My 2008 TL now has 160,000 miles and for over 20,000 miles had the P0741 “transmission death code” illuminating the check engine light. I had two different independent Honda shops test drive the car and replace the transmission fluid. Both shops said that the car was shifting fine and mentioned it felt very different from the other Acuras coming in with that code. No metal shavings were found in the fluid. After both shop visits, the CEL would come back after two driving cycles. Recently I was accelerating rapidly up a steep hill and the check engine light flicked off. The light has now stayed off for 500 miles. The CEL bulb is still working as I can see it light up before I start the car.

Was I lucky enough to unclog a hydraulic line or is this the type of code that comes and goes? Any insight from 07-08 owners would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds lucky.. did you replace any switches? Your hypothesis could be on it and you just unclogged something and now in theory, the metal shaving 'should' be on the drain plug.

 

I own a TL-S with just above 160k miles. I've had this error code before, and topping off the ATF actually fixed this issue. I did notice there was some excessive material in my ATF fluid, but I drove my vehicle with this DTC for over 5k miles. Definitely a good idea to do the 3x3 drain/fill procedure, and you should be good. I now monitor my fluid level to avoid that P0741 code. It has not been back. Also if your TL is an automatic, it's a good a idea to change the 3rd/4th pressure sensors while you're changing and leveling the fluid.

 

Thanks. The pressure switches are original on my automatic, so I will plan on changing those and doing another drain and fill.