2004 TL 33k original tranny built after recall.

I'm not sure what the hell is going on with it but, when I drive up hills the car starts to smell like it is burning. Sometimes it will be the smell of the cat, other times just a burnt fluid smell. I never WOT the car because when I do it smells like burnt fluid pretty badly. It has shuddered on me a number of time going into 3rd and 4th but I have adjusted application of the gas pedal to prevent this most of the time. It has also SLAMMED into 3rd when it is cold or hot on occasion. I have had the car since July and of course none of these issues came up on the test drives. It is also bumping twice most of the time when going into drive. My fluid is reddish/brown but it is not low I just checked it today after driving about 20 miles. I'm really not sure if it smells burnt or not as I wouldn't really know what to look for as a burnt smell. It def has an odor to it.

I have 9 quarts of AMSOIL racing ATF in my garage waiting to go inside the tranny. Will this help at all? The powertrain is under warranty until July 2011 (not far away). I'm not sure what to do, I love the car and DESPISE this transmission. Why would Honda make such a beautiful car and then turn around and plague it with such a shitty automatic?

I think at this point, unless there are other steps I can take besides the fluid change, I will be selling the car right before the warranty is up in the spring. Damn shame.


PS: I also noticed a small depression on the dashboard today. It is a round hole. I'm pretty sure it is getting ready to crack. Anyone else notice these small depressions before it cracked? Please advise.

 

There's a ton of info out there. Try a search for "interesting conversation with my trans builder". You need the 3rd and 4th gear switches along with the racing fluid to stop the shudder.

Once an auto slips it's downhill from there. When the shudder first started you were doing damage. The sooner you can stop it, the better your chances of being able to temporarily fix it.