Hi All,

Just turned 199k today. Friday, my starter died while I was headed to the airport. Had it towed and repaired while I left town. Picked it up on Saturday and on the short drive home my Green Drive button is blinking. Did a bunch of searching and learned I have a transmission issue. Car drives fine so I am hoping for a sensor/fluid issue. Decided to go buy a scanner and learn for myself. I bought the Actron CP9580 and it hooked right up. Simple. Problem is, the Actron says there are no codes. Did I do something wrong? Worse, did I buy the wrong scanner? In case it matters, when I first turn the car on, the green light is solid. After a few minutes (miles?) then the blinking begins. Would LOVE to be able to fix this myself and will be ordering the legendary two sensors and some redline tomorrow in any case.

Thanks for any help or advice,

 

Well, a scanner wont pull any codes unless your CEL came on. Blinking light for automatics, from what I've read (I think im correct in this) doesn't necessarily mean there are issues. Cruise around the forums and search for "blinking drive light", I think a few guys here have had that problem and fixed it with relative ease. As far as the scanner, your Check Engine Light has to come on (a sensor flagging a fail or a sensor going bad) for your scanner to pull anything :-\. Good luck.

 

From what I've gathered this is a transmission issue and it's usually on it's way out. However people have cured the problem by replacing the 3rd/4th gear pressure switches. Just do a search for it, also changing your transmission fluid to the new Honda/Acura DW-1 or Redline Racing type f fluid will fix your problems. Return the scanner, it won't help you in this situation as you don't have a check engine light. gl.

 

From my experience, a blinking drive light does not mean that there is an error code. I would check your ATF first to make sure that the fluid itself is ok. If not, drain and refill (perhaps introduce the new fluid slowly). For me, all I needed was new ATF and the blinking drive light went away.

Another member suggested that I replace the 3rd/4th gear pressure switches as well as replace the transmission filter.

Drain/Refill ATF:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/c-026-diy-changing-atf-pics-745892/

Replacing Transmission Filter Links:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/c-036-diy-transmission-filter-replacement-pics-787078/
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/c-036-transmission-filter-change-how-pics-789433/

3rd/4th Gear Pressure Switches:
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 suggest looking at page 5; thread 194 as well for additional pictures.

Good luck!

 

That scanner won't read transmission data. And it will only read "domestic" ABS data. So for the TL, it's really only an OBD scanner....

 

Hi All,

Thanks for the great replies! I didn't catch, in my research, that the CEL light was tied to the codes. HUGE bummer because the scanner is NOT returnable for obvious reasons. I have tracking numbers for my Redline and my new 3/4 sensors. With any luck everything will be in place and I will post an update in a few days.
Thanks again,