CGCINC

(Sorry this is long)
Car: 2004 Acura TL

My wife was driving home yesterday and said the trans acted funny, shifted to second gear and she limped it home that way.
Today, I checked the fluid and it was on the low mark so I added a little fluid to fill it up. Drove the car and ran/shifted fine for 15 mins. then it acted weird, shifted to a lower gear and then Completely stopped working like the trans was in nuetral. I pulled over and shifted to reverse, nothing so I turned the car off thinking it might be hot. waited 5 mins. and restarted, put in drive and drove it home shifting perfectly the whole time till I turned into my street, shifted weird then when I turned into the driveway it went to "neutral" again.
No reverse, no forward, Nothing! So I turned the car off This Time for 5 seconds, restarted and it went back into gear just like normal and drove into the garage.

I think it is something Electrical, maybe a sensor or something, but it will reset with the key cycle and work perfect for a few minutes....


Any ideas???? I'm lost
This doesn't sound like the tranny recall problem?!?

NAMco

iTrader: (3)

Do any engine lights come on? Check engine, or VSA? Sounds like a bad APP sensor.

CGCINC

No lights, VSA or anything!?
What is an APP sensor? Do you have a part number?
Here is the sensor diagram <--- Click

I just replaced the two sensors that everyone talks about... 28600-RAY-003 and 28610-RAY-003.
I still need to take it out for a test drive but I'm at work so that will be later this afternoon.

CGCINC

Just went for test drive...it's still doing it.

It will drive for 4'ish miles and I'll be cruising at 60mph then the trans will downshift for no reason and doesnt know what to do so it goes into a "neutral" type feeling with no gears forward or reverse. Turn off the key and restart the car and I can drive another 4 miles till it happens again.
What is wrong????

The Acura dealer is 75 miles away so towing to them could get expensive!

garrett

how many miles on the car? how many miles since any preventative maintenance on the trans was done?

ever changed the 3/4 pressure sensors? ever changed the ATF fluid?

Inaccurate

Do any engine lights come on? Check engine, or VSA?

If you have several yellow lights turned on, then your trans just puked. Time for a replacement trans if you have yellow dash lights.

CGCINC

There are no lights on at all. The car drives, shifts and runs perfectly till something tells it to downshift then go into neutral. Once I cycle the key it will run and shift perfectly. I've always kept up on maintenance with the engine/tranny

I am so sick of people that don't do their job.
Took my car to AAMCO because the dealer wanted to rip me off. They did their "free" diagnosis and said they THINK that particles are floating around and stopping the converter clutch pack from working. I said, So why will it start working when I cycle the key? no answer. Also said the filter is plugged up. I said I just changed it yesterday? You cannot get to it sir, its buried in the transmission and to get to it you have to dismantle the tranny.... I say, There is a filter on top of the transmission that I changed and there may be one buried inside but how do you know its plugged up without tearing into the tranny???

His suggestion, total rebuild, of course.

myblack04tl

You never answered his question, how many miles on your car and when was the last time you changed the trans fluid?

If the fluid is really old it could slip and when you turn off the engine and wait all the "suspended junk" in the fluid could settle and let you drive it a few more miles until it happens again.

CGCINC

This was not a random problem like floating debris.
It would fail at the exact same time/distance each time I cycled the key.

Doesn't matter now, I will have a rebuilt tranny Friday.

jda123

Look into the APP more. Sounds likely.

If it is not the APP, then change out the tranny filter, clean the screens in front of the solenoids (can fill with debris) and change the fluid. Change the fluid first. All of this is possible from the exterior. These things can rid your system of floating debris and the car should function like it does in the initial drive. All of this assumes that the "debris" argument is correct.

tharik2006

i had the same problem with my car,,, did some research thru the forums and ended up doing a 3x3 oil change and then changing the 3rd and 4th gear oil pressure switches... its only been a couple of days but so far it hasn't acted up... if u already changed ur tranny do urself a favor and go get ur old tranny,,, nothing may be wrong with it.. just a suggestion...

CGCINC

I did all the "fixes" you find on the internet. None of them helped. I got my car back Tuesday and it shifts perfectly after a rebuild...It better for $3000!!
There was a Sprag clutch pack or something with the name sprag in it broken in the tranny so that was my problem.

I guess these transmissions will only go for 210,000 miles...

Fatfrii

fuck! i am having the same exact problem just happened out of no where 2 days ago... dont have 3K what exactly was the issue?

CGCINC

That's what ours did, just one day started acting stupid.

I would have bet money it was a sensor but the guy at the tranny shop showed me all of the stuff he replaced and the broken Sprag thing!??!? It sux but sometimes it happens

professor48

210,000 miles before you had a transmission problem? That's great. Your transmission actually takes more abuse than your engine. Though $3k is a great deal of money, you've gotten your money's worth out of the original transmission. Fatfrii: another option is a used transmission. A good used one should be under $1k and installation should run about another $500. Worth checking out. Hy