Hello all, my 2006 TL auto is back at the dealer getting its second transmission in the last 12,000 miles. This time, I felt it slip intermittently going into third gear and thought it might be a switch going bad. It currently has 77k on it. I took it in for service, thinking it would be a simple fix, and was quite surprised to hear back from the service writer that they would be again be replacing the whole transmission. I won't get it back until after Christmas, and won't know the full diagnosis until then.

For background, the last time they replaced it was because the case had a crack in it (which I had never heard of before) at 65k.

The dealership has been very accommodating, and neither transmission has/will cost me anything. My question is, with what is the third transmission for this vehicle (including stock), should I get rid of this vehicle as soon as the repairs are made or hope that the third time is the charm? Is this bad luck or something more? The vehicle is recently paid off, and I was hoping to get at least 200,000 miles out of it, which seems reasonable to me.

Thanks,
Alex

 

They're probably not replacing the switches.

After working in the industry, factory "rebuilds" can be anything from a used transmission to a very crappy rebuild. Most manufacturers contract out rebuild work. We got some of the overflow from Chrysler when their primary rebuilder couldn't handle all of the work load. Some of the "rebuilt" units we had the joy of taking apart from the primary builder had burned clutches, bad/worn hard parts and they had never been installed in a vehicle since the so called rebuild.

They could be over looking a simple electronic issue other than the switches. It could easily not be the transmission itself.

 

I had a replacement tranny go out on my 06 within 2000 miles and they had replaced the switches, I think it was just a plain bad to begin with

 

When they first replaced the transmission do they give you any details if it was brand new from the dealer or rebuilt?

 

The first one was a rebuilt one that they had shipped into the dealership. I assume that the delay in getting the new one put in is the same deal. I hope to find out more on Monday.

IHC: any suggestions about what to ask in regards to other potential electronic problems that could be affecting the transmission?

 

Have you had any trouble with the replacement transmission since then?

 

Acura will only used a rebuilt transmission for the warranty repairs. no new transmissions used.

Absolutely no issues with the transmission. going on 10k now.. using the DW-1 fluid. Had Type F racing in last one and really didnt like the harsh shifting. could have been the faulty tranny though?

 

As a quick update, the new transmission is in place. New pressure sensors, DW-1 fluidg, etc. No charge for this one, plus the new transmission is supposed to be covered by a 3yr/36k warranty. This is new information, previously I was told the second transmission was only covered by the standard powertrain warranty. Based on that, I am going to keep the TL and see how it goes. I'm counting on the third transmission in this vehicle being the charm!

 

Oh, also when I asked what the problem was, the service department said that they ran a pressure test and it failed. They then sent the results to the Tech Line, and they responded with the new (rebuilt) transmission. So no exact diagnosis to me anyway. It was stressed to me that they (dealer) never have seen this happen twice on an '06 TL.