All,

I just bought a '11 TL SH-AWD 6MT in mayan bronze last week. The car was owned by Honda and was a manager's car, so it's in pristine condition as all the maintenance was free.

I absolutely love the car, but I have a really weird 1-2 shift issue. 99% of the time the transmission shifts fine, but if I really get on it and try to do a fast 1-2 shift above 5000RPM I miss every time and grind almost as if I'm running in to a piece of metal. Then after that happens, the transmission will barely go into first or second almost as if the shift linkage is broken or rubbing on something - but it's not. After some fighting and incredibly notchy shifting in first and second it will eventually even out and then shift fine until the next time I do the hasty 1-2 shift.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has or had this issue before I take it to the dealer. Also, I currently also own an '03 S2K and my last car was an '03 Accord V6 6MT with 240k miles on its original clutch, so I know how to drive stick...

 

If it is under warranty, bring it in. Otherwise change the transmission fluid to a GM synchroMesh ( I think it maybe under a different brand now), or something similar.

Typically in our cars 3rd gear is the issue, not 2nd.

 

synchro is shot

 

Welcome to the club of shitty Honda/Acura transmissions. My 1-2 did the same thing, until it would never go into 1st again. See my other post of the Acura transmission rebuild they did on it, to this day still grinds on occasion going into 2nd gear, no matter how far the clutch is pressed to the floor, it will grind at max RPM in 1st going to 2nd. More noticeable if windows are down and you're driving near a reflective vertical surface (building, wall, high curb etc.). I can always hear the synchro grinding like little metallic teeth skipping (exactly what it is) no matter what.

Face it, it's just a shit box of a manual transmission for redline from 1-2. My integras never had manual tranny issues, ever..

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-problems-fixes-297/so-my-manual-transmission-broke-plus-loaner-car-accident-870977/

 

For the record, my '90 Integra had the same issue with occasional gear grinds only in 1st to 2nd gear shift @ high engine rpm, and that was back 23 years ago.

 

Thanks, that sounds really similar to what I have. If I 'baby' the high RPM 1-2 shift it goes in very smooth, but anything hasty and I get the first gear lockout exactly like you mentioned.

Car has 56k miles and I have powertrain warranty until 70k, so I guess I'll be bringing it in to the dealer the next time it does this I'm fairly confident that unless I bring it to the dealer when it's completely locked out of first and second, they'll tell me that I don't have a problem and try to charge me $150 for looking at it.

 

I'm planning on doing the MTF as soon as I get my S2k off of jack stands from the clutch change! Hopefully it makes a difference, according to the service records it's the original MTF (!!).

The Accord 6MT also had a "reputation" for crappy 2nd/3rd gear engagement and popout, but I never experienced it and when I sold the car a few weeks ago it was shifting better than this TL even with so many miles. I guess I should have beat the hell out of the TL when I test drove it...it was and is fine moping around, but the gears don't seem to like to be rushed at all.

 

Does your shifting performance change when the car warms up? Some trans and oil combinations do not work too well at cold temperatures.
If your trans shifts properly without grinding most of the time then there is PROBABLY nothing seriously wrong with it. It is very possible that you could have a less than perfect synchro ring (brass ring) but that would tend to cause problems more often. (There is a brass ring for every gear.) To replace a synchronizer ring the trans has to be totally dismantled and rebuilt. Usually the gears themselves are not replaced, just the synchro rings. BUT, if your shifting problems are only under very demanding conditions you may find that a fluid change will affect the performance. A very sticky fluid (which may be very good for the bearings) can sometimes cause fairly serious shifting issues. The best fluid to use is the stickiest thickest high viscosity oil that will still permit smooth shifting at normal operating temperatures.

 

I've only driven this car in warm to hot temps since I only bought it a couple weeks ago. On everything besides a 'vin diesel' 1-2 shift, the shifting is outstanding. The only other things that I kind of notice are a slight clutch pedal vibration above 4k RPM, and sometimes when engaging first from a stop or shifting into 2nd at low RPM I get a 'clunk' like the throwout bearing was bound up and the clutch took up too quickly. But those are pretty minor quibbles.

Thanks for the advice, I'll do the MTF next week hopefully and report back. I'm afraid to do a quick 1-2 shift now since I've gotten locked out of both 1st and 2nd three times now after trying it

 

Yeah, try a couple different fluids if you can manage that without too much trouble. Kind of a messy job but not hard to do. You can use motor oil as a test fluid but I would highly recommend against its use as a permanent lube in a trans. As a point of interest, they even used to use ATF in some manual transmissions back in the day. But you need to protect the bearings as much as anything in these new cars and only a proper gear lube will do that. ALSO, when your trans "locks up" it is trying to be in two gears at once, which is a VERY BAD thing.