Greetings,

Have loved my TL....until recently. Have driven other brand MT cars over the years and have gotten over 100,000 miles on their clutches. I've searched the forum but some information I found did not relate to this series or the problem was when the car was very new.

Anyway the clutch started slipping and dealer confirmed that it needed replacement....at 45,000 miles!! And for a kicker the flywheel (dual version, right?) needs replacing also.

Needless to say I am shocked. For this series TL, are there known issues with clutch wear or was that more on the older models? I know it is hard to say what is "typical"....but I guess what is "typical" miles to expect if you know how to drive a MT and drive an average city/highway mix?

I can understand someone learning how to drive a MT burning through a clutch fast (to me, 45,000 miles is fast), but this is a real surprise to me.

Also, since I brought it to the attention of my dealer immediately, I was surprised the flywheel was also damaged.

Thanks for any insight,
BJB

 

usually clutch wear is due to the driver.

i have a 3G TL 57k mi...no issues. some others can go over 100K mi on the original clutch. others have picked up new used rides as the 2nd owner only to have to get the clutch replaced at under 40-50k mi.

not sure how the clutch engagement is on the 4G, but the 3G can be a bit finicky. i can imagine that the 4G would be similar. i know the RSX had similar feel as the 3G TL.

i haven't read anything on the 4G regarding the clutch wearing prematurely due to normal use.

 

Thanks for your feedback. Single owner here....that is why I am perplexed. If other brands with same driver and similar driving lasted over 2X as wrong, then what is different with the TL? And if it is something with the clutch engagement (I never noticed any obvious problem) what needs to change so that I don't go through this one in 45K miles?
Thanks,

BJB

 

not sure...i know the clutch pedal is pretty "soft" compared to other clutch pedals i've stomped on.

so certainly it's odd since you're an experienced MT driver. i'm assuming you don't race the car or launch it unless the techs at the dealer are goofing with your car (kind of like the camero owner at the chevy dealer...the techs abused the hell out of his car and fried the clutch). anybody else driving your car?

 

hello everyone.....I just posted yesterday with the same problem - clutch on my 2010 shawd 6mt. Going back to the dealer tomorrow to get an estimate.Mine is just the smell of burning clutch pads? after any amount of driving.I have 29990 miles on my TL, way too early for clutch problem.

 

Nope, no one else driving my car at all....that's what's so frustrating. Maybe it is the techs!

moych1, hope it's just your clutch and not the flywheel too....
I'd be curious to hear what they tell you the reason is. Just read your post....describes my situation exactly also, just a few more miles.

BJB

 

drove mine over 84K miles in three years and never had a clutch problem. drove the '03 CL-S over 221K miles in about five years and never had a clutch problem.

 

Needs new driver mod

 

I just sold a 3G Type-S 6MT that I was the second owner and actually learned to drive stick on (though I had driven stick before I actually learned and perfected it on that car). 100K miles and no clutch issues at all, and the 3G had the check valve in the slave cylinder that made the clutch engagement a huge pain in the ass. Have a 2010 6mt now with 60k miles and no issues at all, just FYI

 

Shortly after I got my TL-6MT back in Sept. 2009, I asked the service rep. if they had sold any other TLs with 6MT. He said just one to a lady who had used up the clutch in just a few weeks. She ended up trading it back in and the dealer had to replace the clutch before they could re-sell the car.
I notice on my car with 11K miles, that sometimes when I pull out onto a busy street and give it some revs (like 4-5K rpms) before shifting up, that it seems like it slips some in the next gear before it continues to pull again. If it didn't have SH-AWD, I'd think it was tires spinning up on the pavement.

 

No clutch issues on my 2006 TL

 

I remember the car I learned how to drive stick on (subaru outback sport) required replacing the clutch like every 30,000 miles...though people who watched my technique didn't tell me that I was doing anything wrong...

can't wait to see how long my 2010 TL AWD lasts before I need to replace the clutch.

 

From what I've read, the 4G has this as well so I wouldn't be surprised if this could have something to do with the premature failure. Driving hard (even if not regularly) does not mix well with slowed clutch engagement / disengagement. I removed this valve on my last car but am hesitant to do so on the TL.

 

Thanks to all for the replies. I'd like to hear a little more about this valve ufc_bronco. However I would not say I drive my TL hard at all...

In general, these posts confirm that since I got over 100,000 miles (even on my first stick many years ago since we are comparing), and in some cases WELL over that on other car brands over many years, I should have gotten more than 45,000 on this TL.... It's not like I've driven it any differently than the others or forgot how to drive a MT. And I do not drive it very aggressively!

I don't see many people that got high mileage on other cars like me and low mileage on their TL. It is good to see other drivers are getting a good number of miles on their TL's. Just wish I knew why I didn't! I never noticed anything odd up until the time it started slipping.

BJB

 

see post #10 above^^^ first.

After posting it, I got thinking that since I can only get the car to create the feeling under just the right conditions, that it might not be the clutch at fault.

I got the car out last night for a test ride and could not get it to repeat any sence of slipping when pulling hard after shifting up into 2nd gear. But my tests last night were mostly in straight lines or big turns. As I said in prior post, it only happens as I pull out of my driveway onto a busy street.

I am now thinking it may be the VSC cutting in with front wheel braking to keep the car under control from what it thinks is about to get out of control. I make a hard right turn out of my driveway onto a highway frontage road and have to give a good amount of power every now and then. On cold HPT 19" summer tires, a very sharp turn to pull out, and I am thinking the rear diff. can't send enough power to the outside-left rear wheel to get things correct, so the VSC system adds in some front right braking, which makes it feel like a delay in power-pull, or mistaken clutch slip.

 

So now that I have a new clutch....any tips that address the
"uniqueness" of the dual-flywheel/valve arrangement on the TL that might allow me to get a more normal amount of miles out of this clutch?

Or I guess I should ask what techniques that cause absolutely no issues with other MT brands might cause issues with this one?
Thanks,
BJB

 

how much did it cost?

 

bump

 

You need to make sure the clutch is adjusted properly or set up properly.
It may not have any adjustment if it is "self adjusting".
1. You should be able to shift into reverse from neutral with no grinding or hesitation when the car is stopped. You should not have to go through any tricks like shifting into some other gear (1st, e.g). . If you can do that, the clutch is disengaging as it should.
2. There should be some free play in the pedal before the clutch starts to disengage. That is, the first inch or so of pedal movement from the top should not cause the clutch to disengage. The engaging and disengaging of the clutch should only happen during the middle part of the pedal's travel.
3, Once the car is warmed up, there should not be any grinding of gears or sticking or any weird notchiness or noises when you put the pedal in close to the floor and shift gears.
4. There should not be any slipping under any conditions with the clutch pedal out and driving normally. A slipping clutch feels like the transmission is in neutral when it's not. That is, you press on the gas to accelerate but the car does not respond, the engine revs but you do not pick up speed. That is slipping. If the clutch is slipping a lot you will smell an acrid burnt odour which is unpleasant.


I know it's a different car but I drove my 5 sp. '99 Integra for over 225,000 km on the original clutch and it was perfect until I sold the car.

 

I drove my 3g TL to 150k with no issues

 

I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but we have not replaced a Honda/Acura clutch in hundreds of thousands of miles of driving. The max is our '03 Accord with 192K.

 

after 40,000 miles, Davis Acura in Langhorne, PA wants to change my 1020 TL SHAWD's clutch to the tune of $3100. I can't be that bad at standard transmission, can I? been driving a standard trans since 1999

 

you can get it done somewhere else for quite a bit cheaper

you need to take it easier on the gas when you come out of a gear change

 

One of the mistakes clutch driver do is shifting down. What do I mean by shifting down? It is the act of shifting gears into lower gear when the car is moving at speeds more than the lower gear can handle. This makes the car rev high to slow down to the rate the lower gear can handle. It is the most abuse way of wearing out your clutch quickly. Only shift down in emergency situations when you need to slow down and applying your brakes at the same time to quickly help the car slow down rapidly than using your normal brakes. This shouldn't be than so often or even at all. Always shift into neutral and apply your brakes to slow down in traffic, and shift to the appropriate gear relative to how fast the car is moving. In other words, you should know what gear your car should be in when you haven't stop completely, and shift to the right gear for smooth transition. My advice is, when you know you are about to turn right or left at a street, Slow down and put the gear in the appropriate speed the gear can handle. Usually, when turning right or left, you slow down applying brakes in neutral, and shift into second while you turn.

 

Hmmm, I've been driving manual equipped cars for over 40 years now and have always downshifted as a means of slowing the car, with or without using the brakes. With the exception of my 1970 Dodge Challenger (which ate clutches every 20,000 or so miles due to the abuse), I've never had to replace a clutch, even after a quarter of a million miles of driving.

 

^ I've had the same experience (minus the Challenger). The trick is to match the engine speed to the road speed when downshifting. If you do it correctly, there should not be any unusual problems.

It's probably true that shifting into neutral and using only brakes as opokuka is recommending would reduce wear on a clutch, but I think most modern clutches are built to withstand correctly made downshifts.

 

I just had the clutch master cylinder fluid changed after five years. The clutch engagement feels much better now. I do a lot of city driving, so I have no idea how long the clutch will last, but on my last mt car, it lasted over 140,000. I think it is important not to slip the clutch (not always easy with the TL until you get used to it. ) I drive a 2012 TL 6 MT. After having driven many manual cars for years, when I bought this car new, I had a hard time adjusting to it, but finally have.