Just as it says, I thought the car drove great before..........now it's incredible. Shifts are just so smooth and precise being made with almost zero effort.

I just thought I'd share.

Thanks Azine for the advice and comments in various threads, that was the reason I tried the GM fluid.

I walked out of Jones Acura $113 short, not too bad IMO. I usually do things like this myself but to be honest I didn't want to. lol

 

So your local Acura dealer put GM fluid in your tranny?

 

Congratulations!

 

Yep, they suggest and stock it for the MT's. It takes care of a notchy/stubborn 3rd gear, in my case noticeable as it got much colder. The improvement's really amazing.

 

Interesting - Would you mind telling what they charged you to do this?

I've had the 3rd gear syncho replaced under warranty and it has made things significantly better. Occassionally I have a rough shift into 4th gear and was thinking I would tackle this myself as everyone has had such good results. If the dealer replaces the fluid no one will give me a hard time with warranty claims or issues down the road.

Thanks in advance -

 

Well, they could've charged me $20/quart. It came out to $113 @ $14.03/quart plus around an hour's labor. It really only took the tech 20 minutes but they had to let the car sit and cool for a bit obviously.

From all the success stories I read about this fluid I suggest you give it a shot, makes all the gears go in smooth as butter!

 

glad you got it fixed, but an hours labor for what is essentially an oil change...?

 

Yessir, tis what happens when I feel lazy.

 

Don't discount the fact that the dealer put in the "GM uice," so this gives you a get out of jail free card if you have any issues down the road.

 

Exactly, that's another perk about labor charges from an Acura/Honda dealer....if something screws up shortly after the work or whatever the case may be chances are they will investigate and take care of it if it was in fact due to something they did.

Example....I had Acura change my steering wheel light bulbs and in the process they broke my contact reel....I have a brand new contact reel that I didn't pay for. lol

 

Nice -

Guess I should learn how to spell juice. Just noticed I missed the j above.

 

I got two quarts sitting in the Garage with 1 quart of Honda stuff on the way. I'm being cheap cause I don't want to spend $17 for that extra .4 qts. Local Chevy dealer wants $19/qt for this shit now. Yet Buick right across the street asks $4 less (only had 1 in stock ). It's such BS.

 

The GM FM MTF is amazing, I tried both the old and new Honda MTF and they don't even come close to the extremely smooth shifting of the GM.

 

Haha, it's just the internet, no worries.

Yeah, the stuff is expensive. My local dealer could've charge $20/qt. I agree as well, only needing ~2.5.....paying for 3 is WTF. But that's the name of the game being that it doesn't come in .5 qt. bottles.

I totally agree, shifts are so clean and crisp with the GM fluid, gears engage with minimal efforts and IMO the shifting track just feels butter cushioned.

It's weird, I told friends/family I had Acura put GM fluid in my transmission and they all give a weird look.

 

Not surprised - it seems backwards......

 

Haha, do you plan on using the fluid?

 

I've been thinking about it for awhile. Haven't spoken to the dealer yet - not sure if I'm going to get a weird look.

 

It's honestly a pretty easy job to DIY, maybe local members will lend some expertise.

There's also a nice DIY in the garage.

After seeing labor charges on my bill I sure wished that I had done it myself. lol

 

What is the difference from the Acura fluid? And the GM synchro mesh fluid for the manual transmission?

Is there some type of additivein the GM product?
Does anyone know?

 

No idea, the only thing I know for a fact is that I wanted it in my transmission because fellow enthusiasts spoke so highly of it.

 

From what I have read, GMSFM fluid has enhanced friction modifiers (components) which increase friction between surfaces. Now this may seem counter to logic, but synchronizers operate on friction, just like a clutching system. However, this does raise the question about possible premature wear to other part of the transmission but Acura/Honda owners have been using this fluid in their manuals for years with no such problems.

 

^ is this for certain? friction modifiers typically reduce friction between moving parts.

 

Interesting information.

 

I read this some time ago on another website and saw something like it again today. I have no personal knowledge about this so perhaps I should have stated such. However, it shouldn't be hard to find and determine whether or not this is true.

 

Friction modifiers just "modify" friction. That is they can make it more or less slippery depending on the needs.

Through deduction we can determine/guess that if your synchros grab better with fluid X vs fluid Y, fluid X would be the less slippery of the two. Again there is no way to know for sure. What works, works. And people have been using GMSMFM for almost 10 years now in Hondas with no "reported" issues.

 

Ditto. Had my '06 MT for about 3 weeks now. It only has 42k miles on it but I notice the notchy 3rd gear and have occasionally missed, briefly grinding the gear for a split second <shudder>. I have an appt at Acura on 11/22 as there is 9 months year left on the powertain warranty (original owner purchase date was 6/06).

Should I push for a syncro change as well as the GM fluid? I'd rather not have anyone going into the tranny but I'd like to get what I can out of the warranty while it lasts...

James

BTW - love the Acurazine. What a great resource. Kudos to the moderators and those who started the board.

 

I would think you would go with one or the other. You can bet if they are going to rebuild your transmission, they are not going to put anything in it but Honda MTF.

 

I would push for the hardware fix first and take advantage of your warranty. you can always switch fluid out later. 9 mo gives you enough time to sort out any problems with their fix..and it's not like the repair itself wont have a warranty after your powertrain warranty expires.

 

Agree with ez12A. I had the third gear synchro replaced under warranty and it is much better than it was. Temps are dropping in New England and I occasionally get the notchy 3rd gear in the AM. Every once in a while 4th gear acts up and like I said above - thinking about the GM stuff. Would love to get the dealer to swap it out as then I'm covered if anything happens down the road.

 

Well, I took the '06 TL it into the dealer by appointment so they were aware of why I wanted it looked at. The notchy shift happens about once or twice in each trip I take around town, but on a test drive with the head technician neither he or I could reproduce the problem. They kept the car for the day and called me with a proposal - they could drain the tranny fluid, and inspect for metal particles. If they found some they would perform the warranty work according to the service bulletins (gear swap), but if they didn't find any shavings I would be charged $79 for a fluid change. It's a small central FL dealership and they hadn't worked on any TLs with the problem, plus they would not use anything other than the Acura / Honda fluid.

I declined and said that I'd wait until the problem could be reproduced with the tech. Maybe when it's colder? I have until June '12 on the original warranty.

 

^This happened to me as well. The first time I took it in, of course they couldn't reproduce it. But they did mention that it was still a good idea to get it on record that I had been having the problem. The second time I took it in, they noticed the problem right away and took care of it for me.

Just be patient (unless your warranty is going to expire or something).

On a side note, my TL is getting smoother and smoother with each drive now that I've switched to GM'f FM fluid in my repaired tranny. I can still feel the multi-notch as you enter 3rd gear (unlike all other gears), but it doesn't hesitate like it used to. It's just a different sound than all the others........ like "clunk-da-dunk" vs "clunk-clunk" on the other gears.

 

I imagine any reputable shop could swap the GM fluid in for you if that's the route you choose. Maybe a local guy could even lend a hand.

 

I spoke with an independent shop manager I used for non - warranty work and he really wasn't interested in swapping it out. Said he would do it but strongly advised against it while I was still under warranty.
I may still speak with the dealer, next time I'm there, but am considering doing it myself.

 

My feeling now is to still try and get what I can via warranty (hopefully synchro + gear) by seeing if the colder weather makes the problem more reproducible. The car as 43k miles and warranty expires in June 2012. If I can accomplish this, I'll go to a transmission shop (I really don't know if there are any reputable ones in my town, lol) and have the GM SM fluid put in as soon as the drivetrain is out of warranty. Sound like a plan?

 

Sounds good. Just remember, it's an expensive job for the dealer/Honda. They have to make sure they are dealing with a real problem. The dealer gets paid either way, so it's in their best interest to get your car fixed.

Patience will pay off in the end.

 

Update- the weather was a little cooler last week and the 3rd gear issue was a bit more prominent so I took it to the dealer again for the head mechanic to drive it. 2 miles and 2 right turns later other tranny popped out of third after he upshifted. The next attempt at third I could tell he felt the notch. He said that since the problem was reproduced he could perform the service work.

My service detail indicates that 23444-RDE-315 gear set was installed along with a bunch of gaskets, o-rings and bolt/flange items. The fluids on the invoice are listed as 08798-9031A MT and 08206-9002A P.S. It also indicates that Service Bulletin 08-018 was performed, OP# 213205 3rd gear set replacement.

Shifting is OK and I'm still considering going to an independent shop for the Synchromesh MF fluid since I've got the new gear. Hope this helps other 6MT peeps, and thanks to Acurazine for the forums.

 

is this just a TL problem as my 06 tsx has smooth shifting with HMTF

 

Glad you got it sorted out!

 

Do you know if they used the regular gm stuff or the specific friction modified version?

 

Friction modified FTW.