Instead of hijacking someone else's thread i figured i'd start a new one.

Here is the issue, when the car is at a stop and i put the car in gear from park or i switch between reverse to drive, or drive to reverse, the transmission doesn't fully engage for under a second. By 'fully' i mean it seems like it partially engages right away, the car will start to move, then i can feel it engage completely.

I have a 2006 TL with an auto, 49K miles. While driving the tranny shifts smooth and doesn't seem to slip.

The color of the fluid is NOT red, I'll have to get a better look when i can bring a flash night, parking garage is dark.

I just bought it a couple weeks ago too, i didn't notice this at the time.

I'll see about bringing this into transmission place here asap.

This should still be under factory warranty right? What do i do since there isn't an acura dealership in my area?

 

Well it depends on when you see the lag.. during driving or during engagement.

During Engagement

From N - D & N - R should engage immediately. If it takes over a second like you count "one thousand one" and then it engages.. get it checked out.

It's more than likely your hydraulic pressure. You could have a leak in pressure which leads to a delay in clutch engagement. This may also be a sensor or your shift cable.

Does the car jolt when you engage in gear?

While Driving

When was the last time you had your ATF changed? How many miles do you have on the car?

If you have like 70k miles or more and you've never changed your ATF.. Your toast buddy.. it means that your ATF is so rich and dense that while your clutch turns the ATF is so thick it takes a while for the fluid to start applying pressure on your other clutches.

Worst off is if you decide to change your ATF.. your tranny will probably function even worse or not at all because it's so used to operating in the dense fluid. Best thing to do is do a fluid check. Turn your car on and let the fluid come to operating temps. Then remove your tranny fluid dip stick and get a white cloth. Smell the dipstick.. does it smell burned / burnt? Swipe the fluid on the cloth.. is it red? brown? black? Good ATF should be reddish.. and the closer it gets to black the worse off you are..

On these transmissions it doesn't take long to breakdown because of harsh thermal wear. The fluid should be a nice almost sweet smell.. and should taste sweet as well.. but I definitely don't advise tasting it.

 

Well the ATF can turn dark relatively quickly but if it has never been replaced within 49k then it definitely needs a 3x3 of Honda Z1.. ASAP. I would change the fluid even if there is a record or it being done just for peace of mind. How does it smell? Do you have a maintenance history of the car?

Only with activation over 1.2-1.5 seconds do you need to worry about the hydraulic pressure and possible leaks. I think your ATF may just be so viscous that pressure transfer from line to clutch involves a small lag. Most people will notice a little bit of lag but not much, it should feel almost immediate like - shift - engage.

With a new car.. go back and do all the required maintenance. Check your coolant and power steering fluid. Check your brake fluid. Don't take it to the Acura Stealership because they're going to want to charge you $1k plus for simple maintenance work. They'll even charge you $105 just to look at it.

You can find everything you need on this forum!

 

Since you got such a good reply in the other thread, I moved the reply to this thread and deleted your other posts.

Welcome to the forums.

 

I was thinking about that but started a shorter one since there's more info in his new thread.. Thanks Ron A!

 

Thanks.

Majofo, can you explain what you mean by 3x3?

Are the auto's on this pretty straight forward for draining tranny fluid? I'll have to see how good the searching function is on this site.

 

On our trannys and handful of other Honda Trannys they don't flush out the fluid. Instead they drain and fill three times. There is a Acura / Honda TSB (Tech Service Bulletin) on this.

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B080100.PDF


The shop will basically drain and fill.. bring the car up to op temps and then have the new fluid recirculated through the system. Drain and repeat two more times.

Doing a 3x3 is pretty easy but Z1 fluid is pricey like $4 / qt. Another method other than the TSB method is to drive the car on the highway for a little bit and then drain and fill until your last fill. Check this forum for good tips and DIY instructions:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556044

 

Thanks again. Too bad it is going to be below zero all week, might have to wait till the weekend.

 

I have an 06 5AT and I don't think you have anything to worry about. When I move out of park into D or R, it takes just about 1 second before the tranny fully engages. It's slower than any other auto I remember driving but it's been that way since day 1 (6 miles on the ODO) and I had the 3x3 at 30K miles (44K now). The tranny is smooth as silk in every other way, except for hard acceleration shifts from 3rd to 4th that are a little ruff, which I've read is common for the auto's and has been described as "hitting a brick wall"...it just loses steam it had in the first 3 gears.

 

Thanks for that Ned.

I checked the tranny fluid out this morning and it doesn't smell burnt. When i wiped it on a cloth it was a brownish red.

I am going to hit up the salesmen for a complete history.

 

same here from day 1....nothing to worry about, it does seem to take longer then any other car i have had, but i have learned to work around it....

 

I have the same issue with my 06 TL and I took the car in to the dealer for a road test and the dealer indicated that this is normal for this car. I found that if the transmission is cold, there is a delay and once the transmission warmed up, it was not as noticable. What really bothered me is if I had to backup and then go forward quickly, it was not possible if the tranny was cold. I would have to wait until the shift was completed into forward before stepping on the gas. I'm pretty sure this is not the standard for other makes of vehicles as I've never had this issue before.

 

Ya my parking spot at work is underground in a small building, so to get into and out of it i have to wiggle my car around. Feels like forever.

I called the honda dealership and got quoted $190 for a fluid change, but they won't do the 3x3 method. He had never heard of it.

So i called a transmission shop owned by some distant relatives, 52$ if i supplied the fluid. And he knows all about the 3x3 method, he does it on his honda. Dropping the keys off tonight.

 

What I do know is you should not touch the throttle until fully engaged. Those of us acknowledging the delay have all jammed the gas too quick and were met with the hesitation-thunk-launch scenario. I don't like the delay, but I've learned to wait until fully engaged.

 

I have same problem with delay as well. I got a brand new '08 TL-S with 5 delivery miles on it. The tranny has a delay when put into gear from N to D like 2 seconds, but after it's engaged, everything is fine. I used to put the gear in N when I'm at a traffic light but not anymore.
Second problem is from D to R, I hear a loud "clunk" noise. Now the car is at 5,700 Miles.
So is this normal guys?

 

If it's really 2 seconds [one thousand one, one thousand two] then you should definitely take it in and tell them to have it addressed.

The clunk you are hearing from D - R sounds suspicious.. you sure it's not P - R? P - R would more than likely be the pawl bar which the solution would be engage the ebrake firmly and press on your brake firmly before engaging gear. D - R clunk could be a mount. I would definitely take it in..

 

I've had enough loaner TLs to know that the slight hesitation when shifting to Drive is normal, although 2 seconds is probably slightly exaggerated.

 

This brings back memories. I am used to this delay now, i even warn people when they are going to drive my car now.

I checked my fluid the other day and it is still red, i smelled it when it was hot and it didn't smelled burnt so i think i am good still.

 

I'm going to flush and fill my soon and I read good things about using that GM 'ZF' auto tranny fluid. Better get some before they stop selling it!

 

GM ZF ATF?? do tell.. never heard of this stuff.

 

I might have butchered that. hold one...

GM Synchromesh

not the best thread but I remember some of the elder's on this site totally live by the stuff.

 

Yeah.. that's for M/T.. miracle stuff for 3rd gear issues. IHC is running Amsoil ATD religiously and it has treated him well. I'd stick with Z1 if you do a flush interval every 12-24k miles depending on driving conditions.

 

happy I found this thread before I started a new one, My 2005 (12/2004 build) auto has this same issue. just picked it up 4 weeks ago with 26,3xx miles and I have a 60 day powertrain warranty so I wanted to get it checked out/fixed before it comes out of my pocket!

I have the same exact issue as op, feels like it engages twice, first time is immediate and half way engaged. and then a moment later it completes the engagement... weird

doing 3x3 soon

 

This is somewhat normal. Another member found that the TL engages 3rd gear first and then 1st gear to avoid a jerk when engaging first gear from a dead stop. I could tell it engaged a higher gear first but I thought it was second gear.

It's actually a good thing that it engages third gear first because you can shorten the engagement time. Check out my thread on "very interesting conversation with my trans builder",it talks about replacing the 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches. These should be done anyway to increase the longevity of the trans as PM every 60,000 miles or so. It won't make a huge difference in the delay time but it will help some. It seems to kick out of third and back down to first gear quicker.

Changing the fluid can't hurt. Try the Redline Racing non FM fluid, you'll love it. As of now, I have to really pay attention to feel the double bump as it engages and I'm getting close to 100,000 miles.

 

I see, that makes sense now, engages 3rd and then first. that's why there really is no power when i first put it in drive.

Yeah I saw your tread you started about the 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches and fluid reccomendation even before I bought the car! I heard about the horror stories with the 2nd gen TL and tranny issues so I searched a lot for potential issues with the 3rd gen before I bought one!

did you happen to be on any BMW e46 forums?? your user name and picture look really familar...

 

Drives fine but if Im reversing on a hill the delay is so bad I roll forward
and almost hit cars.

Car drives find and shifts great but there is a HUGE delay in going into reverse from park or anything else.

About a 2-3 second delay before it fully engages.

 

So I did not find this forum until my '06 TL had 57K miles on it. No hard driving, but no tranny fluid change till 57K. Had Honda do it then. Talked to the tech as he was working. The fluid was a light brown. Smelled like wax (it was hot still) Don't know if he did a 3x3 fill or a 1x3. charged me $100 Anyhow, the tranny seems to pull away from a corner softer than it did when new. I also note a slightly harsh down shift to 2nd from tiem to time.

The Acura dealer tells me there are no problems with the G3 tranny's. Any advice on what to do or if I should be concerned.

Astobuf / 71Chally

 

I might as well join the fray as well in this thread. I recently purchased mine(06TL, Auto) and it seems like it slips down shifting from 2nd to 1st. I just bought the car and while its still covered under the lemon law, I wanted to know should I take it to the dealer or just get a fluid flush/check.

 

I figured i'd give an update since i started this thread.

Car is still running great after 28k miles, coming up on 77777. I did the 3x3 with Redline D4 about 4000 miles ago, shift quality is quicker and smoother then when i had the Z1 in there, i was going to use the Type F but people were still experimenting with that when i bought the D4.

71Chally: I notice a harsh down shift if i am moving along in a gear higher then 2nd and roll up to a stop sign or light and with out completely stopping give it gas, if i just wait a second more it'll downshift and when i give it gas there is no harsh shift cause it is in the right gear. It is kinda of annoying, but now i switch into SS mode and kick it down if i know i'd get the harsh shift.

BG8732: For sure check the fluid. Do not 'flush' the tranny fluid, do the 3x3 method, there are links in Majofo's post.

 

Got a brand new tranny put into my 06 - Dealer says the delay is normal.

I am not sure if the 'POP' from D-->R or D-->P is normal though....

 

dorikin: so just what led to your needing a new tranny on your '06?

71Chally

 

Can the dealer do the 3x3 because I cant lie I'm car illiterate man...

 

When i asked my local honda dealership, no acuras close by, he said he didn't know what i meant and wanted to charge me a lot after i explained the process.

If i was you i would call around to local transmission places and ask them about it. I was lucky and had a distant relative that owns a transmission place and when i asked he said "Oh ya! i do the 3 by 3 on my honda's when they need it, not a problem".