Paul_2007S

07 type S's clutch burned last sunday.
Is that even possible? I don't go to the track, normal driving from home to work.
Dealer said " wear and tear" so may not be cover under warranty so P/L = $2500.00+

shehmir9

yup, its possible, happend to me around 20k - 24k, paid about the same as you are about to ...
sorry to hear that though.

CBP TL-S

Theres no way they wouldn't replace it under warranty, yes its a wear item, but thats like the guy on here whose brakes read 0% @ 12,000 miles, they know how long it should take the average clutch to wear give or take a few thousand miles, same applies for brakes or any other " wear item " , You throw a big enough stink about it or just threaten with a lawyer and I'm sure you'll be taken care of.

01tl4tl

check the recent threads- I thought someone else had a problem but it was pressure plate
Are you getting full on slippage of clutch- engine revs but car barely moves- especially on a hill when behind the powerband and you try to accellerate?

just trying to troubleshoot for you here, so throwing out ideas

Do you sit at stops- in traffic or at lights- with your foot pushing the clutch pedal?
that eats the clucth disc material- which is soft anyway- get it hot ,,,and fogeddaboutit

CAll acura 1-800- 382-2238 x5 and file a report/complaint- the person writes down what you say and a real mananger from acura corp reads it and calls you
A clutch should last 50k miles or longer in normal situations- some ziners are getting way more on the 6speed before clutch goes out


The service WRITER can only quote the book - and say its wear and tear
the SERVICE MANAGER can call acura regional warranty rep who decides what to do- they have to remove the trans just to know whats going on-
For the non car people- the clutch is the seperate part(s) located between the trans and the engine, have to pull trans to access it
You should not pay full retail price IMO- if they charge you it shoud be at the warranty rate acura pays them- or the internal rate the dealer charges its own departments
2500!!! they better put a solid gold assembly in for that price

01tl4tl

I believe its better to start off being really realllly nice to the service manager and the acura reps
Threats put them in - well-- go ahead then--you pita- mode
Being nice seems to work better with people in general- if that doesnt work- then you have options
I even take treats like donuts or ice creams to the service MANAGER "for the shop"-
that 5 dollar investment generates a LOT of GOODWILL in your direction
Hey its Ice Creeeeeeam Man-!!!! whats up with your car today?- lets take a look at that for you- no prob- right away no charge

Remember too- the service Advisor-Writer is often on a commission or bonus- incentive based income- so if they can stand there with a straight face and say Wear and Tear- Sorry $2500, and they get 2 points on the sale or whatever--
because they get paid retail by you, and about half as much when acura picks up the tab, and probably no bonus anything for warranty work

Its been a while since I worked in the industry (did every job in a shop there is to do)-
but based on the old days---- is what I say to you now- caveat emptor!!!!

Paul_2007S

Yeh. They are acutually trying to help me (I think). Since I was satisfy with this dealership's service before. So , Just waiting for some good news. If I have to spend price of new set of rims at 14k,then I'll take the steps, and will never buy another Acura again,and will probably step back to my BMW's family.
I'll keep you guys updated.

clavodulce16

Call Acura/ they will take care of you as they did to me. My 5gear & clutch went while driving on cruise control. Call Acura Corp. They filed the report. Call me back same day. Told me to take the car to Dealer for Diagnose. Dude call me back and said we paying 90%.
To make story short I payed $280 out of pocket for new trany.
$3,000-90%=$300

Paul_2007S

I just called Acura Corp, they told me It is up to Service adviosor, Manager, District Mgr. and the Tech to diagnose the issue.

what I don't get is how can they tell the diff b/w abusing the clutch vs. manufacture defects?

01tl4tl

sweet deal- 10 percent is a great deal!! all it takes is good positive communication!!

You guys are test pilots without knowing it- they make changes to production runs- use a different supplier of a part- and things happen

Its ok to post the name and location of dealers that took care of you, and ones that didnt.
Share the good ones for others in your area- and let the service manager know that you said good things about them on azine.
And in the end- write a letter to acura corp, and to the dealers General Mananger, describing the incident and your satisfaction of the quick and positive resolution.

That bonus pay I mentioned before- acura does surveys of service dept customers with a scale of 1-10, anything less than fully satisfied 10 on each part is a failing grade in acura's opinion!! that gets reflected back to the service amnager and effects bonus pay for everyone- They have weekly meeting to review the comments!

When they get positive feedback, and especially when someone took the time to write a personal thank you- the Service Manager is going to get a nice bump in their next check, and you will be the hero to their staff.

01tl4tl

when you look at the pressure plate and clutch disc- its easy to see if its heat cracked, or worn out of material- or the pressure on the mechanism wasnt right ands that did it in...
The regional warranty reps are normally fully trained techs who now have gotten promoted up to corp.
They see every problem every acura has, because the dealer has to save the parts on warranty jobs- they get checked by the acura guy and often spray painted so it cant be falsely used again for another warranty claim for another car
Hmmm there seems to be a lot of these cat convertors failing this month - I wonder why they all have the exact same dent ???

01tl4tl

The person at the 800 number is not a tech- probably doesnt own an acura- and may be answering from a mass 800 center where 25 people answer the phone for each car maker- and who knows what other products---- the butterball turkey line at thanksgiving?? wanna buy a tony little workout machine???

All they do is write down what you say- they can read from a list of things to say,,,
Take it in for diagnosis is always going to be the first thing they say

They email the report to the real Acura manager who calls you back personally,
and since the car in this example is already at the dealer- the regional guy will be in on it

clavodulce16

just have a good positive attitude with them. Don't go out your face saying this is not suppose to happen etc.. etcc... just be like i'm so sorry this happen and i k ow it can happen at any pooint is just really sad this happened so early. etc etc BS them. tell them the car is at an acura Dealer. they will get in cotact with the service manager and see what they can do for you

Paul_2007S

May 21st Status: Spoke with Acura Corp Client Relation Mgr. Today.
told her that the dealership charges $800 for Labor to take my car apart to determine the issue on the clutch.... So, I straight up ask them if there's anything they can do at this point where I don't have to pay for anything, they said they'll contact the shop manager......... so I'm waiting for that phone call.

clavodulce16

sounds good so far! samething they told me!

clavodulce16

any update!?

Paul_2007S

Got a call today: from the corporate.

It's a no go: Basically they want me to pay for the tear down to determine the issue, and if the issue turns out to be personal abuse, then they would charge me the labor for taking it apart. My Local mechanic will do this P+L for around $900.00.

What do you guys think I should do? The variable is that when I bought the car , the car has 5k on it, and I drove it for another 10k..... could this really be the way I drive? or the previous owner F** the clucth up..... I don't really know what to do. I don't want to pay them $800 to take it apart and pay another $900 to get it fix.....

Damn... bad luck with F*** Used car... never never never again.... Lesson Learned.

Paul_2007S

BTW: Does Lemon Law some how could apply to this? any opinions?

sharp218

Since the car is used, you never know how the previous owner treated the car.
Bad situation, good luck sir

nick04tl

i dont think your mechanic knows what he is in for. you need special tools to properly install these clutches. parts alone are 900. i have done a 4 clutches so far on 3 gen tls. none of them were type s but we did have one guy do a tl clutch at 12000. the 4 i have done have benn between 24000 and 50000 miles.

Paul_2007S

Wow, if your comments are true, Then I am pretty much bought a piece of junk.


Nick , are you a tech @ Acura?

MR1

???Where do you get piece of junk from that?
You don't know how the clutch was treated and don't want to spend r&r money to find out. Do you cry junk because you might have made a bad choice?

Sorry if you get stuck, hope you don't

Paul_2007S

I don't mean p.o.s. as everyone's TL. Just my. Tell me if you bought a car that has 14k miles on it, and mechanical failure happens you wouldn't call it a pos. Especially in a Honda,,,,my family owns Cr-v , Prelude, Civic, Passport ....never had problems.

You would be crying too, if you have to pay $2500.00+ for fix.

GZR4DR

As someone who has worked on cars and replaced a few clutches back in the day, I have no idea how they can tell if a clutch was abused or normal wear and tear...

To me it makes no sense that a clutch would go out at 14k miles however if the previously owner was launching the car at 4k rpm's everytime they drove it...i could see it happening.

$2,500 still seems high to replace a clutch though. I however have not replaced a clutch on a 3g TL though so I can't say if it's that much more difficult then say a prelude with ATTS (PITA) or an ITR (cake walk).

01tl4tl

according to our resident acura tech in the post above- it makes a basic pita a job you look forward to doing instead of this major pita= special tools- special self adjusting whatevers- like the auto trans is not 1000 to rebuild its 2000 because its special!--its an acura with its own ways of doing things

Until its torn apart- no one knows if the clutch disc is just worn out of material from past owner abuse ( common on any m/t sports car bought used) or if it was a bad part with a pressure plate or auto adjuster issue, in which cases they would be warrantying the job for you

Take it to a private shop with no gen3 experience and expect acura to be a problem getting money back from later.
Let the dealer take care of it and hope for the best!!!

01tl4tl

there are cases where its been determined to be a defect part caused the wear and failure
so acura took care of it all- no charge, all new parts

Paul_2007S

Yes, I thought of that, the variable here is that if the previous owner really messed it up, then I be stuck with the labor cost and replacement at the stealership pricing. Thank you all for your inputs.

Btw: there are no performance clutch offer for the type S right? Just did a search and only came up with clutch master for accord v6

01tl4tl

the dealer has the RIGHT factory special tools for the job, and someone who has done it before, working on your specific type car
On certain jobs its better to pay the higher rate- WITH the possibilty of a defect part being found and warranty covering all of the cost, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and have them do the work.

I have heard of trans shops that can do every other car perfect 2st time,, on TL automatics taking 3 attempts- full remove rebuild install- wont drive!! remove rebuild install- wont drive- remove rebuild install--
Is that a chance you really want to take on your hi tech 6 speed? Will it ever be right in that case? Will there be any leftover bolts?

Normally I say DIY or private shop- but this one is a biggie, with possible warranty issues
thats my opinion

Others looking to buy a 6 speed used car should do a thorough check of the clutch operation on the test drive and have acura dealer look it over for you as well.
They know secrets we will never be allowed access to~
Plus look at the drivers of the car- how do you think they drove it?!

x rsx 2 env x

iTrader: (1)

learn to drive..lol how can a clutch go out that soon.. do u drive with ur foot on the clutch pedal

Paul_2007S

Nope, This is my first worn clutch ever, but according to Acura Corp " this is a machine, and the machine is not perfect,etc etc" I wish I have the conversation recorded.


Either way: I'm pretty much F*** , oh well I'll move on. Case closed.
I hope this doesn't happen to any one else.

MR1

Sorry you are right. It's a high stakes roll of the dice especially for an expensive M/T used car. You played and lost, you pay, sorry. I think that I would still go to the dealer to try for assistance and to have someone to blame. Good luck which ever way you decide to go.

01tl4tl

why are you effed?
Have they done the tear down and inspection yet?
The comment they made about being a machine--- is a hint that there are others with same prob, there have been issues with 3rd gear, why not issues with the clutch- I saw a report of the auto tensioner bad caused wearout- it was all free warranty then

Until you let acura determine the problem- they cant help you
I really think they want to look inside- decide its covered and learn from your
part failure. These are new trans to them- who knows what probs they will still develope!

The few dollars saved at a private shop with no experience on these is asking for trouble- especially if its a failed part
Do you need us to each send a dollar to help out?

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I'm down for it

01tl4tl

sorry- offered was limited to OP, and if anyone here deserves a dollar for each member they help---look in my direction~ I accept paypal!!!

When is acura going to be given the OK to do the teardown?? they must get inside to know whats wrong!!!- and there is a good chance its not wear and tear from last owner, but an internal parts issue

Paul_2007S

Well, the mechanic is actually my dad's friend, and we've been taking all our cars to him in the past. That's why I don't mind having him look at it. I rather have honest people do the job. I'll update on what's going on with the clutch when he takes it apart.

Hopefully , you all will have a same problem soon. so maybe I can get my money back. ....haha.....j/k.

Legend2TL

Sorry to read your misfortune, if your dad's friend does take it apart there is a special tool and process to follow. The shop manual shows the procedure to follow to remove the clutch and pressure plate. Call Acura to see how much the tool would cost. It's a weird contraption that looks like it pre-tensions the pressure plate slightly with a screw-like device.

In the shop manual and on the bell housing warning labels that indicate you will permanently damage the clutch if the tool and procedure are not performed properly. So make certain whoever does the work has the tool and the shop manual.

I've changed out 5 clutches in my life and with the exception of a Porsche 928 (dual disk clutch setup), the TL 3G has a very unorthodox clutch/pressure plate design. The shop manual has two pages that explains how it works.

Good luck with it, the $2500 also seems really high to replace a clutch for the dealer cost.

Paul_2007S

Update:

Fortunately for the rest of you: the clutch / pressure plate was burned due to normal wear and tear. So I guess , the previous owner really drive tha crap out of my car.
So, this is not a manufacture defect.
Anyways, Most likely I'll probably go with a performance clutch. I did a search on the forum, and the only product I came up with was the Accord V6 clutch master.

If you guys know about other products that will be compatible, please let me know soon.

Legend2TL

Sorry to read that, unless there was unusual problem (broken clutch rivet, spline shaft sheared,...) clutches are considered a wear item for most warrenty work.

The only exception I heard from Acura was the 1G Legend's with the 5MT where the clutch was improperly designed and would wear out prematurely.

Paul_2007S

Clutch work is done today. Yeh!
I'll update on how the car drives next week.

harddrivin1le

Maybe they designed the clutch lining so that it wears out at the same time as the front brake pads. That way everything can be changed at once - for ~ $3K or so and at the customer's expense - while the car is still under warranty.

Bearcat94

Troll Much?



Paul, sorry to hear of your misfortune. Hope the new clutch is working well.