Scottwax

Back story: Original transmission went out at 157,200 or so miles. The mechanic I regularly use recommended a shop that does a lot of Honda/Acura rebuilds. So he had it towed there (June 2014), I get a call the next day from the shop saying the highly recommend going with an after market cooler and it was implied that if I didn't I wouldn't have a warranty. Since I had planned on getting one anyway I told them to go ahead. Car seemed fine until October that year, noticed a harsh part throttle downshift from OD to 3rd and 2nd when I was in Phoenix and it was still pushing 100 every day. Came back to the Dallas area and cooler weather, and it was fine. Still went by the shop that did the work to let them know and requested a test drive. They said I'd have to make an appointment. Really? Just drove almost 40 miles one way, I spent $2880 on a rebuild and cooler and you guys can't take 5-10 minutes to take it for a test drive? Ugh.

Anyway, during cooler weather everything was fine. Towards May and warmer temperatures, it started doing it again, pretty sporadic still. By then I'd already put 30k miles on the car (warranty was 12/12,000) and the shop was telling me I'd have to leave the car for them to do a test drive. With a mobile business, that wasn't easy to set up and they didn't actually promise to do anything since I was over on mileage. Most of the time if I had to accelerate quickly from around 50-60 mph (where the problem was the worse) I'd manual shift it. And without paddle shifters like the TL has, using the console shifter isn't nearly as precise. Fall came, again my car was shifting okay again other than when I was on a long road trip and slowed down for traffic going through Nashville. Hit the gas at 50 or so, now it was also flaring a bit. Other than that it was okay until spring this year. Noticeably flaring now, told my regular mechanic to start looking for a low mileage used automatic out of an '07 Accord. Did a 3 x 3 with DW1, then a 3 x 2 with Redline D4 and the problems ceased. For about two months. Then it was back with a vengeance. Part throttle downshifts into 2nd gear felt almost like a neutral drop. Then passing on the freeway, went from 5th to 4th and it felt really weird. After that, it was taking a long time to go into reverse and flaring on the 2-3 upshift.

Parked the car, called my mechanic. Told him to look for a low mileage '07 Accord or '06 Odyssey transmission and flex plate. Didn't hear back from him and in the meantime had to press my G35 sedan into service for my detailing business. After a week, I called him and he said he can't find any low mileage ones. I thought that was strange since he found my son a very low mileage engine for his 323 a couple years before. So I started looking on car-parts.com and found a bunch of them. Sent the links to him, didn't hear back other than he said I'd probably end up paying the same for a rebuild or a used one and the shop that built it "might" work with me on the price but they were backed up with 40 cars or so. Yeah, not trusting them again. I got the feeling my regular mechanic didn't want to do a used transmission himself since he can't be sure if it will work until its in the car. Plus he knew I intended to keep the car a while still. Just wish he'd come right out and said it though, would have saved me some time.

Found a more local rebuilder, 31 years in business, ATRA member, said he specializes in Honda/Acura automatics. Good online reviews and generally small businesses don't survive that long if they don't do good work. Had it towed to him this past Monday. Stopped by on Wednesday, he had the transmission apart and the case was being cleaned. He said at that point he hadn't found why it failed but the OEM Honda clutches they used (he said he uses different ones that hold up better) showed scorching and excessive wear well beyond what they should have for 63,000 miles. Said my car would be ready on Friday. He was doing a full master kit rebuild and using the Trans Lab shift kit which addresses some of the line pressure short comings in stock Honda/Acura automatics. True to his word, called me Friday afternoon to let me know it was ready and shifting perfectly. When I got there, he said he figured out why it failed. While reattaching the banjo fittings from the cooler to the transmission he felt something poking out of the line. Turned out it was probably some of the packaging plastic from the package the lines came in. Said he pulled out a couple inches of plastic and it was obviously restricting flow through the cooler and that's why the problem was more apparent in warmer weather. He cleaned everything out, flushed completely through the system to make sure it was flowing properly and then reattached everything.

So the cooler the first shop basically said I should get to keep the warranty is what caused it to fail. Yay, got to spend $2569 this time. But if I can get 4-5 years more out of the car to use for my detailing business its worth it. Car is otherwise too nice to junk over a transmission.

Car shifts great, better than it ever has. Very consistent shift feel now, no more double bump 2-3 upshift, it is as crisp as all the other shifts. Light throttle shifts are quick and smooth, anything past about 1/3rd throttle and they are quick and firm. Down shifts faster too. Wish I'd found this shop the first time.

nfnsquared

^^^^ Glad it worked out for you. You should post the name/address of the shop so folks in the DFW area have that info. Might be a good idea to post same in the regional forum as well. Good luck with the rebuild!!

bakaryu18

I will hope and pray for you that you will have no other problems going forward. Amen.

Anytime I hear about car problems I cry every time.

truonghthe

glad it work out for you. I went to the dealer for service had them test drove the car for alignment the tech came back with commented "your AT shifting really good.

Scottwax

Just glad to have it back and running again, it is much more suitable for my detailing business than my G35. Trunk floor is lower and overall the trunk is wider. The G is fine in a pinch but had to use it almost 3 weeks. Drove me nuts that things weren't where they usually were. Plus the G is a 6 speed and doesn't have factory nav so I have to use my phone to get to new locations and returning calls when you have to shift is a pain.