We have a 2012 TL Tech 6AT with a little more than 15,000 miles. The car has been absolutely troublefree but it has always had a jerky automatic transmission. I've owned a bunch of Hondas in the last decade and will acknowledge that their transmissions have never been the smoothest shifters in the world. Our trans feels more like a manual trans at times. I have read about some torque converter issues with the MDX. Our new 2012 MDX 6AT is as smooth as glass. Does anybody have any information about a TSB concerning the TL's trans? I have looked around the internet with no success. Input?

 

I just think that Honda/Acura never made the best AT transmissions...I had occasional jerky shifting with my Prelude and I now have occasional jerky shifting win my 2009 TL.

 

Bring it back to the dealership.

Back a while ago when one of my family members had a brand new AT Accord that also had a jerky shifting transmission, the dealership adjusted the shift linkage and the transmission shifts were always smooth afterwards.

But don't know if the 4G TL tranny can be adjusted the similar way.

 

HI Denvrfan:

I am experiencing the same problem with a jerky automatic transmission. Could you find out the cause of the problem?.
My 2012 TL has only 200 miles now and the transmission has been not only jerking but also (with radio and air conditioner off) you can hear a whining sound while accelerating and stopping below 20 miles/hour.
I will appreciate your inputs.
Is someone else experiencing this problem?.
Thank.

 

I can't offer you any helpful thought as I only have the car for roughly 200km. However, if you happen to shift into "S" mode, the transmission is likely to behave more like a sports car. I find it pretty smooth when I drive in "D"; however, I prefer the feel of the "S" mode, so I now put the gear selector there all the time.

 

I have some good news. I just visited my dealer for an AT fluid change, and I was told that there was a recall for the torque converter. Specifically, they adjusted the electronic settings for the torque converter, so that the AT shifts gears at different RPMs than it did before. It's only been a few days, but I have not experienced jerky shifting since then. I'll keep you updated.

 

found the TSB but it's for 09-2011 only

http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/SB/B12-029.pdf

 

link doesnt work, do you have a alternate one?

 

go through the tsb page here and then change the name of the pdf to match mine, at least that's how I got there

 

trying to attach the pdf

 

Sorry, everyone, the improvement after the software update was just a figment of my imagination. The occasional jerky shifting continues...it's usually a sudden jerk when switching from 1st to 2nd.

 

Hey denvrfan! This is off topic but seeing your username made me want to throw this out there. Do you have a tech? I put up some Broncos wallpapers here that you may be interested in. I think I may have corrected the resolution after I loaded them so if you are interested and they don't fit right send me a PM with your email address and I'll send them over.

Go Broncos!

And good luck getting your tranny issue fixed.

 

The software update is to mostly take care of the torque converter lock up issue that not all of the TL's seem to have. The symptoms of that were excessive vibration when the converter locks up a bit too soon at city speeds while on very light throttle. The shift quality issue you have would be unrelated. But as others have said, Honda automatics have never been perfect....they've always been a bit jerky including when going thru the gears. By I myself prefer this over the overly smooth automatics found in other cars, that dont shift as positively. As well, many autos will tend to shift more harshly when the vehicle is cold, especially when the outside air temps are cold (40 deg and below). This is from the fluid being thicker in colder temps. The newer Honda DW1 fluid helps with this a bit.

 

I suspect that when in D mode the car is tuned for max fuel economy and therefore shifts to 2nd gear very quickly. If you give more gas it tends to down-shift which gives the jerky feeling. As someone said previously S mode fixes this by acting more like a sports car. I have the same behavior in my 2012 TL SH-AWD.

 

I have a 2012 TL Tech. Just left the Acura dealer in Westmont, IL where I told him about this issue. He said that the computer which controls the 6-speed trans and torgue converter is designed to seek the gear with the most torgue and provide the best mpg. The rapid movement is the trans gears changing up and down to get the optimum mpg. This is normal now with this trans. In the sport mode this will go away, but you sacrifice mpg. It's all about MPG. The tech said the TL avg mpg went from 21 to 25 mpg with this design.

 

My 13 AWD Tech also has some odd behaviour between 1st and 2nd gear. Mostly when coasting at low speed in stop and go traffic as it seems like the trans can't decide which gear it wants to be in. Might just be "working as intended" though I can't see this being a good thing for longevity.

That said mine has less than 1000km on it so might just be adaptation issues for now.

 

I just got my car back with 36k on a 2012 awd tl tech
and they said they relearned the pcm which of course was a no go. the shifting around 40-50 with the convertor is still present. So they next thing i will drain and refill the transmission with 9 qts of fluid drive and than drain and again and again.
if that does not work will have to call corporate to repair...

 

what was the tsb for the recall