Yesterday when I came to a stop and then pulled off i noticed that my car was acting funny. i looked at the rpm and they were really high (3000 - 3500) and no shift, it finally shifted and did a jerk. i just coasted along for 1/4 mile to a complete stop. i shifted to park then back to drive and the engine just reved like it was in neutral, i went to the sport shift to see if that would help, but nothing. when i turned the car off and back on i was able to get it in gear, but it slipped out again. a block later when i pulled over again, i checked the dip stick and i had plenty of fluid but it had a burnt smell to it.

Please if anyone has any suggestions or direction it would be greatly appreciated........93K miles

 

I would definately get the trans looked at. Sounds like its shot. My cl-s did the same thing. If you've done service at the dealer, they might be able to assist you in the replacement should the trans be bad. Good luck.

 

The mechanic says it's the 2 - 4 drum that is gone out and fluid is bypassing it when it heats up causing the transmission to loose pressure.......hmmmmm, doesn't the solenoids cause this same problem, or even a dirty filter?

 

Try changing out the tranny sensors and see if that helps out with your problem. It is about $80 for both of them.

 

Thanks, i've been doing some research on that and i'm gonna try it. I'm also gonna flush the system and change the filter.......hope this helps

 

..i can't seem to find DIY on this.. i remember reading it... would someone have a link to it? plz..

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/110-diy-guide-replacing-3rd-4th-gear-pressure-switch-3g-tl-2004-2006-a-729149/

 

I found a transmission shop that will do a complete rebuild for $1900. The car has 93K miles on it. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to keep it after the rebuild or get rid of it......What are your thoughts?

 

Try an Acura dealer first. You might be able to get part of it covered under goodwill. If it's been services correctly, a trans shouldn't fail at 93k miles.

Stories like your scare the crap out of me, and make me wonder about my decision to purchase a TL. I guess I'm lucky in the fact the TL-S has the RL tranny it in.

 

Guys, the 04 transmission was recalled and the warranty was extended.

Lou

 

Well, not exactly. Early 04's were recalled to have the 2nd gear oil jet mod added, but there was no warranty extension. The 7 year/ 100K mile transmission warranty extension only applied to the '99-'02 TL and CL and a subset of the '03 TL's and CL's.

 

have a transmission cooler installed, change ATF every 30K, change those 3rd & 4th pressure sensors every 50K.
That's what I'm gonna do on my 04TL

 

The 3rd & 4th clutch pressure switches / sensors isn't your problem. Did your drive light blink? Pull any codes it may have.. It very well could be your one of your solenoids or accumulators. $1.9k for a rebuild is a bit much.. unless they warranty it for at least 3yrs / 50k miles I would pass.. Call around to get quotes from your local Honda & Acura dealerships or indie Honda shops that specialize in transmissions. They can order a reman trans from Honda warrantied for 3yr /36k miles.. the tab should be no more than $3k with core exchange. As for the miles.. There's a guy locally who had 260k miles as of a few months ago with original engine & tranny on an 04 TL.. most people fear a vehicles reliabilty after 100k miles, but I really wouldn't be concerned. There are plenty of cars I wouldn't mind owning that have well over 100k miles, it's the maintenance you should be concerned with.. as long as you have always maintained and treated your TL well, it should be a good car for you for a long time.

 

Welcome to the club, your tranny is shot. Mine started to do the same thing right before it went.

 

I have a 2004 TL, automatic transmission, purchased by me in January 2004. I love this car and have never been unhappy with it....until this week. Currently it as 130,000 miles, mostly freeway, and my transmission is done. I was driving at freeway speed for about an hour, had to slow down for traffic, when I accelerated the rpms when up, but the car did not move. Noticed smoke coming from under my car and an awful smell. I've had transmission problems years ago with a Ford and recognize when there is a problem. I had no prior indication there was something wrong with the transmission. My car has received all of the scheduled maintenance and then some.

I am new to this forum and have been reading about various transmission problems. Have checked with Acura and my car was not included in the transmission recall. Sounds to me like this is an on-going issue for Acura. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Granted, I have a lot of miles on my car, but I don't think it is reasonable for a Honda product, specifically the transmission, to go...I've read here about other TL owners whose transmission went with FEWER miles than mine. Isn't reliability one of the major reasons we purchase Honda products?

Thank you!

 

Could've sprung a leak and it's low on fluid.

 

Tranny on my 00TL went up at 96K---same symptoms, high RPMs but no movement. That particular model year had received the warranty extension. I called the Acura 800 number and they came out to my house, picked up the car, gave me a loaner and replaced the transmission over the weekend. TBH, it was a shitty thing to happen, but I was treated so well through the process that when it came time to trade her in (at 178K) there was no question of getting another TL---tranny issues or not.
As mentioned above, regular maintenance is your best friend. Last weekend I drained and re-filled the tranny and I got my 3rd & 4th gear switches yesterday. My 06 has 42K and I will be installing them next weekend, along with another 3 qts of ATF-Z1.

 

262k and my trans just went ... hoping it is a solenoid. Did the oil changes every 30k and tossed in lucas trans oil since 150k. Love my car and will rebuild or swap used trans and keep it.

 

what type of oild do you use?

 

Wow.. 4 year thread bump.

262k.. there must have been some symptoms before going out. Details?

 

if I remember correctly the 2004 TL came with a 50K 4year power train warranty but CPO was 7 years 100K as I was considering one when I got my CLS in 2006...

Also since the OP stated burnt fluid I am going to go with "3rd gear clutch burnt up for $1000 Alex" This is the failure point on that model of transmission due to insifficient lubricataion.

 

It was found that the lube problems caused the second gear hard part failures. The 3rd gear issue is due to 3 things. Old pressure switches. A hydraulic circuit problem where 3rd and second gear are applied simultaneously on the 4-2 downshift due to insufficient exhaust volume in the 3rd gear circuit. Last, the heavy dose of friction modifier in the factory fluid that compounds the switch problem.

With the high mileage of this car, it was probably driven mostly on the freeway. Steady state driving with little to no shifting means no clutch wear. You could in theory start a new car and drive it a million miles without ever stopping and the clutches would have no wear. That's why while its great the car went 260,000 miles if you could look at total shifts over its lifetime it's probably similar to the average 100,000 mile car.

 

Yes the mileage was mostly hwy. Symptoms were almost non existent. Maybe a hard downshift when passing awhile ago. Only once or twice it did slip between second and third ... again on a downshift when going around a corner and accelerating out of if up an incline. I have been using factory trans fluid supplemented with Lucas Oil's Trans fluid. Ran fine on a long trip (200 miles mostly hwy) Got off the hwy and ate dinner then had problems. Slipping or plan not starting from a stoplight. Tried manual shift and no luck.Turned car off and restarted and ran fine for a minute or two. Shuttered abit in 3rd. Took it to Honda dealer as it was closer then an Acura dealer and was told trans was shot and fluid burnt. Shuttered abit in 3rd. Engine light went on for the first time one minute before pulling into dealer. Shuttered abit in 3rd. My regular mechanic was out of town. Upon her return we checked code again and found it to be a sensor code problem. Hmmmm we are going to try 3rd & 4th sensor ... change oil and pray. Honda dealer wanted 3.5k for reman & labor. Acura $500 more. Not gonna happen!!! Will keep you undated.

 

Sounds like they tried to upsell you. Don't give in so easily.

 

My 2006 acura tl is doing the same thing... When it down shifts I have had it have a hard downshift. So replacing the switches will fix it? Please help me!

 

Probably nobody is answering because this situation and question has been asked 10000x. Plenty of info if you search.

The short answer is this: Consider tranny fluid/switches as maintenance items. But once there has been real damage (and slipping is probably a sure sign of this) what's done is done. All measures are bandaids and inevitably you will have to go for a rebuild/swap.

 

What do you mean by hard downshift? I know the car will downshift hard when it goes from 4th to 2nd. Or is it more of a clunk feeling when it downshifts?

I mean why not change the switches its easy to do and they aren't that costly. If you aren't experiencing the other symptoms that occur with tranny failure I think you should be fine with just changing out the switches and doing a drain and fill.

I recently had my tranny fail on me, and it was rebuilt.