I had mine done this week. I don't think I really had a problem before, but decided to do it because I kept getting those nasty grams from Acura reminding me that I haven't done it yet.

I don't notice any difference in shifting performance or anything. I'm going to try Royal Purple Max next just because I want the best in my car.

 

Any owner tried to lemon your car? seems like there is enough problem but no lemon mentioned or even tried. I do not see why owners have to pay 40k and suffer this. The time and energy spent for this is just unreasonable. I think we have the right to be compensated. Thanks.

 

Quick update: Since getting a new TC in October... 18,000 miles later... I am thinking I just am used to it, or things are actually better overall. I think it would annoy me so much performance were pre-TC replacement.


I have gotten VERY used to giving the accelerator one quick pulse to shift down a gear or two to prevent the hesitation. I do catch myself doing that, but it's pretty much instinct anymore.


I think I am going to do a transmission drain and fill for the fun of it.


Something else I am pondering: It's been winter... and cold. Will update as it warms up and we move into summer heat and all that goes with that.

 

Well shit, these low speed vibrations and growling sounds are most likely the TQ issue? Mine has been doing it since I bought mine CPO a couple months back (usually going uphill, low speeds, around 1500RPM, it growls/vibrates if I press lightly on the gas, then eventually spikes the RPM a bit and sound goes away after a few seconds).

My dealership told me it's normal, guess I need to take it to the other one by me. I know they've done a TQ software update before I bought it, but is it likely I'll actually need the TQ replaced to fix this? Is this pretty well known by now that the dealership knows what to look for to determine if that's the problem?

 

BSG1
I have the exact same problem w/ you TL. I have 2009 TL SH-AWD and I did everything I could do to fix that. I had mine TC replaced but the problem still exist but less frequent.

 

That doesn't instill confidence... I have an appointment to take it in on Thursday to a different dealership. I'm still under the CPO warranty for a while, but has Acura at least extended the warranty for the torque converter specifically? I'm unsure if my symptoms are what others are experiencing regarding the torque converter...I thought it was just a driveline vibration from the AWD system, but after reading other posts, it sounds like I have the same issue.

 

I've bought my car in 2 more times since I posed last year. They keep insisting its engine knock from using low octain gas. I have not ever used anything but premium, and have been only going to Shell and/or Conoco per the dealers recommendations.

I have been to two dealers many times, and met with an Acura factory rep, and they all say it's engine knock from bad gasoline. I refuse to believe that its knock. That would mean every single gas station I have been to has bad gasoline.

They have not yet even tried replacing the TC. Everyone insists it should only be replaced if the computer throw a code. This has been going on for years now.

 

Wow, this is bizarre. Other than vibrations and unusual sounds, has anyone's torque converter or transmission completely failed? Or is it mostly just a bad characteristic with no other risks? I'm hoping the other dealership is more responsive to fix whatever it is, but I don't want to have something completely break after my warranty is up and get stuck with the cost down the road.

 

When I took mine in and had the software upgrade they said the warranty was extended an additional 7 years 70K miles. My car only has 25K on it. If it shows in the system that the software upgrade was done then they can tell you the new warranty expiration. I don't drive the car much but so far never had any problems. I did notice after the software upgrade it holds 1st and 2nd a little longer and will drop down quicker to lower gears at slow speeds

 

I'm taking my vehicle to Norris Acura tomorrow. The previous owner at the very least, had the software upgrade done... But even that is in question because of how poorly their record keeping is. Per the tech, it reads "TC serviced...".

They started talking about diagnostic fee's, this, that and the other. I plan to ride with whomever diagnoses the vehicle and will replicate it myself if needed.

 

Well I just dropped it off yesterday. I was able to replicate the issue with their tech. He didn't know what would cause it and said he's never heard of any TC issue with the 4G TL . I told them what I've read online, and hopefully that leads them the right direction. I'll see what they say. The service advisor did acknowledge Acura has extended the warranty for the TC.

 

Find a competent dealer or mechanic. Anyone with half a brain would know to hook up a live data scan tool and see what the ECU is reading/detecting. A good scan tool will show if its detecting knock or changing timing due to it. If it is indeed knock they need to get to the cause of it, and not say its fuel related.

 

I've been flushing TC fluid every other oil change and this issue seems to pop up rarely. The previous owner did the TC recall and reflash.

I personally think it's a power band issue. The car is heavy and this shudder only happens when the car doesn't have much moving momentum(Under 40mph) at a low rpm with light throttle. Similar to not using the clutch properly at launch...it will shudder. once you downshift the the rpm goes up you no longer have this issue.
The Transmission reflash tries take care of that by manipulating the gear to better match the power band for that specific situation.

I don't think any major damage will happen, however it is sadly a weakpoint and driver irritant of this wonderful car. Keeping checking the magnet on the plug for metal wear.

I'm tempted to send in a Sample of the TC oil to blackstone labs to get some analysis on the fluid and see if major wear and grinding on the gears is present.

I would recommend for a base line sample that someone who follows the regular maintenance schedule and has these issues also send their oil sample to get tested.

We will be able to asses the level of wear on our systems and maybe get Acura to get something done or at least put our minds at ease that it is not damaging our cars.

 

Should we group to file as class action?
I can go on and on about this issue. I have the exact same issue on my car? I can not stand this. Why the hell do I have to spend time for Honda Co.'s mistake? so sick of this. dont get me wrong - I loved the car when i first i got my hands on it. I was loyal to Acura since 2005. After experiencing this, I will never buy another one.

 

It's an annoyance more than anything else. There has been no reported damage or catastrophic failure.

I'll take a reliable car with small annoying slow speed stutter over any of its current competitors for reliability. The Lexus IS is the only other car I would consider replacing the TL with.

 

I'd join a class action about the gas milage drop after the reflash. That's the biggest problem I have. No matter how light I drive, I get lower mileage in the city than reported. I got what they reported if not better before the reflash.

 

So it's been about a year, and 30K+ miles on the new TC. It's back.


This time, it is louder with much more vibration. Acceleration is horrible, especially if you start accelerating in that 1500RPM area. Usually this is when in stop and go traffic on the backed up highway.


I can feel and hear the vibration throughout the rest of the car. Dash panels, door panels.... you name it. It vibrates. And, even with 100K+ miles on the car, it does an otherwise pretty great job of not vibrating.


I stopped at Acura the other day and asked some questions. Service guy said it could be the TC, again, and it would need replaced. Or it could be something else, like an EGR valve. Well, I'm not getting any codes, and I know what the TC sounded like before, so I am betting on the TC.


I have an appointment scheduled for next week for them to take a look/listen/feel.


At this point, if they replace it again and I'm not charged for it, I'm ok with it... as long as they keep replacing it and giving me a loaner.


I really would like to buy a TLX, just for some of the safety features. I am hesitant.


Stay tuned!

 

In my experience thus far with the car, the vibration/judder just seems to be the car lugging in a high gear. Just like a manual transmission car that is in numerically too high a gear. It seems the car wants to get to TC lock up as soon as possible; this is actually a trait I quite like as I cannot stand TC slippage.

Mine does have a very minor vibration but it feels completely normal if you've driven manual cars at all.

Is this issue potentially catastrophic to the transmission or TC? Or is this just a NVH issue? I am totally ok if it is just an NVH Issue.

 

The Acura warranty extension letter for the TC states clearly that driving with the condition could damage transmission. Don't know if that's true.

I've had one replacement it worked great for about 7-8 months then the same thing started happening but second time I could feel a significant loss of power to go along with the judder. Passing people on hwy became difficult and the car revs and kind of seems to "go" but it was like having a parachute attached to my rear bumper.

I went to Acura again and said I am having same issue. They took it out with the computer attached with some convincing, plotted the graphs and said no there is no issue. Yeah, right...

Its been 2 weeks and I don't miss this car at all.

 

I'm having the torque converter changed because of the low speed "hesitation" when changing gears issue. Never heard the growl. I should get my TL back today. We'll see....

 

I did it 4 days ago, it took them 10 minutes to do the update, and there's a world of a difference when accelerating from a stop when shifting into second. No more hesitation/jumping, and in sport mode, I feel it shifts harder and faster with the paddles. I LOVE the change. I'm in a base '12 TL completely stock (at the moment, looking for best bang for my buck with performance upgrades, any ideas would be appreciated!!

 

Glad Acura covers it..

 

Sub'ed for more info.

 

I just got back from having the filter fluid changeand software update... there does appear to be a significant difference in drivability. Much smoother but seemingly less overall low rpm torque.

At least the service manager acknowledged there was a torque converter issue and a "searching" in rpm's on my personal car... so at least it's in the service system under notes for future issues.

 

I received the letter for my 2012 TL and my husband and I knew exactly what they were talking about. We had the software updated and noticed the difference right away. It was great. Immediately after the update, my car started leaking transmission fluid. Anyone else have this issue? Do they access the transmission for this procedure?

 

I did the software update for my 2009 SH-AWD and it fixed the problem immediately. However, shortly thereafter the problem came back, more so in the summer months when it is hot vs. the winter. I've complained to the dealer and every time I take it in for maintenance service (oil change, etc.) they take it for a test drive and said "We don't detect anything." They were concerned enough that they said they can hold the car and hook up a computer logger and drive it around until they can reproduce it (and the computer logs it). Couldn't be bothered with that so I have been living with the problem for the past few years. Now I'm thinking it's not the torque converter (which they've changed out for me) but rather the transmission or the bearings in the propeller shaft (maybe).

As for accessing the transmission to do this, I don't think they touch it. It's just a software update so I would imagine they access it under the dash (like when DMV connects up their computer during an inspection) or under the hood somewhere. I can't imagine they even put the car on a lift. Any chance that you had transmission work recently? Knock on wood but I've had no leakage of any kind what so ever with my TL.

Given this grinding noise and the lack of confidence that the transmission will hold over time, I might just trade it for something else like a SUV. But certainly not a MDX as I've heard it has transmission issues. Honda's Achilles heel seems to be transmissions. They can just never get it right!

 

Worst part is they've had decades to get it figured out, and they still can't get it right. Now most of their lineup is auto only, and it's really hurting their reputation. Even when they get ZF to do their transmission for them Honda has problems!

 

True that! To be honest this will be my last Honda product after owning three various models. My one Toyota has ZERO problems after 10 years and 100k miles. Yes, I do realize 100k miles is still a baby.

 

I believe part of the update is a transmission fluid change. Perhaps something wasn't tightened properly after the service

 

220K miles on the 2011 TL SHAWD.

I've posted in this thread before, so feel free to go back and read.

I've complained for the last 150K miles, since I had the TC replacement. Dealer consistently says, "too bad." They won't do anything about it. Asked for a customer service number, several times. They provided, but it's not correct... Ever.

It hasn't failed me, but it's annoying and loud and extreme vibration at the low RPM.

Asked for a quote to replace TC... Over $3300! For the same faulty TC.

They said we extended warranty to 100K miles. Ha! That was like nine months of driving, for me.

Can't complain much about the rest of the car, however.

Attempted to sell a couple of times, but after test drive, even the buyers can tell something is off, and leave without even a counter offer.

I would dump mine, if I could. I recommend you unload it you can!

Any recommendations for a car to buy?