Need Help!! Sluggish acceleration and no luck troubleshooting!
04-28-2016, 06:05 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Need Help!! Sluggish acceleration and no luck troubleshooting!
Hey guys,
So I've been a lurker on Acurazine for a little while now, and this is my first post! Unfortunately...
About 9 months ago, I bought my 2008 TL Base Automatic 76,000k.
I had it fully inspected at the local Acura dealer, who told me everything looked great on the car besides 3 busted mounts (front, side, upper trans.)
I replace ALL 5 mounts (front, side, rear, upper and lower trans), happily drive the new wheels around for maybe 4 months until I start noticing a hesitation when accelerating/decelerating, but don't think much of it.
Give it another month, the hesitation is getting worse and I can start pinpointing about where it happens while accelerating. I notice a couple of times that the green "D" drive indicator light will flash occasionally, indicating a transmission computer malfunction.
No CEL's, so I take it back to the dealer with explicit details about the problem, but they give it the OK and say "If it continues, change the tranny fluid and see if it improves."
Erring on the cautious side, I change all fluids and do a full flush of the ATF. (Run new ATF, change again after 1000 mi.)
PROBLEM STILL PERSISTS.
Take it to a 3rd party Acura specialist and he tells me the same thing that the Dealer did.
At this point, I know that the issue is worst when I'm coming in or out of 3rd/4th gear.
So, I did my homework and a bit of Acurazine lurking and found that many have had problems out of the 3 transmission oil pressure sensors assigned to 3rd and 4th gear. (2 switches for 3rd gear in the 07-08)
This past week I replaced those switches and took out all the linear solenoids to check their screens and electrical actuation. Solenoids had perfectly clean screens, actuated perfectly, and read at the correct resistance on a multimeter.
The switches were a huge improvement and no more flashing Drive indicator, but here's where things get a little weird...
I'm still having an acceleration issue that causes sluggish rev changes, almost as if it's not getting fuel or maybe has an air leak.
When I pop it into the sport mode on the auto trans(basically manual mode), the acceleration is so sluggish that I can touch my toe to the floor going 70 in sport and only gain about 2-3 miles per hour (yes I was in 5th.)
This isn't as drastic in normal automatic driving, instead it's just slow to catch its RPM's (accelerating and decelerating), causing a big change in RPM's and ultimately giving some pretty rough engine feedback.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all?
I'm dying from thinking about this all the time
I don't want to be investing any more money in parts that won't fix the issue.
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, You're my only hope!!
If I can't figure out, I'm likely going to sell it.
I don't want to always be worrying about a trans failure.
Best regards,
-RP
So I've been a lurker on Acurazine for a little while now, and this is my first post! Unfortunately...
About 9 months ago, I bought my 2008 TL Base Automatic 76,000k.
I had it fully inspected at the local Acura dealer, who told me everything looked great on the car besides 3 busted mounts (front, side, upper trans.)
I replace ALL 5 mounts (front, side, rear, upper and lower trans), happily drive the new wheels around for maybe 4 months until I start noticing a hesitation when accelerating/decelerating, but don't think much of it.
Give it another month, the hesitation is getting worse and I can start pinpointing about where it happens while accelerating. I notice a couple of times that the green "D" drive indicator light will flash occasionally, indicating a transmission computer malfunction.
No CEL's, so I take it back to the dealer with explicit details about the problem, but they give it the OK and say "If it continues, change the tranny fluid and see if it improves."
Erring on the cautious side, I change all fluids and do a full flush of the ATF. (Run new ATF, change again after 1000 mi.)
PROBLEM STILL PERSISTS.
Take it to a 3rd party Acura specialist and he tells me the same thing that the Dealer did.At this point, I know that the issue is worst when I'm coming in or out of 3rd/4th gear.
So, I did my homework and a bit of Acurazine lurking and found that many have had problems out of the 3 transmission oil pressure sensors assigned to 3rd and 4th gear. (2 switches for 3rd gear in the 07-08)
This past week I replaced those switches and took out all the linear solenoids to check their screens and electrical actuation. Solenoids had perfectly clean screens, actuated perfectly, and read at the correct resistance on a multimeter.
The switches were a huge improvement and no more flashing Drive indicator, but here's where things get a little weird...
I'm still having an acceleration issue that causes sluggish rev changes, almost as if it's not getting fuel or maybe has an air leak.
When I pop it into the sport mode on the auto trans(basically manual mode), the acceleration is so sluggish that I can touch my toe to the floor going 70 in sport and only gain about 2-3 miles per hour (yes I was in 5th.)
This isn't as drastic in normal automatic driving, instead it's just slow to catch its RPM's (accelerating and decelerating), causing a big change in RPM's and ultimately giving some pretty rough engine feedback.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all?
I'm dying from thinking about this all the time
I don't want to be investing any more money in parts that won't fix the issue.
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, You're my only hope!!
If I can't figure out, I'm likely going to sell it.
I don't want to always be worrying about a trans failure.
Best regards,
-RP
04-28-2016, 07:59 PM
#2
Senior Moderator
sounds like a failing torque converter lockup mechanism. The car should give you a CEL if the trans starts slipping with a >200 RPM difference from engine output to transmission output.
Have you tried adjusting the throttle cable or replacing the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor?
Have you tried adjusting the throttle cable or replacing the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor?
04-28-2016, 08:06 PM
#3
Intermediate
Thread Starter
sounds like a failing torque converter lockup mechanism. The car should give you a CEL if the trans starts slipping with a >200 RPM difference from engine output to transmission output.
Have you tried adjusting the throttle cable or replacing the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor?
Have you tried adjusting the throttle cable or replacing the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor?
I've never really had a drive-by-wire car, mine have always been a little older. I'm not quite sure how to go about adjusting the APPS.
Would it also be possible that this sensor is bad without a CEL?
04-29-2016, 12:52 AM
#5
Registered but harmless
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Age: 59
Posts: 14,842
Received 1,102 Likes
on
763 Posts
That will address the APP sensor and throttle cable issues.
Welcome to AZ.
04-29-2016, 07:22 AM
#6
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Awesome, thank you guys for the replies!
I'll check the throttle cable and the APPS this weekend.
Sounds like the torque converter might be worth investigating, too.
Are there any other suggestions? I also heard someone in another thread mention an MAP sensor. I even considered a stretched timing belt, considering the mileage is around 87,000 now. It's about that time...
I'll check the throttle cable and the APPS this weekend.
Sounds like the torque converter might be worth investigating, too.
Are there any other suggestions? I also heard someone in another thread mention an MAP sensor. I even considered a stretched timing belt, considering the mileage is around 87,000 now. It's about that time...
03-22-2018, 08:34 AM
#7
I messaged the original poster (Robert Paulson) as to what his final solution was. He messaged back:
it ended up being the transmission's pressure switches. I replaced all 3 and had no issues afterwards.