Noticed large amount of white smoke behind car when accelerating at speed. decreased as I sloweed down but on accelearting noticed tach jumping as transission caught and then when got off highway car would not move except a little bit at high revs forard andreverse same. Turned off car and had towed. Noticed dark oily fluid leaking from under car engine and light film of oily substance on rear of car.

Any ideas on problem?

 

Sounds like you blew a seal in the transmission.

 

I was driving on the highway yesterday in my '04 TL (126k mi) and I saw smoke following me. I also pulled off and had it towed. There was oil all over the bottom of the car (smoke was from oil touching hot parts / right front brakes) and a sheen on the side / rear of the car.

I just heard back from the mechanic; he says my transmission is fried. That it overheated and the fluid came out the overflow. Estimates it'll be over $4,000 to repair.

Is it really that expensive to replace a transmission? That's almost 2/3rds the entire value of the car these days! I'm having a really hard time digesting that news. I was figuring it was just a gasket or a seal or something.

He also said something about having to replace the radiator. Does the TL have a transmission fluid radiator and would it be damaged at all from overheating?

My oil temp gauge on my dash was normal when this happened (less than half hot). Also, my friend reported seeing some drips behind my car two days ago that he just attributed to A/C condensation but could be oil now that we think about it. That made me think more a seal / gasket than a fried tranny.

The car was running smoothly with no problems until I noticed the smoke. No rough shifting or higher than usual revving or anything.

Any advice here? I really can't afford to drop over 4 grand right now...

 

Do a search here on AZ. I think you will find folks have had their transmissions replaced for about half that.

 

Drum, is your trans an Automatic or manual?

Either way, I'd just find a replacement at a junkyard. Would be much less than $4000.

And your temp gauge on your dash is coolant temp, not oil temp or transmission fluid temp.

 

Another big factor in the cost of the transmission is what sort of warranty do you get coming out on the other end. They will vary from 12 months/12K miles to 36 months/36K miles.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...nsmission+cost

 

Thanks for the replies pbook4g5 and NBP04TL4ME. Transmission is Auto.

They're saying fluid is coming out of the dipstick (there's a transmission fluid dipstick?) and overflow. They said just moving it into the shop stunk up the place with the overheated fluid.

He says I'll need a new radiator, and transmission. New TR he estimated would run $4,900. Didn't mention the cost of the radiator but a google search is telling me ~$105. Labor was estimated at $1,300 - 1,400.

Junkyards have '04 TL transmissions with less than 100k for approx. $1,200, but those come with no warranties, so it could blow on me tomorrow.

At his estimates, I'm out roughly $3k to go with a junkyard pull or nearly $7k brand new.

The KBB on an '04 Navi in 'Good' condition (fair amount of body scratches) is only $7,500.

I'm really struggling to justify the expense. I love my TL, it's such a nice car, but that cost is crazy, that's way more than a single month's income... it had no symptoms before it died, no hard shifts or stuttering as I've read other reporting...

 

Automatic transmissions do have dip-sticks and serve the same purpose as an oil dip-stick.
I understand your perdicament and if it makes you feel any better, you are far far from being alone or unique. Again if you search here on AZ you will find (unfortunately) tons of reading. I, personally have only owned manual transmission Honda/Acura products. However within my immediate family we have had two Accords and two Odysseys and one MDX. No issues with the Accords or the Odysseys, but replaced two torque converters in the MDX.

 

find 07 accord v6 trans and swap it in

 

get your transmission rebuilt for about $2500. You should not be spending anywhere near $4k for this. not sure if you really need the radiator, but even if you do its simple to replace, dont let them overcharge you

 

Thanks for the help!

It sounds like I've got a few options...
1. New, very $$$
2. Rebuild
3. Used '04 TL
4. Used/Rebuilt '07 Accord V6
5. Sell the car for Salvage

 

Couldn't edit the previous post...

...or is there an option 6. flush the transmission fluid and see if it'll run?

Call me in denial, but I'm just perplexed at how my transmission and radiator can both be shot because the fluid is burnt, overheated and flowed out the overflow. I'm clearly not a gearhead, but why would that have damaged the parts? It's not like I had slippage, or hard shifting, or high revs, or stuttering... the car was running smooth as ever, all the way to the highway shoulder.

I only had the timing belt service done 10k miles ago, which is supposed to include a transmission fluid change.

I don't know... now I'm just rambling...

 

Did they rip apart the transmission already? Maybe they refilled it and tried to drive it?

If they didn't, that would certainly be my first step. Although, if it overheated, chances are there is some internal damage.