I've done some searching on this issue and decided to post this up just to be thorough, perhaps people can confirm my suspicion here.

Recently I have noticed my TL's transmission has been acting strangely. Maybe I'm just super conscious of things, but I digress. When driving in hilly/mountainous terrain (I live in mountains), I notice that the transmission doesn't really downshift well. It will usually hover around 2500 RPM or so and will only downshift if I hit the gas a little so it can coast. Based on other threads, sounds like this might be the grade logic?

I have noticed issues where the RPMs are hovering and I need to hit the gas for some reason and it will shift hard and slam if you punch the gas. Does this sound unusual or a sign of the transmission going? Point being here that it seems more noticeable as of late

Thoughts?

 

When was the last time you changed your transmission fluid?

The 07 and 08 TL transmission are pretty bulletproof compared to the 04-06 models, it's possible, but I'd find it hard to believe your transmission is on its way out.

 

Probably about 20,000 miles ago, so I'd imagine that is due for a change soon. I was hesitant because a few people had mentioned to me that sometimes (though very rare) changing the fluid can kill your trans. Maybe this is a myth or doesn't apply here...

The last time I had it changed I had a "pulsating" feel from the trans, which went away with the change

 

Don't know where you read that from.

Doing a 1x3 every 20,000-30,000 miles is fairly routine maintenance. It's flushing it all out at once and replacing it with brand new stuff that can harm your transmission.

I did say "change transmission fluid" and that was a poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was, when was the last 3x3 performed, or at least a 1x3.

 

Its normal, i used to live in CT and yes it does that after you go over the hill and on the way doewn the car holding gear if you tap the gas all the sudden bam slam into the next gear. Easiest way to fix it is slap the shifter into sport mode and manually shift into next gear.

 

It's not a myth per se, but it's not the fluid changes that kills it, it's the lack of fluid change before. Can't fix a dying transmission by changing the fluid and sometimes a thicker transmission fluid will mask the symptoms pretty well. Changing it for a clean and more runny one will exacerbate the issues.

 

All makes sense, and I never thought to throw it into manual shift mode when the grade logic acts up instead of slamming into gear.

As for the fluid change, like I said I had this done around 80k (bought the car at 60k). But it was done with a "BG" product at a shop because I was young and dumb and didn't realize that the TLs need 3x3 drain and refill. Thinking I should have at least a 1x3 done by the local Honda guys...? Thoughts? Thanks for everyone's replies hopefully this thread serves someone in the future too

 

Always do honda ATF, after three times you will see the syptom ease.

 

This may seem like a noob question but what exactly is the 3x3? Does that just mean drain and refill the atf 3 times?

 

^^^ding ding ding. Its call 3x3 because each time it take 3 quarts to refill.