, new (it was all of two days on the lot before I bought it). I have never had any of the 3rd gear problems which some on this site describe. I did drain and fill my tranny 2 years ago with the GM Syncrhomesh Friction Modified fluid. Not much of a difference with my TL since it had always shifted VERY smoothly.

What most of the people who seem to have this problem describe is a notchiness or greater resistance to 3rd gear insertion during shifts. The GM fluid has seemed to all but eliminate this problem. I can't speak from any experience about this since, as I mentioned, I have never had the problem. Perhaps some of the other members will soon chime in.

 

dealership rebuilt my transmission.. have it solved the 3rd gear issue???
the answer is pending... but ultimately, i don't think it did.. but i haven't seen it happen..

when my warranty is over, no doubt i will go with GM!!

 

Well, I've been running the dealer-replaced Precision Crafted MTF now for a few weeks, and it's a lot better.. But it's also been a lot warmer. I still feel it catch on the way into third, but it rarely hangs and pops back out. It's only done it a couple times since the fluid was replaced. I'm guessing it'll be back in the fall when it gets cold again. For now it's working fine.

 

I had the dealer put in the new precision crafted Acura stuff.
That seemed to fix the 3rd gear issue.
Two days later, I had the clutch failure I have talked about in other posts.
I think the clutch failure and the gear changing issues are related. The only explanation that fits all the symptoms I had is the self-adjusting portion of the pressure plate went haywire and over-adjusted so that the clutch is always dragging. Hence, problems getting into gear. Since the clutch has been replaced, I no longer have the 3rd gear issue, but it has the new fluid in the trans it's only been 2 weeks.

 

I didn't experience a problem persay, I just noticed it was slightly rougher than usual. So I had the dealer replace the Trans fluid with the Acura stuff. It made a difference and was a lot smoother.

 

mike: that makes a lot of sense, maybe that's why this has been such a problem for honda to accept/diagnose.. I had thought that the problem was related to tight tolerances with the synchros and dogteeth, but this could realistically be the problem.

The test is easy.. jack the front end of your car up, start the engine with the car in neutral and the clutch depressed, then have someone make sure your wheels aren't moving. Shift to first, keep the clutch depressed, see if the wheels start turning..
I imagine there's always a little friction there, but if your speedo is showing 10mph, that's probably not good.
(be sure to turn off ASR )

 

If your clutch starts to grab pretty close to the floor, that is probably also an indicator.

 

04 TL 6MT. Has about 44k miles. No problems with shifting whatsoever.

 

06TL Notchy tranny popped out of 3rd gear fairly often, worse when cold.
New fluid better, but not good enough
Rebuilt tranny worse than before
New tranny much better, but still notchy
Next step GM fluid

 

06 TL 6MT, 22k miles. It has 3rd gear issues every so often -- has since I got it. Not a big deal, happens maybe once or twice a week. I mentioned it to the dealership and they said they do have the new Acura MTF fluid that fixes that problem, but they'd need to charge $75 to do it -- shouldn't that be an issue able to be covered under warranty?

Dan

 

06 with 4k miles and I have trouble getting into 6th?

 

I agree 6th is a pain, but not like 3rd. New Acura MTF fixed the problem for a few months, but now it's getting bad again (and its warming up ???)

Oh... 06 with 7k miles. Swap to new MTF at 4k.

 

I have no problem with 3rd

should i still be worried because of 6th?

 

Same exact experience here... 32k miles. I'm just living with the annoyance for now.

 

'06 TL, Was always hard to get into 3rd, especially when it was cold out and the gear box was still cold. I couldent take it anymore so I changed the MTF to the GM syncromesh firction modified fluid at about 8000mi. I have 12,500 miles now and the tranny feels better than the day I bought the car with no issues whatsoever...Knock on wood...

The GM syncromesh friction modified fluid is amazing.

 

Went through four tranny fluid changes in the past year.

The next step was replace syncros or tranny rebuild.

Put the GM fluid in myself and Im kicking myself in the ass that I didnt do it sooner...

 

06 TL with typical 3rd gear problem: worse when cold and would pop out fairly often.
1) Dealer put in new fluid: better but not good enough.
2) Dealer rebuilt tranny: 3rd gear just as bad, now problems with 2nd and 4th.
3) Dealer installed new tranny: much better, does not pop out but just a little notchy
4) Acura fluid flushed and GM fluid filled.

 

Never a 2nd gear issue. Only hard to engage 3rd.

First refill at 5Kmi in (Fall of 05) with Acura's original MTF. Got better and then bad.

Second refill summer/fall 06 with Acura's so called improved MTF. Better for a month then bad again

Third refill GM SM Friction modified in late December 06. Flawless since.