So the tranny died on Saturday night. I barely made it home. It all happened while I was about to exit the highway, I noticed that when stepping on the throttle, the car only revved, the tranny would rev then start working again at random until I got off the highway on my exit.
Upon exiting it stopped working again, I turned the car on and off and it worked again long enough to get my home. Any gear I put the tranny in would be like neutral.

Long story short, the car is at the dealer now and they said "Supposedly the tranny's never mess up on these cars and the only reason I would be covered for a new tranny was because of my extended warranty". Other wise I would have been stuck because of all the aftermarket parts on my car -__-

Anyways Im happy Im getting a replacement yet confused. The tranny gave no signs it was going to die, except for a clunk it gave when shifting into reverse, yet it only did that maybe a handful of times and it was only a week after all the snow went away. Im guessing all the snow I drove it in over this winter must have took a toll on it.

FYI I've got 50,000 miles on the odometer, and two weeks ago I changed my 3rd and 4th gear sensors and did a 3x3 switch to RedLine Racing Fluid. Don't know if that had anything to do with my failure...

Also one last question being that I have 6qts of Redline D4 and 3qts of Redline Racing fluid, should I even bother experimenting with this new fluid again? If so how long should I wait to switch the fluid after getting the new tranny? Thanks...

 

the dealership told you that? maybe take a print out of some of the transmission death threads and show your service advisor; i hate it when they play dumb. anyways, as far as your transmission goes, i can attest to the same experience. my transmission died ~64,000 miles without any prior signs - just all of a sudden, leaving me stranded on the side of I-5. as far as experimenting with different atf, i'd steer away from going between products. i'm not a huge fan of redline (they're motor oil got dinged recently for essentially promising too much and not delivering). i'm not an atf guru, but in my honest opinion, i'd suggest sticking with oe or amsoil; imagine going between dino and synthetic every oil change (terrible) . best of luck!

extended warranty sure did pay off, didn't it!

edit: do you have a pulley by chance? now that i think about it, my car did actually show signs of a few hesitations after i installed my UR pulley (hard, spirited runs). that or the transmission was already on it's way out, and the pulley exacerbated the issue...i'll never know

 

No symptoms whatsoever other than a clunk when going in reverse? Damn.

 

No pulley Eric3. And yea Ggesq, it started the clunck last month, and did it less then a handful of times...all of those times in the month of feb.

Loved how it felt after using the redline and the new switches. =(

 

just when i was going toswap to redline and change switches.
.....i think i'll hold off.

Keep us updated on what the dealer finds as the cause.

 

If the trans started with that clunk sound last month then it was already starting to fail and doing the pressure switches and changing to redline fluid had nothing to do with the failure. I'd start the new trans out with redline and do a drain and fill every other oil change. Also I'd install an external cooler and change out the pressure switches every 30,000 miles. These steps should prevent the new one from failing.

 

Agreed with this guy. It's like getting a flu shot after you've already gotten the flu. I would start the new transmission out with Redline Type F so you don't have to worry about this occurring again.

 

Here comes the shit storm. Redline and the switches save 99 transmissions and one already dying transmission dies while on Redline and no one wants to use it again. I think everyone should go back to Z1 because no transmissions have failed on that.

Were the basics checked such as fluid level?

As for Redline engine oil not living up to its expectations, I would love to hear that one. Probably bitog at it again.

 

Sorry, the title had me thinking... lol

 

Lol@ Rondog. I think I'm going to do 6qts D4 and 3qts type F. I seriously loved how it drove on redline. But my only question is, how soon should I do the 3x3? Isn't there a break in period I have to give the tranny on the original fluid?

 

1,000 miles at most and it's fully broken in. 100-200 miles should be enough. No reason to do anything but straight type F. The Type F did not cause the failure and if anything it prolonged the failure. Now you're downgrading for absolutely no reason.

 

Well, at least we won't see "Not one transmission failure while using Racing Type F" anymore.
Couldn't resist.

 

Well my reasoning for wanting to put 6qts of d4 is and only 3 of type f was because My first time using the 9qts of type f, the shifting into from second to third was a tad on the rouugh side until the car had been driven a few miles.

I'm under the impression that the additives in the d4 will allow that smooth shifting like oem fluid.

 

I've been using Redline Hi-Temp since last year. Would this fall under D4 or Type F?

 

That's exactly how I did it. 6 d4 and 3 type f

 

So..........did you have any flashing D light? check engine light? anything light up on the dashboard? what were the error codes reported by the tech?

 

Sure beats the hell out of thousnds of failures on Z1. I know this makes you happy but try and contain yourself. Once yours fails I'll be sure to laugh in your face.

 

It would fall under a thick D4 fluid. The regular racing fluid is the same viscosity but without the FM. You'lll like the shifts much better on the racing fluid.
Smooth shifting and long life do not go together. If you value smooth shifting, that's fine but realize you're not going to get the maximum reliability.

If it was only shifting hard when cold, you might try more of the lightweight racing fluid. Another option is to use Amsoil Super Shift. It's very close to the factory viscosity and it's a type F also. No need to mix light and heavy if you use that.

 

uh......

Not to stir the shit in the pot but damn.. and at 50k miles.

Definitely DO NOT TELL THE DEALER THIS INFO.

 

Can someone explain this to me in layman's terms because I'm not a gearhead at all. How does the clunk sound when going in reverse indicate that the tranny was failing?

My main reason for asking is because I hear a clunk every now and then when going in reverse

 

I would not worry just yet. More often than not its something like mounts.

If it is trans related it can be from artificially high line (hydraulic) pressure, worn clutches, stuck accumulators, or worn hard parts.

I guess the first question is does it do it all the time or only when cold with a high idle?

 

Being that I had previously ordered the 6qts of d4 and already have typeF fluid do you give me the green light to do the 3x3 like this? Or should I try to cancel the order on the d4 and go w/ amsoil like ur said? Btw I really like the typeF fluid from redline, except for the hard shift into third, this is why I was trying this method...thx.

 

Yeah, in my '04 I here the same clunk when going from drive to reverse, almost all the time (cold or warmed up). I hope this is not a sign of what is to come...

Dred87- Sorry to hear about your tranny. What year is your TL?

 

You can mix them together, it won't hurt anything. My opinion is to find out if the harsh cold shifts are from the thicker "Racing" fluid or from it being a Type F. My best guess is it's from the thickness or it would not go away when hot.

Sometimes I think it's just easier to use Amsoil since it's right at stock viscosity.

A combo of D4 and racing is still much better than Z1. But if you want the least amount of wear, the type F Racing is going to give you that.

If it helps you at all, the viscosity for the Racing fluid is roughly 10cSt, Lightweight racing is about 4cSt, D4 is around 7cSt, Amsoil Super Shift (type F) is around 7cSt, and stock is around 7cSt.

 

Matt- only cold.

I ordered the Redline Type-F fluid. I've already changed the switches. Just waiting on a certain poster in this thread to get his fluid in so we can change together :gheylaugh:

 

I doubt it's the trans then. The only thing to watch out for is if something like a broken mount is causing the noise and you add all "racing" fluid which is slighly thicker, it might make the noise worse.

Hopefully we can do a sticky soon. The Amsoil Type F is just easier to recommend because you don't have to worry about mixing the light and heavy fluids, eliminating one variable. In your climate it should not be an issue though.

 

A little off topic, I have a 2006 TL (6MT), but also an 2007 MDX. Should I be replacing my tranny fluid in the MDX with the Redline Type-F fluid? How about transmission switches? What would be the typical cost to replace these switches? MDX is at 35,000 miles

 

No error codes or any lights. I got the transmission light on the dashboard immediately after it failed.

 

is it possible that you installed wrong swithes, or you just mixed up 3rd with 4th switch?

 

WTf, these guys will say in do anything! Sorry for your loss.

 

Kind of how they say they've never heard of the bad power steering o-rings and bad batteries. Of course it depends on the dealer too. When I went in and asked for the o-ring I literally told them my power steering was whining and there's an o-ring and the guy started digging around and produced it before I could finish the sentence. My dealer also says they've had no transmission failures on a 3g. I don't believe it for a second.

 

So you had a red flashing "D"? Did the acura techs not write down the error codes on your repair paperwork?

 

Sorry bro, being that the car was towed to the dealer it was left outside until the workers decided to push it in. I got a call a few hours later with the news the transmission had to be replaced.

My paper work only has a description I gave of my problem, hopefully the completed paperwork will give the rest of the info withe the codes, etc...if not I'll try to remember to ask.

 

BTW no red flashing D just the yellow transmission sign on the speedometer.

 

I'm starting to wonder if this was not a misdiagnosed app sensor.

 

I'm wondering this too. I'm getting mine changed next week and intend to print out the DIY for my mechanic...but can he mess this up?

 

I have never heard of a catastrophic tranny failure without a flashing "D"? anyone else ever see that?

 

the people at the dealer told me something similar. they said that as soon as the tranny starts slipping or if anythings wrong, the check engine light will come on. i just hope that this doesnt happen to mine, because i get the clunk when changing to reverse. and it also takes a second or 2 for the tranny to get into gear when i switch to either reverse or drive.

 

The only other weird experience I had with my TL is a lurch feel shift from 3rd to 4th at around 70 to 78mph but anything over or under the speed the shift is fine. I was wondering if anyone ever felt this? I tried repeating this feel but it never happens. Sometimes happens when I get down on the thottle not flooring it but at least 3/4 hold and I am guessing when slight trying to let off. IHC, I hope you can answer this one or anyone

 

I did get the lights on the dash, only the lights didn't happen a few days in advance...they all started to show up that one night the car was about to leave me stranded. I had to keep turning the car on and off in order for it to work.