During my test drive of my type-s that I recently picked up, I did the standard slipping tests but now a new issue has arisen. When I do hard launches from a dig and shift just below redline, I'm getting what I think sounds like slipping shifting from 1-2-3. You can audibly hear the car not instantly grabbing and you can also see the tachometer just kind of remaining stationary while when I let off the clutch after shifting into 2nd and 3rd. It's very easy to hear in this video, but kind of hard to see the tachometer. I did the best job I could on the video. Thanks for checking it out.


Did the slave cylinder check valve delete today thinking that would fix it but no dice. What do you guys think?

 

stop beating on the car!!!!! lol

 

yes, with the abuse you gave it, it does look like its slipping in the higher RPMs

 

That one to two shift engagement didn't sound very promising. I don't rag on my car all that often, but I did do a rolling 1st gear run and into 2nd then 3rd last week and the clutch grabbed real hard and the tires instantly chirped going into both 2nd and 3rd.
I hate to say it, but that looks and sounds awfully similar to my previous 6mt Type S which needed a clutch at 60 some thousand miles. Eventually it started slipping with as little as 50% throttle. Go easy on the car and you won't need a new flywheel. Acura did my clutch and it turned out great cost was around a grand or so if I remember correctly.
The manual tranny and clutch in the TL's just seems fragile to me. Maybe I got that impression because of my other 6mt Type S frying a clutch at 60k, but I certainly don't drive this TL like I would my Z06 for example. That thing is bulletproof, where as the TL just seems fragile. Go easy on the thing man lol.

 

Note to self:

DISREGARD any "TL-S for sale" postings by JJH.

 

I only drove it like this for the purpose of recording a video. I've got a motorcycle and know how to conservatively drive a manual transmission vehicle to minimize clutch wear - it's not like this is how I'm driving the vehicle off every stop light!

^ As I stated above, I don't drive the vehicle like this day to day and it was only driven this way for the purpose of recording the video.

 

It sucks to say man but it does sound like its starting to slip. Just be nice and easy with it until you can get it replaced. Mine sounded just like that when revved up into the higher rpms. I just drove easy for about 2 months like that until I brought it to Acura to get it changed. Goodluck!

 

I'm going to take it to my local Acura dealership tomorrow and have them do their PPI inspection and ask them what they think about the clutch/tranny. I don't smell any burning or anything like that.

 

It was definitely slipping on the 1-2 shift. 3-4 brief rev was from disengaging the clutch too soon, before letting off the throttle. While it doesn't seem like the clutch is in the best shape, working on your shift timing would help a lot. The throttle was applied a little too soon on the 1-2 which initiated the slipping. The fact that it grabbed fine in 3rd but not in second shows its a timing issue. I think the clutch is not at 100% but its not that bad. It probably has a lot of life if its driven easy. If you race a lot it's probably time to look at getting another.

 

JJH, you PM'd me and asked what you were doing wrong.


this.

I would learn to drive it and get comfortable driving it before I would beat on it.
it did seem like you were riding the clutch for a little bit. Work on your timing!

 

Yeah, I'm still wet behind the ears with finessing this clutch and working through the gears. I appreciate the sound advice and help guys, I really do. I don't want anyone to think that this is how I drive my car all the time, because I definitely don't! I didn't even feel comfortable enough to do a launch like this until just this week since I just got the car last week and had never driven a manual car before. I'm going to do as much research as possible on the best practices for driving a standard vehicle and maximizing clutch life.

 

Southernboy posted some great stuff in these threads:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ion&p=11509328
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/anyone-else-know-manual-driver-who-would-never-rev-match-downshift-859628/

 

Ihc or anyone for that matter, I've got an additional symptom that might shed some light on the issue. Anytime I go hard through the rpms and or even if I do an aggressive fifth to third gear drop the clutch pedal will get real stiff and I will have to pump it a couple times before I shift it into gear. Any idea what this may be?

 

oh boy, seem like you don't have alot of luck with TL-S JHH.

 

^ I don't know, I actually think that I've been pretty lucky comparably to others. High mileage cars wear and tear, I've had no out of the ordinary issues that other have and I'm very happy about that.

 

Thats why Im telling you not to beat on it!

when I first bought my car, it displayed the same symptoms you're having.
when ever I did a high rpm run, the clutch pedal would get stiff and I would have to pump the clutch a few time for it to come back up.
I learned not to beat on it, ie: HIGH RPM RUNS!
but i couldnt help myself and eventually the clutch started to slip in 5th and 6th gears.

i bought the car with 31k miles and had to change the clutch at 35k.

the combination of the previous driver, test drivers and myself learning how to drive the car led to the death of the clutch prematurely.

you need to take it easy, because eventually it will slip.
and p.s. I tried everything to alleviate the stiff clutch pedal from, adding brake fluid to clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder check valve mod and I couldnt solve the stiff clutch problem.

only when I changed the clutch that it did go away.

 

hope you have a little cash saved.

I bought the oem clutch from acuraoemparts.com for around $250.
but since then, ive learned that you can buy the same clutch from ebay for $150.
same as the flywheel if you need it.
then, i got an indie mechanic to change the clutch out for about $400.
thats about $750 and a whole lot cheaper than the dealer.
you will need to shop around.

 

I'll shop around for the best prices on everything. Price doesn't concern me as the dealership agreed to fix anything within my first 30 days of ownership. Quality of workmanship and expertise does though. Any reason you chose to go with OEM components? I've heard that if you're going to have to swap out the clutch you might as well upgrade and also get a lightweight flywheel.

As far as installation, are dealerships normally a safe bet albeit expensive?

 

I stuck with OEM because I was not made of money.

we have an unconventional clutch system.
to install a Lightweight fly wheel, you would have to install a new aftermarket sprung clutch.
LW flywheel = $$
aftermarket clutch = $$

I didnt have the $2-3k to spend on my clutch
I did, however, have $750.

there are good mechanics and there are bad mechanics.
this applies to the dealership too.
but yes, generally its expensive to go through the dealership

 

you can get the OEM LUK clutch kit for under $200.

does it slip with normal driving like under 4k rpm? I have 125k on the original clutch on my 04 6spd and it seems to slip when i'm 5k+ rpm. No reason to be going over 4k between shifts IMO for everyday driving.

you can still drive the car hard and how you want it without redlining or launching the car hard at lights. i dont understand people who get manual cars and then end up shifting at 1500-2000rpm. You are slowing everyone down behind you.

 

No, it does not slip at all unless I'm doing a launch similar to what I showed in the video. Even if I slow my shifting down and redline shift, it doesn't slip. It's only with quick shifting in the higher RPMs in lower gears. The other issue where I will have to pump the pedal a couple times appears after really getting on the car by means of either hard launching or doing an agressive 5th-3rd drop.

 

I good clutch/flywheel combo is going to run about 1400 just in parts.

That's what I am saving up for. 15 lb lightweight flywheel and 6 puck sprung clutch.

I am going to get away from the self adjusting clutch.

Plus I like vibration and chatter.

 

As I was reading this I was going to mention vibration and chatter and loss of drivability but you know what to expect.

My friend has a turbo Porsche with an aluminum flywheel and 3 puck clutch that was never meant to be used on the street. The flywheel was light enough that the car revved like an indy car making me relearn everything I thought I knew about rev matching and such. I usually get used to manuals in a mile or two but this thing had me looking like I didn't know how to drive a manual. There was about 1/4" of pedal travel from disengaged to fully engaged and if you managed to get it to slip it would shake the whole car so bad your vision would go blurry and make noise that scared people on the sidewalk 50' away. I avoided parking lots at all costs when possible. I quickly learned that when taking off it was so much easier to spin the tires than slip the clutch. In parking lots it was a series of small drifts when taking off around corners. I don't miss driving that car. It didn't help that the clutch pedal effort required meant his GF couldn't drive it because she couldn't push the clutch in with one foot.

Super light rotating mass plus no torque without boost plus a clutch that's on or off makes for a "fun" drive lol. Every 6 puck car I've driven has been relatively easy to drive once you get used to it. That doesn't mean the TL will be the same but I bet it won't be too bad. It's usually hard enough to drive that the valets get frustrated but it's something you get used to over time. I think driving a car with a lighter rotating mass and a "grabbier" clutch makes you a better manual driver when you get back in a stock-ish manual car. It will show the flaws in your shifting that are covered up by slow revving and slow deceleration and a big range between engaged and disengaged.

 

I would buy a clutch and then leave it in the corner and just drive the car normally until it just slips under any kind of load and then throw the new clutch in. You could probably get another 6 months out of it if you actually drove it like the soccer mom car it is.

 

Lol. Agreed but brace yourself for the race car comments especially with it being a 6mt.

 

hah don't get me wrong, I have a 6mt with coilovers and enkei pf01's. I do like a good spirited drive but its still a luxury mom car. Now my other "track/show" car is a 91 civic econosh*tbox that is very fun to drive and handles like a go cart. I guess to each their own but my TL to me is just a daily that gets me from A to B in style.

 

Yeah, it's no racecar at all. I think it's a given that I rarely ever drive like this. I'll be getting a project car with a LS1 motor soon enough to make into my powerbox.

Update

I dropped the car off this morning at my local Acura dealership for a PPI and I've got some relatively good news. Three different techs think that it's not the clutch itself or the slave cylinder but that it's the clutch master cylinder. I'm going to try replacing that first and see if that gets me anywhere. I'll let you guys knows what happens.

 

^good luck.
the only thing I found to fix the stiff clutch pedal was changing the clutch itself.

 

Hopefully. I would be extremely happy if it ends up only being a $66 fix.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261053790940

 

I just purchased a 2005 TL with 48,000 miles that is having the same clutch issue. If it is true that these clutch systems are fragile, what do you think about a stage 1 clutch as some have suggested to me. I would like to drive it aggressively sometimes.

 

The clutch on my TL has been pretty awesome so far. The only thing I would advise would be to get rid of the check valve.
Besides that its down to how you drive. Its all about being mechanically sympathetic. If you know your car is having a bad time because its too hot outside or the clutch is slipping or there's too much heat soak then take it easy cause its not going to get any better. Summer nights I've noticed is when my car feels its best. Gear changes are silky smooth and it feels brand new.
If you don't rev match while down shifting I'd advise doing that and getting comfy with making the gear shifts as effortless as possible.

 

JJH, Did addressing the Master Cylinder fix your clutch issue? Knowing may help me to know how to address the same issue I am having.

 

I'd be curious too...
I've recently changed my driving habits to get better gas mileage, so I doubt I'll even notice if mine was slipping.

 

I believe he said in another thread that the MC did fix the particular issue he was having. He made a DIY thread for it.

Makes me kind of want to replace it if it's not too expensive. The thing that bothers me right now the inconsistent engagement. Some days i'll be pretty smooth. others, not so much.

I picked up a old NA miata and it's WAY easier. Now i know why people complain about the TL. I just never knew anything better lol.