my '04 TL AT with 49k miles was experiencing some kind of oil leak, so i took it in to Acura today, after hours of trying to find out what was wrong, they came to the conclusion that the entire transfer case needs to be placed.

apparently, the transfer case is pushing the tranny fluid into the tranny and causing it overfill and leak out the top of the tranny. according to the service advisor, they have never heard of or seen this happen.

just to replace the transfer case is going to cost $2600, but i am waiting to find out if it will be covered under the extended warranty that came with the car when i bought.

has anyone ever heard of this happening?

 

Never, and never will because the TL has no transfer case. The RL has one, but not the 2004 TL.

Either you are incorrectly repeating what the technician told you, or you are being handed a *huge* bag of horse manure.

To assist us in helping you, please call the Acura dealership to answer these questions. Please take written notes of the answers and send us another post.

1) The 2004 TL has no transfer case, so where is the extra fluid coming from then?

2) How can fluid be coming out of the top of the transmission without be pumped/pressurized ? The top of the trans is above normal fluid level. So. what is pressurizing the system to force the fluid out ?

3) Is it engine oil or transmission oil that is leaking out ?

 

agreed, no such thing on the 3G TL. need awd for that.

 

ok, so i just called up acura and the service advisor clarified what was going on.

He meant to say Trans case and not transfer case. He said the casing is a pourous (sp?) metal, so the fluid is seeping out of the casing itself at the top of the tranny. There are no cracks on the tranny itself anywhere. It is tranny fluid because it is only coming from the tranny and nowhere else. so they say I need a entirely new tranny case.

Mods: can you edit the title of the thread to say "Transmission Case Problem," Thanks

 

Ok, much better

No, it is not a common problem. However, it is commonly known (and true) that the TL has very porous casting in the transmission case. I can easily see (and believe) how the case could be leaking.

The extended warranty should cover it in my opinion. If a person was tight on money and had no warranty, "JB Weld" (automotive repair epoxy) has been used successfully in situations like this to provide a permanent fix.

 

I just had a "flash back"

I think, not really sure, that I had at one time seen a Acura Service Bulletin for this exact issue. I seem to recall that Acura was using the epoxy too as a factory repair for this issue. Hopefully , some other member here can help us.

Has anyone seen a Service Bulletin for fixing the porous transmission case ?

 

thanks for the info

that would be great if there was a service bulletin for it

 

I just doublechecked ISIS for concerns for a porous trans case, but as expected since I couldn't remember anything in regards to that, there are no listed bulletins or service news articles related to that.

Inaccurate - I question if maybe you are thinking of the porous problem in some V6 blocks? I double checked that one, as I have personally seen some of them in the past, but even that only applies to 1997–99 3.0CL – ALL, 2001–03 3.2CL – ALL, 1999–03 3.2TL – ALL, and 2001–03 MDX – ALL. And the fix there was to use JB Weld. So I think your memory was recalling that bulletin!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. In my experience, I have seen a handful of 3G TLs with leaky trans, and in all but one case, it was leaking between parts of the case where they are supposed to be sealed together. In all cases, we just replaced the trans under warranty.

Keep us posted!

 

Thanks for the research acuratech239. We appreciate it.

 

Ive seen one 3g trans with a porous case at my shop. Few years ago though. We did a trans under warranty.

 

so i just found out that my extended warranty company is NOT going to cover replacing the tranny case since the problem is the casing itself and not a mechanical failure, such as internal parts. the service advisor at the dealership is going to get the service manager to contact acura again to see if they are willing to help me out.

i'm going to go pick up my car tomorrow morning and take it to a transmission shop to take a look at it.

 

as Inaccurate suggested, i may need to look in to the 'JB Weld' fix

 

let all the fluid leak out and continue to drive it. It will have mechanical problems then.

 

i just picked up my car from acura. it is the middle case of the tranny that needs to be replaced

 

fk it.. drive the shit out of it.. keep it topped off.. eventually the oxidized z1 will clog the leak

Sorry OP.. oh yeah, the comment made about letting it leak out & then it'll be mechanical is definitely not suggested, they'll claim he didn't repair the issue therefore they'll still deny it.. I hate aftermarket scam / err.. warranty companies.

 

yea i was kidding. I hope no one really would take that seriously.

 

do you have the acura care extended warranty or is it some 3rd party warranty. I have a list of everything covered under the ACURA CARE extended warranty and it specifically says "transmission case"

taken directly from the list of items...

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
• Transmission Control Module
• Lockup Control
• Solenoid
• Shift Control Solenoid
• Shift Interlock System
• Shift Cable
• Throttle Pressure Control Cables
• Vacuum Modulator
****• Transmission Case and all internally lubricated parts ****
• Torque Converter
• Flexplate
• Transmission Mount(s)
• Oil Pan
• Seals/Gaskets for above stated parts

 

Good find!

 

i have a 3rd party warranty, not acura care

 

If you haven't read your warranty and just relied on a phone call to them, I'd go back and take a close look at the fine print.

 

just got back from the independent transmission shop. the leak is actually coming from between the cases on the tranny, so a new gasket is needed and not the middle case as acura suggested

 

Still expensive to reseal.. call up your warranty company, I'm sure they'll be real dicks about it but it might mean you're out $500 rather than $1500+, maybe even get it done for free. I can't believe Acura diagnosed it as the case being pourous.. it's not real thick but it sounded retarded to begin with.

 

yea, the shop i took it to has never seen a porous case and has been doing trannys for 30+ years, they didn't believe it when acura said it was a porous case. their working with the warranty company for me.

 

I'd log your problem with ACS and the district manager so that they know the service department of that dealership nearly cost you $4000 based on an incorrect diagnosis....and that the service manager himself is telling customers that the TL case is porous....sheesh!

 

As I had expected, and suggested, in my earlier post.

You really need to get Acura/ACS to goodwill the repair for you. Yeah, you're out of warranty for powertrain on age, but you're right below the mileage (4 year/50k miles). Just keep pushing, but in a polite but stern way, and you'll get the ball rolling.

 

already tried a second time to get Acura/ACS to goodwill the car and they won't budge, their reasoning is that they don't know the history of the car.

i will try again tomorrow when i call them to file my complaint regarding the incorrect diagnosis

 

Ahh... I didn't realize you didn't have your car serviced there regularly, and/or had recently purchased it. That puts a different spin on things, as it's more common to goodwill something for a customer that is a regular, etc. Up until about 2 1/2 years ago, my boss was a lot more likely to goodwill stuff, but ever since the economy started getting bad, he is a lot more hesitant to goodwill things. Best of luck to you. I'll still be curious to see how this turns out.

 

Update regarding the tranny on my 3G TL.

so the warranty company called the transmission shop and said they weren't going to cover the repair costs, said the problem was pre-existing and to have dealer i bought the car from to cover the cost.

so i call the dealer, tell them what the warranty company said, didn't sound very happy and said they would me back later.

i later than get a call from the tranny shop saying the warranty company is going to cover the repair to the tranny, so given the ok, the shop is going to start on the repairs.

an hour later, i get a call from the shop because the warranty company called and said to put a hold on everything. it looks like the warranty company called up the dealer i bought the car from to try and get them to cover the repairs. apparently the dealership says they know someone who can do the job for $1500 with a 12k mile/1 year warranty.

whereas, the tranny shop the car is at wants to do the repair and replace the clutches, pretty much rebuild the tranny and warranty it for 36k/3 year warranty for $2100.

i would rather have the rebuild done and longer warranty, but just have to come up the difference, just because the dealer wants to be cheap.

i have no idea what shop the dealer wants to use and if its even reputable.

 

not to steal your post, but speaking of tranny. It went out on me this morning at 59k miles, going to wait what the dealership is going to say. Also, I don't have any warranty it expired 9k miles ago.

 

Well, due to the odometer class action law suit outcome, your warranty was good until 52,500 miles. You're only 6500 out of warranty. I'd be sure and use that to press for good will coverage on the warranty. Good luck.

http://www.odosettlementinfo.com/

 

didn't even have to do that, its going to be taken care of by my dealearship free of cost

 

Exact same leak is happening to me now. my dealership said it's basically 15-25 hrs labour to replace that gasket.

I'm thinking the epoxy is my solution. Any tips on that?

 

NAPA - "Right Stuff" Gasket Maker and sealant - resists Oil, ATF and coolant. Expensive but it worked.



I thoroughly cleaned the surface with a rag, then sanded it down with 200 grit, then brake cleaned the shit out of it. applied the "Right Stuff" and had the car out within 2hrs for a good drive, looked at the area that i cleaned and it was perfectly dry.

 

Bumping this thread. My car is going to the dealer this week. Yesterday when I was going to change the fluid, the bottom of the transmission housing was covered in fluid and sludge. After I wiped it off, I spotted a couple of cracks deeper than just regular casting cracks. I would've taken pics but my hands were covered in sludge and didn't even think to. It looks like the fluid was leaking from them and not the drain plug. The area around the drain plug was clean and dry.

I'll update when I see what the dealer says.