I wanted to share my transmission experience with all the readers. My car is a 2006 TL AT with 111K miles on the clock. At around 60K I noticed poor shifting. I had the ATF changed and the shifting improved. About 3 month ago I noticed that the car begin to shift poorly again. In the morning the car would spin, like it’s in idle for a few minutes, although it was in drive. Stupidly I brought the car to the dealer (always a bad decision!). Despite being given a nice 2011 TSX to drive for the day, the experience was a waste of time and money. The dealer charged me $100 for diagnostic service and suggested that I replace the ATF. The total bill for this (including and oil change) was around $400. If the service fixed things I would have been happy, but alas, it was not to be. Brought the car back to the dealer as was told that the fluid is again bad (brown and burnt). The suggested a 3x3 flush, and discounted it down to $250. At this point I figured I was in for a new (or rebuilt tranny), but hopping to avoid this, I agreed. Drum roll please.. the flush accomplished nothing. A week later (it got colder her in the North East) the car slipped in drive worse the ever.
AT this point I investigate transmissions shops and brought the car to AAMCO (good guy at the shop). Being curious and mechanically inclined I asked the tranny guy to educate me on transmissions in general and on Acura (and Honda) in particular. I was a bit heartened by the fact that there was a 2005 TL with 150K in the bay in front of me.
According the AAMCO guy, Honda, like all other OEM, cuts corners and creates planned obsolescence. Specifically in our cars the ATF filter is internal and can’t be changed without dropping the transmission. Once the filter clogs up with all the pieces of the clutch material, the torque converted burns out and the tranny is done. It’s only a matter of time before the clutches are scored and torn apart by all the particular matter floating around.

 

This is a great time to add a transmission cooler with a magnefine filter!

 

Another genius from AAMCO.
Take this to him and paste it on the wall:

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/

 

Please don't ever take your car to AAMCO. Just google AAMCO + scam. Occasionally you might run across one who actually has their act together but the vast majority of them are out there to con you out of as much money for transmission repairs that won't hold up past a year or so.

 

I heard the same about AAMCO being a scam, I found the guy I dealt with to be descent and honest. My transmission was definitely gone. The car is back, total cost was $2800 all in. They are giving me 12k/12month warranty.

 

Actually, it is the customer's fault in all this. 99% of car buyers want smooth buttery shifts. To accomplish this, there needs to be intentional slip in the transmission so the clutch packs don't grab hard enough to make shifts noticeable. Problems generally don't show up until after the 100k mile mark and by then, the car has usually changed hands a few times and the car manufacturers can pass the failures off on poor maintenance.