Colin

Unofficially, if your car was in the range, it's most likely the issue would arise almost immediately. IOW, if it were going to fail, it would do so in the first 2 or 3 times it was placed in park. In the meantime, just set the parking brake.

narnia

I checked using my VIN and then I checked by Year/Make/Model and received the same notice for both, RECALL STATUS: Recall INCOMPLETE. Remedy not yet available.

How do I know if my car is affected if I get the same results entering my VIN as I do entering the generic info?

tlxsteve

Guess I made the right choice. :laugh:

Rocketsfan

My BWP is part of the recall, but when I contacted my dealer about the recall a couple of weeks ago, they said it probably wouldn't be until sometime in January before they'll be doing the recall work.

Rocketsfan

If you checked www.honda.com/recalls by year/model/make, you should see 2 recalls. These are the recalls for the TLX that could potentially affect you. If you check by VIN, only the recalls that affect you should be shown. If you don't see anything returned when searching by VIN, the recall probably doesn't affect you.
Like I said above, my dealership had told me that it probably wouldn't be until January until they get to my car (or probably any/most customer cars). This is probably since it's not "official" yet.

wlkeel

I was visiting my Acura dealer in So California this morning - they said six of their V6's were on the "potential" list, all were inspected and no problem found. They're free to sell them now.

narnia

Thanks Rocketsfan. It does say in the recall notice Acura won't be reaching out to customers until Jan. 6. I was going to bring my car in for the Navi update, but I guess I'll wait and have both done at the same time.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

dont worry, sweetheart

just always use your parking brake!
and call your local Acura Dealer to schedule an appointment.

the parking prawl would have broken by now with daily use.
be sure to always use the parking brake.

as noted by this thread; cameras will need to be inserted into the transmission to see if there is any debris

kosh2258

That Honda outsourced the 9 speed transmission isn't so interesting. You answered the why of it in your last sentence.

ZF is a drive system specialist, it's their strength. They designed a 9 speed and made it available to the general marketplace. They've beat both Ford and GM to market by at least 2 years. The more manufacturers ZF can sell or license to the lower the price per unit. It just came down to Honda (as well as Chrysler and Range Rover) being able to buy/license the transmission for less then they could develop one for.

Ford and GM have co-developed their 9/10 speed transmission because of development costs. Consider that in context to the volume of vehicles GM and Ford will sell using it and you can see why Honda would buy it rather than develop it.

It was purely an economic decision on Honda's part.

The recall likely happened because the ZF manufacturing process got out of "control" (limits) due to a quick ramp up of production at their facility.

Don't think for a minute Honda is paying for this recall. ZF will be eating the costs for all of the recalled units.
ZF will likely inspect, rebuild the defective units, and then resell them as rebuilt units on the replacement market to partially recover their costs.

tmitch2315

This is not Acura's first time with transmission issues. April 2009:

"For accuracy's sake, I should say that the TL transmission issue was not repaired under a recall from Acura. Acura issued a "warranty extension" that covered models within a defined range of Vehicle Identification Numbers. The difference is that a recall would have automatically allowed a TL that's VIN was included a transmission replacement. The fact is that Acura would not replace the transmission unless there was a problem to begin with, even if your TL VIN was listed as covered. The warranty extension is good for 7 years or 100k miles from original date of sale, whichever came first. All 1999-2002 TL were covered. 2003 TL models with the last 8 of the VIN 3A000001 to 3A019558 EXC Type-S. 2003 Type-S models included 3A000001 to 3A019061. All 2001-2002 Acura 3.2 CL were included.2003 3.2 CL models included ended in VIN 3A000001 to 3A005203."

Folks, that is a lot of transmission replacements. I never had a problem with mine but during this period but Acura put 3 transmissions in my son-in-laws TL and the last one was well outside both the mileage and time limits. They will do the right thing but I still wish it did not shift so hard. Sometimes more is really less.

dennis1

A technician from Acura Canada visited all dealerships in BC Canada, tested every V6 and found only 1 vehicle out of 100's with a potential transmission problem. All other v6's were just fine and can be sold. I bought one in mid December and have had zero difficulty. Perhaps the media blew this out of proportion.

I have had three Acura's and have found each to be dependable, economical and wonderful to drive.

Quandry

Not just the media but those people who like to spread FUD. All vehicles from every manufacturer will have some form of defect. If these are common and caught within the first few months of production there will not be a recall of 100,000+ vehicles. We will have to wait for a couple you years to know if the TLX has any defect that only shows up later.

Edward'TLS

The major issue is that Honda/Acura is BEST KNOWN for its industry's best in vehicle reliability, amongst other top notch Japanese automakers such as Toyota.

However, the recent years have seen more and more issues and recalls with Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus products, and is deemed unacceptable to most buyers, especially those move on to these top-notch Japanese brands looking for spotless reliability and peace of mind.

If these are the European auto brands that are having multiple issues and recalls, buyers are willing to accept this, because European auto brands are known to have sub-par to poor reliability when compared to the highly-regarded Honda/Toyota brands.

Thus the big fuss with Honda/Acura, and also don't forget with Toyota/Lexus that has been taking lots of heat in the recent years too.

hddnav

Although possibly blown out of proportion from a common-sense point of view, it sure has not been blown out of proportion from a legal lawsuit-related point of view.

It didn't take Toyota many accusations of sudden acceleration (although the incidents were largely disproven and attributed to driver error and individuals looking to profit from Toyota) to get them into paying millions and millions of dollars worth of penalties to the federal government. It didn't take many accidents from failing ignition switches to have GM be in the same boat.

Accidents attributed to vehicle operation are a gold-mine for lawyers, and everyone knows it. Just look at all the Nav screens nowadays with the nag notices, not to mention the nanny lock-outs while the car is moving.

If the TLX has a 1% actual failure rate (related to the recall) for the 9AT transmissions, that's 100 cars out of every 10,000, which is a LOT of potential lawsuits.

mapleloaf

I am on the list and have received my letter from Acura Canada. I'll be noticed again when they are ready to inspect. I have had 0 issues with this, but use the parking brake as insurance. Thanks to the electronic shifting transmission, it's easy to use. An added bonus that if i have Brake Hold on, and I always do, when I turn off the car it will shift it into park (if i forget) and apply the Parking brake.

Majofo

mapleloaf

I was originally bringing my car in next week for both the transmission inspection and the software update for the Cross Traffic system. However, my long time salesman suggested I drop the car off in the morning, as the Acura Canada expert will be there inspecting their identified 3.5s sitting on the lot. After that, he hopes the guy can do the inspection on mine. One of the reasons I came back to Acura is this type of personalized service that I receive from sales, service, and parts. Good folks!

vbx

1 accident in a Prius and it made headlines and tons and tons of Toyota bashing.

Over 300+ deaths caused by GM ignition failure which they KNEW about. And GM didn't get as much attention by the media.

mapleloaf

So the Acura Canada expert didn't get to my car, but did inspect 20 cars on the lot that were under the stop sale order. Apparently he used a very expensive high tech camera and all of them were fine. They are still figuring out how they will inspect customer cars already sold without necessarily having access to this expensive camera. Stay tuned. The good news is the odds are that most of us, if not all are fine. I have had no issues and since this car so conveniently applies the electronic parking brake when you shut off the ignition in Drive (and sometimes in park…still trying to figure that out), there are no worries for now.

Majofo

expensive high tech camera.. sounds like horseshit to me.

Quandry

^^ Heard that the camera goes in thru an access port to look at the pawl. Maybe it is like a colonoscopy and comes out stained!

Majofo

Pawl bar is a locking mechanism attached to the drive spline. Unless it sees through the case like some superman gamma scanning camera (/redtext), sounds like bs to me.

Colin

While I did not see the receipt for the camera, they say it costs about $50,000, but I'll have to take their word for it. It goes in through the fill plug on the transmission and records a video of the unit in operation. It also looks for evidence of debris in the case.

J.A.S.

That's exactly how my dealer explained the process as well. He said the technician was using the camera to look for metal shards which would block the parking prawl and prevent it from engaging properly. Fortunately the car earmarked for me had no issues and released for sale.

mapleloaf

That's rights from my Acura Service and Parts Managers, and they are very honest and good people. There's no conspiracy here.

Qebui

I'm in Charlotte, NC and we have two TLXs. My wife's is fine but mine fell in the VIN range. They have to use a telescopic camera to inspect. There is one inspector in our region so they don't know when he will be able to check.
The tech told me they will replace the transmission if there is a problem, but they don't have any transmission yet to replace it with.
I just use my parking brake.

Colin

Generally, if you haven't exhibited any problem yet, you probably won't have an issue. I've heard that most with the issue will see it happen in the the first 2 or 3 times the transmission is placed in park.

Qebui

Yeah, Colin that is what I was thinking as well. I drove it from November 26 to December 27 with no issue with parking gear.

Majofo

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy, and it's certainly not Honda's responsibility. It's the mfg of the transmission to eat any costs of a recall. It sounds like checking your temperature by looking at your butthole. If you really want to know the issue, you usually need to get dirty. I don't know the configuration of the ZF9 trans but the parking pawl is always mated to the drive spline and I just can't see some camera being able to discern an issue properly by looking at the top of it. If they're simply looking for metal bits in that region (assuming the camera can even see it), it doesn't seem thorough enough. Even if they removed the dipstick tube, I just can't see how they are properly inspecting the trans without opening up the case.

hddnav

Are you trying to say that it's like checking to see if you have lung cancer by smelling your breath?

Majofo

Maybe that's a better analogy

Majofo

Or butt cancer by smelling your farts.. no?

weather

^^ Using that fart theory, I would have 2 days to live!! *lol*

nhester

My problem is that it may exist and I'll not be aware of it until that one time I may accidentally "forget:" I always (even on perfectly flat surfaces) engage the parking brake in this sequence: (1) engage brake, (2) engage neutral, (3) foot off brake pedal, (4) foot on brake pedal, (5) off! This only takes a second or so, and it's the parking brake (not transmission) that holds the car's position!

Majofo

Pearlsmomma

Did you say Cross traffic software update? Yay! Will this make it have the audible warning? I can't get mine to work as stated in the manual, and was unaware of an uodate to correct. Please tell me it works! Thanks!

Colin

It seems to work well for those with no audible warning.

mapleloaf

Audible CT warning works like a charm! Still waiting to hear about the transmission issue, as I am on the list. However, no issues to date, although the automatic deployment of the parking break under various conditions (always with brake hold on) is my insurance. However, having not experienced any issues, I am not overly anxious waiting to hear what the remedy for identified customers will be. They did end up holding up the sale of 7 of the 20 cars checked by Acura Canada on the lot. Don't believe they have figured out the next steps yet.

Quandry

^^Process and procedures seem pretty clear. They have a limited number of the special cameras that are used to inspect the transmission, unless a rolling test fails. The cameras will be used like a traveling road show, maybe by city or dealer. Expect very few transmissions to actually fail the inspection, and those that do will have the transmission replaced (when available).

lsbuffs

Not clear to me how they coordinate the examination of the potentially impacted cars already out in the field using these special cameras during the traveling road show. My car is on the list and because I'm not concerned about it, I'm not inclined to go to the dealer until my first oil change comes up. From what I've read, it doesn't sound like the dealers will have these cameras laying about, rather will only be available to them for a limited period of time.