import racer

So I've been checking out these forums for a while and decided my next car would be a TL six speed. I find one 5 hours away and make the trip friday night. Saturday I trade in my truck and get the car. It was raining when I test drove the car so I didn't drive it hard and thought nothing of the clutch feeling a little light. To make a long story short, 2 hours into the trip back home the clutch started smelling really bad and it felt very light and would not engage 1st or 2nd without a lot of help. 2.5 hrs later the clutch completely fails and nothing will go into gear and the clutch pedal is stuck to the floor. 1.5 hrs later and the car is towed to the nearest honda dealer. I called the dealer that sold me the car and he told me it should be covered under my platinum warranty. My question to you guys is 1) has this happened to any of you and 2) are the cluches in these cars weak or was mine just beat to hell. I'll find out the damage on monday until then I'd like to hear what you guys think.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

So far the 6mt has been very reliable. I've seen 1 or 2 threads about clutch issues but those could be anything. there are a few S/C'd 6spds and they have not reported problems and that is where I would expect to hear about it first. Sounds like yours had been beat on.

shooter

Did you get yours brand new? How many miles on your odometer when you took delivery?

Sorry to hear such a beast died so young . . well sort of ....

jumbosizeme79

you just got stuck with a lemon.. sucks

Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

People, if you read his sig it is an 04.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. It seems as though previous owner tore that clutch apart, as you were having some sense of a light clutch when you test drove it. I would suspect the previous owner sold it because they began noticing the clutch failing. I am sure your warranty should cover it as though it had not even been 24 hours since purchase. Did you buy from acura dealership?

import racer

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I bought it from baierle acura in Minneapolis, MN. I bought the platinum warranty so it should be covered. The car has 55,000 miles on her.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

as menitoned above previous owner probably either did not know how to drive stick well or beat it up hard...

it is good you bought the warranty because you get to get a brand new clutch and break it in to your driving style

01tl4tl

55k is not bad for clutch wearout-
these cars can be driven by all experience levels, and downshifting without intent to be in the correct gear to exit the corner on the throttle--- is a waste of good clutch material!!!
Brakes are to slow the car- the clutch/transmission is not designed for that

Have a good read of the owner manual and be extremely careful in learning the hand position for each gear- shifts that accidently catch 2nd gear at speed will cause an overrev thats about $2500++ to fix and is not covered under any warranty- customer fault

SouthernBoy

If by "55k is not bad for clutch wearout" you mean that getting 55,000 miles from a clutch before replace is acceptable, no way. Unless there is some extraordinary driving/usage/mechanical flaw going on here, you should expect at least 4 times that mileage before having to do a replacement.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I know many honda owners with more that 200k on original clutches. My dads g/f has like 250 on hers and we call her clutch because all she does is ride it. apparently she sometimes does not even use first.

Aman

It sounds like the clutch was pretty beat up an abused. If so, you might want to check the entire drivetrain for an other related problems that could have happened during the abuse of the clutch.

congrats on the purchase, though!

t0talacuratl

iTrader: (3)

That clutch shouldn't have gone out that fast. I still have the original after 70k. Like stillhere said, thank goodness your covered.

import racer

When the service department takes a look at the car, I will be sure to have them check everything that could possibly be related to clutch abuse. Hopefully they can squeeze me in on monday.

6spMike

There have been multiple instances of experienced MT drivers experiencing failed clutches on the TL. Mine was one, at 18k miles. Others have been as early as 5k miles.

mlody

23k on mine and still going strong. I do not abuse or drive like like i stole it so, I am hoping that the clutch will last me the life of the car

sol_da_man

52k on mine, as good as when i bought it at 25k.

import racer

*UPDATE* So the tech at the Honda dealership thinks that it is a broken flywheel, but to find out they will have to drop the tranny to take a look. The estimate $2000, but luckily it is covered. My dealer wants his service manager to talk to the Honda guys before they rip it apart, so I have to wait until tommorow. I'll update this thread as I find out what they're gonna do.

Legend2TL

55K miles is way too early for a normally operated clutch. The only Honda/Acura I know of tjhat had severe premature clutch wear was 5MT 1G Legends from 1986-1988. Apparently the clutch was redesigned, but I know someone with a Legend from those years who only got 100K out of the clutch and Acura replaced it for full cost even out of warrenty.

All the Acura/Honda clutchs I've replaced lasted at least 150K miles, most making 200K miles.

import racer

*UPDATE* So the guys at the Acura dealership are sending there service people up on thursday to flat bed my car 300 miles back to Minneapolis, fix it, and then flat bed her back early next week. They'll also pay for a rental car so I can't be too bad. Thanks for the replies guys, I just can't wait to drive my car again.

djbonsu

iTrader: (3)

WOW!!...this sucks!..glad acura took care of you man

import racer

I got the car back today and it drives great. I ended up getting a brand new clutch out of the deal. I took it on the highway and this car is def faster than I first thought. Overall a very good experience with Buerkle Acura, they hooked me up. Next up is wash/wash and pics. Glad to finally become a REAL member of the TL community.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

You can't be serious.

Hokie TL-S

Uh - OK

I got over 200,000 miles out of the original clutch on a Saturn - still shifted great when I traded it. Also traded in a CRX with over 150,000 on the original clutch. Heck - even my 1975 Celica still had usable clutch at 125,000 miles when 5th gear exploded due to previous owner abuse. My wife's Scirocco had 185,000 on the orginal clutch when she sold it. Etc.

55,000 miles on a $30,000+ car? Clutch shoud be just broken in, IMO. Seems that it was driven very hard and the clutch will only be the beginning of a long, beautiful, and expensive relationship with your mechanic.

import racer

Thanks for the feedback guys, However like I said the car drives great now and maybe the original clutch was beat on but now I have a new clutch and the dealership checked the transmission as well so I do not foresee anymore problems in the future. I've been driving performance cars for the past 6 yrs so I think I may have a feel for them. The clutch should have lasted alot longer, but I wouldn't expect it to last as long as a clutch in a econo-car.

nick04tl

i would say 50000 miles is about the average miles of a clutch on a 3 gen. we have had one as low as 12000 miles and of the 4 i have done only one had 50000 miles on it. the other 3 were less than 50000. you cant compare a 3 gen tl clutch to other cars you have previously owned. they just wear out fast.