So...here's the story. Battery was on its last leg so I went to go buy a new one. After taking the battery out I decided what the heck and checked all my fluids even though I had them checked out about a month prior. After checking my transmission dipstick I noticed that it was BONE DRY. Decided to add a little in there to give it some lubrication, took it for a spin and things felt a whole lot smoother and thought I was in the clear. The next day I head off to work and I notice my MPG range wasn't at its usual threshold which is about 24-26 MPG. I was sitting somewhere in the mid tens. Didint think too much of it at the time since the trip computer was just reset. However, as time went on I noticed to lose more and more power and response time with the gears changing. Eventually, my tranny blew and my RPMs went straight up without any acceleration. I pull over and notice a trail of transmission fluid behind me... I thought to myself...this mustve been one of the recalled TL's in 2004 for the transmission...luckily I had bought an extended warranty and just got the call back from them and they said that my transmission is COVERED! Cant wait to get my bayyybeee back and driving again!

 

Sad story with a good ending. Be sure to use Redline ATF in your new tranny and ditch the Honda fluid.

 

There's a lot of holes in the story.

Why was your transmission bone dry when you checked it?

Why was it leaking after you added transmission fluid?

BUT Y

 

LOL! I had the same questions as Lusid.

did you hit something? lol
trannies dont leak unless you crack the transfer case or improperly torque the bolts.

 

Damn that sucks, Sorry to hear that.

 

You knew about that recall but did not look into whether it had been done on your car? The very first thing I did when I bought my car was to make sure that all recalls and tsb's were up to date.

I'm glad it worked out for you, it would have been an expensive fix.

 

happy ending

 

Lucky you have that extended warranty!!!

 

Car drives fine.. derp, there's no trans fluid, let me add some.. trans blows up.

 

OP at least it ended up being a happy ending. Could've costed you a few grand...

 

The next time you find your tranny fluid empty, you should really make more of an effort to find out why it's empty.

 

OP isn't clear on all the details, but I think it's safe to assume that the trans wasn't really bone dry.

 

meh, sounds to me like there was a leak somewhere, he filled it up without fixing the leak so it just leaked out again leading to the failure.

 

That's not how it works..

 

OP, you haven't by chance tried to make the WHOLE dipstick wet, have you?
and nope, this one is not a manhood joke
unlike engine oil, ATF could be overfilled

 

sounds like it was slipping for some time = more heat = fluid boiling over and leaking.

I blew the transmission on my mother's ody going up a hill on the freeway. We knew it was on its way out though.

also what fluid did OP use...?

 

so if he has a loose pan cause maybe he didnt tighten the bolts after changing the filter, or maybe the drain plugs werent properly secured or maybe he has a cracked pan gasket, or maybe even a rock struck and damaged the housing, that wouldnt be how it works? Well then, i'll defer to your examination of his tranny, and the explanation of what information we do have - namely the trail of tranny fluid.

 

No, that's not how it works.

 

How did you have extended warranty for so long? given that it is a 2004 TL...Is it possible to have extended warranty after 8 years? I have a 2004 TL too and my warranty expired in July of last year and I was told that I cannot extend any further..