I finally convinced my dealer to perform the TCM update and as I was pulling out of the parking lot the downshift lunge happen again. So much for the update fixing things.

 

Which dealership? I just had my transmission updated (late Feb or early march revision) a week ago and SO far it has been much, much approved!!

 

They need to do some type of idle relearn after the TCM update.... then it takes a few days to a week to start smoothing out. They did mine at the same time apparently and it took about 7 days to smooth out. They said this is expected. So far so good for me

 

Muller's Woodfield Acura. The update was done today, the version is "03214...223099...1.5".

I guess I will give it a couple of weeks to smooth out as randomRon82 suggested and will post an update.

 

This is the version update my car received and I have been very happy with the operation so far. I got my car back on 3/9. It's possible that they did not perform the idle learn procedure at all? Is the car idling rough?

 

They didn't say anything about idle learn but it idles just fine.

 

Update: 3/16/15: TLX is back in the shop for 3rd visit for transmission repairs. Main issue is the jumping transmission issue when having to stop quickly, and the dreaded R to D shift, the loud clunkiness is back with a vengeance. in addition, the damn vibration in the rear speaker deck, or trunk when playing songs with loud bass will be looked at. Service manager told me that Acura has a fix in the works. Car operated well for a week or so, but is now back in the deep woods. Will provide an update when the car is back and on the road. All very troublesome....... and sure did not expect this level of unresolved issues and the car being such a time vampire........just damn!!

 

Warrior 6

Did the weather get cold again, and if so, do you think the problems are cold weather related?

 

Do you know if your dealership performed the clutch re-learn procedure? I don't know that the idle re-learn is required, but the clutch pack re-learn certainly is. It takes about 1-2 hours to perform after they do the update. I really think this is the crucial part to the whole update process. I had the Feb. 2, 2015 update done on my car, and while it is not perfect I can say it is much better. I hear the late Feb update is supposed to specifically address the hard lunge as you come to a stop, but you have to go through the process to get it correctly updated.

 

Weather during this period was highs in the mid 50's and low's in the upper 30's. Cannot state if there is any correlation.

 

Sorry to here that, I know your pain. Mine is going back whenever it seems something can be done. The last update seems to have worn off over time. I am curious what your dealer or shop is telling you though? My dealership has been as helpful as possible it seems, but are now to the point of being brutally honest and saying...if you bring your car in, we cant fix it. It will just sit here until acura either releases new software, releases new procedures, or starts sending new transmissions, or directs us to try something else.


This is why I contacted acura themselves recently, with unsatisfactory results as some of my other posts have indicated.


Is your shop going to do anything when you bring it in, or just sit and wait till acura does something?

 

I have noticed that none of the software updates so far has addressed this problem indicated originally by Colohusker. It has always been there and not weather related. I suspect that this has something to do with the objective of fuel efficiency. When coasting, the DCT tranny tends to go to a gear that is as high as the engine's torque can barely support. When a sudden acceleration is needed, it takes the TCM too long to figure out which gear and too long to engage that gear. I actually have a slightly different problem: my RPM goes up immediately, but car does not accelerate. It almost feels like the transmission goes to neutral for a moment and then engages again.

 

Again, not trying to bring down the TLX as I want the car to be trouble free but I cannot understand why these issues weren't found during the car's testing process?! We see all these camo vehicles with fancy gizmos and computers and yet can't detect something that so many people observe by simply driving the car, and now the ILX owners are starting to report the same issue.

Acura should stop obsessing in keeping their car so secretly hidden during the testing phase and focus on putting as many test cars on the road and make sure they are ready for prime time.

If a guy like Stew4HD is starting to get frustrated with Acura, then we know we have a serious problem on our hand!!

I can't imagine that Matt H would be too proud in seeing all these complaints about the TLX.

 

Remember the car's release date was pushed back to allow for some 'tweaking' but we never really knew exactly what they were working on. Many suspected it was related to the transmissions. But Acura had already shut down production of the TL and TSX and so they had to get the TLX in the showroom. I'm sure they did not foresee these problems and maybe they felt they had it mostly tuned in, but the car launched in the summer and it seems these issues are worse in cold weather. So now they are dealing with more transmission issues than they expected. A good reason to be patient with a 1st year car. If they work out these issues to an acceptable level I'd be a buyer (or maybe the RDX Advance) but right now I'm cautious. Many cars don't seem to have an issue, but too many are for me.

 

This makes for an interesting read when you have 10 minutes to spare - the BMW forum with users complaining about their DCT's while others are having zero issues:

Click -> DCT problems

Here's a quote that I found interesting:

"What I'm not happy with (and the reason I took the car to the dealership) is the throttle lag from a slow roll. Don't tell me this is turbo lag - I know what that is. Rather, there is literally no motor response for a full second regardless of throttle. It seems like they didn't even address this problem when I took the car in for that reason, and they just put the new software on it and let me go."


There does seem to be a happy ending though as it looks like BMW worked through the issues - I'm guessing we may have to be patient as Acura suffers through a similar learning curve.

 

shoulda stuck with 6 speed and a manual. I don't recall any issues reported with the 6 speed auto. 6 properly spaced gears is enough. But we have a ten speed made honda auto to look forward to....in the meantime will be very interesting to compare the 6 and 9 speed pilots when they come out. Remember the difference between the 5 speed and 6 speed in the Odyssey was only 1 mpg. Law of diminishing returns here.

 

The 5 speed in my TSX has been great, and I have had no problems in over 200,000 miles. Likewise, my wife had an Accord with a 4 speed, and it also lasted over 200,000 miles with no problems. A 6 speed would be more than enough gears for me.

 

Agree.....5 speed in 3G works great for me, and my mileage is fine....about 29 highway and maybe 21 city. Most miles on highway. I will take a smooth, functional transmission with 27 anyday.

 

The 5speed unit in my TSX wagon is honestly not the best. Pretty sluggish and bad with stop and go traffic. Come to think of it, no Honda transmission I have ever had has been a model of smooth operation...

 

Unfortunately, my first post to the community is a complaint about my 3-month old 4 cyl auto/navi TLX's transmission. I don't ordinarily complain but I think it's important that Acura knows the transmission issues are not isolated problems.

I owned two previous new Acura vehicles - both TSX's - auto/navi and had no complaints other than a couple of blown speakers. Loved those cars!

I came to this forum after doing a search to find a solution to my faulty transmission. Apparently, there is not currently one to be found.

I too have had experienced many of the same transmission issues as others have described here: Long lag and heavy clunk shifting from "R" to "D"; delay during acceleration after momentarily letting off gas - engine revs up and then the car slams into the gear that it finally selects - especially dangerous when coming out of a corner or attempting to accelerate after yielding in an intersection; occasional hard jerk when stopping (like the car has been rear-ended); random rough shifting at slow speeds, etc. These problems are not just uncomfortable, they're extremely dangerous!

Temperatures do not seem to change the transmission behavior so far, though they have only ranged from -15F to +45F.

I returned the car to the dealer last month and was told that I was the first to mention a problem with the shifting. They told me that there were no updates or solutions but they did a "system reset" (disconnected the battery for 5 mins) to allow me to "retrain" the transmission. Unfortunately, the problems persist. The service manager told me that there are no other options available to solve my problems at this time as the car is "operating within specifications".

While at the dealer, I drove two other new identical i4 TLX's and noted the same issues. One of the dealer cars was far worse than mine and it only had 75 miles on it!

I called and filed a complaint with Acura but they referred me back to the dealer . . .not too helpful.

Next step is to file a complaint with the NHTSA. I'm hoping that this may get a bit more attention from Acura. I also noticed that there is a class action lawsuit that has been filed against Acura for the i4 transmission defects. A lawsuit is not my preferred venue to resolve this, but it seems as though Acura is not leaving us with any options.

 

^^ I heard that some have had their TLX being bought back so that might be worth investigating.

It is soooooo sad for me to read these Acura stories....I love the brand but the brand is having some problems getting their issues resolved. The rear noise in the RDX and ILX that never got corrected, at least not until the 2016 maybe? And now transmission problems...

 

I've owned the Honda/Acura brands for over 25 years and have been happy with the product. But putting a vehicle to market like this is unacceptable. The transmission issues (even after the patch was put in) are unacceptable to me. After careful evaluation I have been told that the transmission performs to Acura's spec's. But it doesn't to mine.

Fortunately I leased my TLX for three years. The way I look at it - in two years and 8 months I can give the car and their crappy transmission back. Maybe I'll even collect 30 or 40 bucks from a class action law suit should it go to trial and win.

With every jerk of the gears that chilly December day in 2017 gets closer and closer. Then once and for all I will be through with the Acura/Honda brand.

They should be ashamed.

 

I filed a complaint on NHTSA. Acura let me down anf left me with no other option. Hopefully if they see more complaints on a legitimate website they will take it more seriously.

 

Weather, where have you heard this? It certainly catches my attention. I'd love to know more.

With acura all in with this tranny (ilx release, and problems showing up already) and the law suit I'd be shocked if they had Done this. It would indicate they acknowledge the issue is significant enough to warrant such measures, which to date I have not gotten. In fact I have posted a few frustrated posts because acura refuses to acknowledge the scale of the issue at all. Any chance you can reveal more?

 

One of the member has indicated this on here actually....I can't recall who at the moment. Long day at work....

 

just wondering...people who report the clunk between reverse and forwards....do you get on the gas before the car has started moving forwards? I never do and never have a clunk., maybe I should just to see if it does do this. There is a lag of a couple of seconds, but that to me just isnt a deal (unless you need to rock it when stuck in snow). I will try harder to replicate the clunk.

 

You don't have the issue. It's not something you have to try to do. Mine has been doing it since I bought the thing. Every day I back out of my garage, come to a complete stop and cringe while I ever so gently shift it to d. I then clunk and lunge down the street thinking about the Cadillac ATS I could have bought. My car is going back to the shop tomorrow for round two of transmission testing.

 

All their service reps seem to be trained to say these two things... 'never heard of that before'..... 'oh, that is normal for this car.' Just imagine if hospitals were the same way.... A guy comes in with a heart attack. The Doc says.. 'hmmm, I've never seen this before.... or better yet.... based on other males your age, it seems like normal behavior, so there is nothing we can do.'

You might find some service departments that are more up front about it, but I think Acura looks at it as a liability if they tell you the truth. Especially if they can't fix it. But most owners would prefer the honesty. If the service rep told you.... 'yes some of our DCT owners have experienced similar things. Acura is working on a software update but that is not yet available. I will put your name on my list and let you know when you can come in and get a software update. But right now I can't do anything for you. And btw, the software fix may not make it perfect but should improve it.'

I think I'd much rather hear that than the BS they try on the first attempt. What is really frustrating is when a car on the lot does the same thing. And still no one else has experienced it?

 

*raises hand quietly* It's really not that hard to get Acura to listen. If you're really having issues, and if you're really going back and forth to the dealer, google the lemon law for your particular state.

This might not a typical response, but within one week of hiring an attorney (nothing out of pocket for me, btw) and him sending a demand letter, I had an offer from Acura to either repurchase or replace my car.

Keep all your service invoices, be extremely nice to your service advisors and their managers, and be persistent.

 

EVERYONE.....there is an update available that I strongly believes fixes the transmission for the 8 speed DCT. I had all the issues mentioned here except for the clunk from R to D and the last Acura update (performed by my dealer the first week of March) has almost completely (95%ish) fixed the late down shifts, harsh upshifts, the apparent neutral gear shift when trying to accelerate and make a left turn. It still feels different than a standard automatic but it is different and therefore has to act differently. Ask your dealer to call Techline for support as there is not a TSB as of earlier this month.

 

Do you happen to have any specifics on the update? Like a version number or anything? I'm not sure if your invoice would mention that or not? When did you have it done?

I'm supposedly on a 'call list' at my dealer, but I've not heard anything from them about updates.

I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my transmission, so if this is newer than the version I currently have, I'd love to get it in there and see if it helps smooth it out.

 

So who pays the attorney fee and are there any other fees involved? Also what are the chances acura will be ready to provide with options. Could you guide us. Thanks

 

If there is an update that really fixes the problems, then why isn't it released officially? What is the benefit to Acura to not release this update? More unhappy customers are created everyday this problem remains.

I have driven the TLX over 6 months/12,000 miles. The transmission behaves brilliantly much of the time but I have experienced all of the strange gear selections previously described. I have talked to the dealer/service and they have said that they are aware of the problems and no official release is available.

I believe the reason that no update has been released is because solutions to all of the problems have not been found. There are costs involved in releasing new firmware and Acura doesn't want to spend the time/money for a release that will be incomplete.

I am also disappointed in what appears to be inadequate testing of this transmission. It doesn't take exotic testing protocols to notice the cold weather shifting problems. Or the clunk that occurs when accelerating from a near-stop or rounding a corner - this is a condition which occurs everyday when driving. I am encouraged that Honda/Acura is committed to this transmission since they introduced a new model (the ILX) featuring this transmission. I just wish for a more timely remedy.

 

I do not have the specifics on the update yet because my dealer wanted to keep the ticket open just in case there was more work that needed to be done. They wanted me to drive it instead of them to test it out. However, I gave them an update on its performance this week so they said they were going to close out the ticket and mail it to me. The software update was performed on 3/5 - 3/6 with the latest one available through Acura's TECHLINE. If the dealer does not call TECHLINE I do not believe they have any information on how to try and fix the car.

 

I'm 100% certain they were aware of the issues - it's seems near impossible for them not to have been. I'm guessing they knew it was software and they knew in time they would be able to dial-it-in and in the meantime the car was close enough for them to start selling it and they reeeeeaaaaaalllllyyyyyy needed to start selling some sedans.

I'm guessing once they get a firmware revision that works on multiple cars for a decent period of time (weeks/months) we will see a TSB announced.

As a side note - when the 9th gen Accord was rolled out with the new CVT it took them a couple TSB's to remedy a stuttering issue many had with the transmission at slow speeds. This is pretty complex stuff so don't be too surprised if it takes Acura a couple whacks at it to really get the DCT dialed-in.

It's bad business for sure but seems to be the norm for first year models with lots of new tech. Look at the BMW forums for issues with their dual clutch trans - lots of similar stories.

 

Since BMW's DCT has been particularly mentioned, with curiosity, I went to test drive a base BMW 328i with DCT (also 8-speed). I particularly paid attention to its transmission and tried to "replicate" all the scenarios of my TLX and others mentioned when the TLX's DCT has shifting problems. I found none! I was not satisfied and test drove a CPO 328i from an earlier year with DCT as well. Again I did not find any shifting issues. The only "thing" I found that resembles the TLX's DCT is the delay of acceleration coming off coasting at 40 MPH. Even then, the delay was only half of TLX's. BMW: 0.9 - 1 second (yes I clocked it) meanwhile with engine rpm slightly increased vs. my TLX: longer than 2 seconds with a sharp increase in engine rpm to the 45 k range. I went on to BMW's website and I think I found the answer: "(BMW) ECO PRO also includes a “coasting mode,” on cars equipped with automatic transmission, where the powertrain is decoupled as soon as the driver backs off the accelerator at speeds between 30 and 100 mph, eliminating engine braking to improve fuel efficiency."

I wonder if our TLX is doing the same with the same fuel efficiency objective but sacrificing too much driving pleasure.

At end of the day, I found BMW 328i has much more fun to drive and our TLX is Not living up to its slogan "It's that kind of thrill." Note that I only drove the base 328i with very basic options. However, our TLXs have better-quality interior and slightly quieter (to my ear) and do represent better value (needs to subtract the transmission hassles though).

 

Bear in mind the BMW DCT has had months of fixes in software updates to get to 2015's models.

 

Installed software update for "RUNNING CHANGE" (DFA550 #37805-RDF-A55)

Seems to have fixed the issue for now. Figures, on the day I get it back it is 55 degrees out so the whole "cold" shifting thing may be different from when it was 17 degrees last week. I'll keep everyone updated on the software update results.

 

Egg Zactly - that's my point. They had plenty of issues when it was new and over time they got it worked out. I'm quite sure Acura will follow the same path.

 

Still didnt clunk, but it did jerk forwards. as would any auto I think.