artbran

iTrader: (2)

Their mechanics got the whole process down to 2 hours by now where they remove and install a new one. They just seem to still be over charging on the labor. I think someone posted that Acura charges for 8 hours of work or something like that. I know this as the mechanic that worked on my CLS last week and will be doing more work this week on it told me.

So yeah, pull the old tranny and put a new one in takes them 2 hours.

e30cabrio

iTrader: (6)

I paid 1400 to have my 97 3.0 CL done about four years ago. I found a place here in Phoenix that quoted me 900 for an already rebuilt with a rebuildable core (+labor).

bpcl

I just heard back from the Acura dealership, I had the 03 CL that the transmission quit on at 120,777, they said Honda agreed to do it on a 75/25 split with me, so it will cost me $1000 - good enough !

joommen

my 02 cl is having some issues with the transmission with 129k miles. how did you get the dealer to swap you a new one for free on good will?

Madazz

Hi, i'm new here and I'm not from USA. A year ago I buy Acura CL type-s 01 auto and bring her to Europe. Tranny broken week after I've started to ride the acura. After very long repair it was fixed, but now it broked again, just after 7000 miles. I have a question, is it posible to change automatic tranny to manual 6 gear tranny from 03 CL, and where can I buy that tranny?

MikeTheGeek

Thank you to everyone who posted, this thread and others on this site have been invaluable.

I bought a 2000 TL around 2004, it had around 50,000 miles and has been a great car for the last five years. We did take it to an Acura dealer in another city at one point, they did some maintenance and 'performed the recall service'... never did understand what they did, I assumed nothing.

Fast forward about 4 years to 2009 when the transmission completely failed last week. I read a LOT of posts here, and called the local Acura dealership here in Middle Tennessee. The service dealer was very straightforward and pointed out that since I hadn't bought the car from them, and hadn't had it serviced from them once (had been taking it to a local Honda specialist who performed 100k timing belt, multiple trans. fluid changed), there probably wasn't much they could do, given the age and mileage ("only" 126,000). I said I understood but would bring it in anyway and let him see what he could negotiate with Honda of America.

Long story short they got about 10% of the cost of the parts covered by Honda but then proceeded to charge me near cost for all of the rest - parts & labor including new engine mounts, a new engine seal, of course a remanufactured transmission from Honda - and - the clincher - a new ECU (computer).

All of this was done for about $4000 and is warrantied for 3 years/36,000 miles (3 years in my case as I drive a motorcycle most days and hardly put mileage on the Acura).

Some may think this is not a good deal but there is simply no other manufacturer or dealer that would put this kind of package together. In reality, with no consideration, this amount of work would have been near $6000. Local transmission shops were quoting us $3000 anyway just for the transmission.

I just want to say that if you get a decent deal from a dealer, I would recommend taking it - you can't find a 3yr warranty on transmission from most places and you certainly won't get the computer thrown in. Although it was a tough decision to put that much money into it, it was far cheaper than buying a new car.

The car is running ok - just got it back so I will withhold judgement. We were told if it has any problems at any point again in its lifetime (even after the 3yr/36k) to just bring it back in and it will be taken care of.

I will probably buy another Acura around 2012 given Honda's impressive attitude and willingness to do more than I expected.

Thank you all again for the great info provided on this site.
Mike

Sideswipe

Sup guys.

I had my first tranny replaced at Palm Beach Acura 16 months ago. Last Friday I'm doing 90mph down I-10 West in the Florida pan handle and stopped at a rest stop. I missed a parking space and when I shifted in reverse to back up the car just sat there and the engine revvved up.

Okay, the car finally backs up. It does the same thing when I shift into Drive to park in the parking space. All of a sudden I'm smelling something like burned up sour candy. I continue driving and everything's okay. All of a sudden I'm just outside of Lake City, FL. when the RPMs start CLIMBING UP AND UP. Next thing I notice there is smoke flooding out the back end of my car like Richard Petty at Daytona. All the people behind me start easing back about 8 to 10 carlengths.

Gatorland Acura in Gainsville has my car towed (64 miles) and gives me a goodwill replacement as well as a 3 year 36,000 warranty.

They even let me play around on their computers and watch the documentary about Acura creating their new racecar from the ground up to race in the 24 hours of Lemans.

Now here's something I think is cool: Before, with the first two transmissions, when in sport shift I couldn't downshift into 3rd if I was traveling over 70mph. Now I can downshift into 3rd as high up as 80mph!!

Okay, okay, I know some of you guys would probably be against this but on the way back home I decided to top it out. I hit 142mph and decided to back off. Don't worry--I had already driven the car about 500 miles before I went over 70mph.

Worried01CLS

Okay, I just bought an 01 3.2CL type S with 87.5k miles. With in the first few hours, I feel the transmission slip when I was only doing 15-20mph (so im guessing it was shifting between 2-3 -I was pulling our of a parking lot and lightly accelerating). Anyway, as I wasn't used to the car, I thought maybe I had slipped it into neurtral or something..it ran fine the rest of the day. But then I read all these post and realize the problem is probably real and not my imagination.

Does anybody know if Acura dealerships are still covering the cost of a replacement trans? Its obviously past the 93 months.

donohuesm

I just got my Tranny replaced two days ago. I have a 2001 CL Type S with 100,210 miles. The car was purchased on 11/20/2000. I was covered by the warranty up until 8/20/2008.

My real good friend is a Mechanic at a Acura dealship He tells me when people bring in there CL after the warranty is up the service guy just bills the tranny towards another CL they have in the lot. But the service people arent going to let you just get a free tranny. They are going to bill you for some type of Service fee. I had to pay 1500. On the bill it states they serviced my tranny. It doesn't say anything on the bill about replacing it.

They also warrantied my tranny for 3 year /36,000 miles. they are able to warranty the tranny becuase a "Service" was done to it.

Why it had to be replaced: I was driving on the parkway and when i tried to accelerate to pass someone it would do anything. It felt like it was in nuetral. So i put it in tiptronic and tried going into 3,4,5 .... no responce.... I Pulled over and it was leaking tranny fluid and the car was smoking!!!!

smACURAssCLS

I have a 2003 CLS that I purchased maybe 4 months ago. I got one with nearly 100K because I needed one I could put a crapload of miles on it for driving to work. Very clean car for the miles and year. But sometimes when I'm stuck on the freeway and I start to accelerate the car will start to jerk or pull as if it is slipping the gear. I usually pull the shifter to the left to see what gear its in and its always 3rd. this happens minimum 1 time a week (obviosly I'm not always stuck in traffic). Right now the car is at 105K miles. Its up for the major service which is aprox $1200 from what I was told by a local dealership. Dont know what to do. I know I dont have a total failure but should I pay that amount when I could have it all done by my personal mechanic at a fraction of the price? If I don't do it at Acura will they help with tranny costs if it goes out?

mcgmcg

I am in the identical predicatment you find yourself in. I have 01 CL Type S with roughly 8,000 more miles than you. And began with the same symptoms as your car (the car had these symptoms over 2 years or so I just did not recognize them) but they became progressively worse during an 800 mile road trip with final straw of the transmission seizing in reverse as I backed into my driveway. Among other things wrong with the transmission, the Acura mechanic of ten years, diagnosed the transmission with audible grinding of the differential between 2 & 3 gears. He said that this is the first time he has heard a differential grind and he 'won't lie to me, he has seen lots of problems with automatic transmissions'.
My car was diagonsed on 7/14/09. My warranty expired 11 months ago on time, not miles. After lengthy discussion with the regional service manager, the final decision was I pay for labor- roughly 1000 and in return I receive a 'remanufactured transmission' and a receive the 3 yr / 36,000 mile warranty under the Goodwill policy.
Some context - This after, servicing only at the dealership, paid cash for the car, less than two months ago had preventative maintance completed prematurely 1200.00, no transmission issue found (reason there are mechanical and electronic components to a transmission mechanics), and all of my immediate (and some extended) family members have, in some cases, owned multiple Acuras and I threaten never to purchase an Acura again and I will encourage friends and family members never to purchase again. Which now, no longer is a threat, I won't.

Apparently, this dealership has only had 3 failures in 5 years on 'remanufactured transmissions'. So I hope the remanufactured transmission lasts for a few thousand miles anyway. Which might be a stretch given posts from others.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

My car is at World transmissions in Clifton NJ getting its 4th tranny put in..
I bought a 2001 CL-s in june of 2000 new.
I had my first tranny go in 2002 with 35k miles
I had my second tranny go june of 2005 at 99k miles .. And I saked the specificly am I gonna keep having this problem cuz i will sell it if so...They assured me that this is Redesigned and I WILL not have a problem...
SO i was cautious and changed the fluid every 20K at the DLR at 120K miles , at 140K miles and I did a 2x3 at 60K miles about 9 months ago...
Tranny shifed fine and on my way to work thursday me car threw a code P0740 torque converter soleniod circuit but car still shifted fine so i though it was a soleniod so on friday i was gonna go to the dlr by the 2 soleniods I needed and im good right..NO WAY on friday on my way to buy the soleniods my car downshifed from 80-30 on route 80 and started grinding BAD.. so i barely made it to the dlr..
At that point i didnt think it was a soleniod and the DLR open road acura said they can tell me if its the soleniod or the whole tranny..they gave me a RDX loaner..
they call me later saying that its the tranny and ACURA corperate will help me with 10% and the tranny #4 was gonna cost me $4100 + tax so i called acura corperate myself and put a claim in .. they said the will get back to me by monday...
In the meantime i went on the website ATRA auto tranny rebuilders assaciation and called like 5 places around me .. $2500-$3500 to rebuild it and they all said they where familiar with this 5 speed most are still in buesness becuz this tranny!
So monday acura called me back and said im responsible STILL for 90% so no deal..
I had it towed to world tranny in clifton cuz the guy seemed to know his stuff and when i stopped there he was working on a odessey and MDX so he rebuilt 2 of the same right B4 mine.. he said he installs a external cooler (which alot of rebuilders said was a prob with this tranny) and he used Sonnax "O" ring end plug kit and better clutch material and some other up-grades.. He is also using AMSOIL syntetic tranny fluid (which I had to provide, stuff is impossible to find local) and he is giving me a 3/36 warrenty parts and labor where most the other places only can offer 12/12 or 12/ unlimited miles.
He said it will be done monday or tuesday the latest so I will let u guys know..

BUT NO this tranny IS NOT FIXED!!
And ACURA is doing nuttin to help anymore..

Most the tranny rebuilders where amazed i got 68K out of this tranny and some said the refuse to give more then 12 month warrenty cuz they rebuild to acura specs and it is a faulty POS tranny...

I am so upset at ACURA right now, this was my first car i ever bough when i was 20 in 2000 and I bought it cuz I though it was reliable...and i put 7500 down and paid 505 a/month for 5 years and for a 20 year old it was alot and i paid it all myself no rich parents that helped me but thats ok i learned to appreciate it more that i paid for it!

Funny thing was I was gonna dump it last year cuz i need alot of stuff done but my girl said she will buy mr the shocks springs so i would hold on to it cuz we are buing a condo and it would rally help us buy not having a car payment, I should have just dumped it!

since then I sank like 2-3K into it, shocks/lowering springs/progress rear sway bar/mood sway bar links/outlaw TB and IM spacers/OBX headers/ CAI , after my girl got me the shocks/springs I got the modding itch and had to scartch it, WHY WHY did I have to scratch!!!

Sorry for all the ranting but its sad that I bought a car that tranny only lasts 60K miles if you chang the ATF every 20K and there is no way around it!
__________________


LIKE I SAID B4 SOME TRANNY REBUILDERS SAID THEY DID NOT WANT TO TOUCH THIS TRANNY CUZ IT WILL JUST BREAK AGAIN, THAT IS WHY MOST WILL ONLY GIVE 12/12 WARRENTY CUZ THEY KNOW IF THEY REBUILD IT TO ACURA SPECS IT WILL BREAK AGAIN!!

If u are thinking of buying this car or the CL or any car with a 5 speed tranny built before 2005 be prepared to pay $3k to rebuild it, so tack of 3K on what u would be paying cuz u will need a tranny

docrubin

Just went out! Going 60mph and went into 2nd gear! Wife about went through the windsheild! Dealer wants $4500 to fix it and it only has 104,000 miles! It's a 2001. I bought it for her in 2000. Do I have any recorse?
Thanks for the help

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

i bought car off the original owner in august of 07 with 129k. he had the tranny replaced at 67k under warranty

i had it go out around 140k and with a couple of calls, Acura paid for the tranny, and i paid for labor. And i had an 08 TSX for the week and a half my car was down

docrubin

I called Acura and they cut the price to $2800.00 but if I buy a new car they will fix it for free? What to do?

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

considering the car isnt worth much more, id get something new

docrubin

They now will give me $4500 as a trade in for my car. Do you think that is fare?

Charlan83

wow, this thread is scaring the hell out of me. I was so excited to go look at a 99 cl 3.0 with 78k ($4500) on it this weekend, but after reading this, I am scared to death to even bother...it sounds like a garruntee that i would be sinking money into it

victypes

So as of today my car has passed the 7 year warranty as its a 03 cls bought in april of 03 but i have less than 75k miles on it. So as of what I understand I am out of luck if it dies correct?? Its not covered..under the extended warranty.

01Cl_Type-S

My tranny as of today is going out. It is slipping like crazy and I got stranded twice on the way home. It is a 2001 cl-s navi. I have as of today 167,241 miles. I also checked the vin and the tranny has never been replaced. The jet kit was installed before I bought it but the original tranny has lasted over 167k. I am going to talk to the service manager and see what they can do for me. I will be going to the acura dealership in bakersfield ca. I am originally from santa clarita ca, and that is where it was bought by the first owner(im second) so if bakersfield cant do much I will definatly call up acura of santa clarita.

i_cl'ed

I bought my SMR 03 Type S 3 Days ago with 86K and a brand new tranny... but idk its been acting funny.

01Cl_Type-S

Im curious if anyone has gotten charged 102 dollars to diagnose the car with the tranny failure? I took my car to bakersfield acura today and the told me that there is gonna be a 102 dollar cherge for the tech to diagnose the car to confirm tranny issues. is this legit? please let me know

brawl

The dealer local to me told me I'd be charged that service charge as well. I'm over the time length, but not the mileage on the transmission as by the standards from the Settlement. My fiancee' is about to buy a new car from them, so i'm about to use that as leverage for them to help me out with this transmission. If they're not willing to help me out on the transmission, i'll be buying her new Honda Pilot somewhere else.

brawl

So Acura only wants to go 65/35 with me on this, leaving me with a 2200 dollar bill... Mind you, i have 106k on the original transmission, never been replaced. The other big factor is we just put 1,000 down on an 07 RDX (The honda Pilot wasn't as nice). I've talked with Acura Customer Care and they weren't willing to adjust and after mentioning that i'll take my deposit back and go buy an ML350 or X3, my case was handed off to a Regional Case Manager. They called today and said they would not be willing to cover it 100% but asked what I'm willing to pay. I told them I don't feel its fair to pay anything over 500, especially if I'm buying a $24,000 SUV from them. They're going to contact me back within 24-48 hours to let me know their decision.

I honestly think this is a load of **** personally, as they wouldn't have even offered to have a Regional Case Manager hear my situation until I mentioned the deposit on a new Acura. If there isn't a reasonable solution offered, I'll tossing the CL in the trans shop for a trade-in and get me and the mrs new cars.

backyardinc

hey guys....... i own a CL-S now and one before......just a tip, if you give your vin number to a well known acura dealership, in my case its acura of bridgewater in new jersey, they can give you info to see if your trans is still under warranty, even though the years of warranty is over on your car, if its under a ceratin mileage its covered, my current CL-S was covered until 113,000 miles, and has had the tranny changed from previous owner.......but now its at 127,000 miles , and past the mileage warranty.........it sucks to be a CL-S owner to waste money on transmissions.......good luck to all....

russianDude

what year and month previous owner changed transmission? Supposedly transmissions replaced after 2005 are better

YeuEmMaiMai

my 2008 replacement is dead......i brought the car in several times while it was under warranty and it was NPF or they could not duplicate the problem. 23K and the trans needs a fluid change. I point blank told them that this trans is on them and that I am NOT paying for this one since I had been reporting problems while the car was under warranty.

my original trans croaked at 70K and the new one is burning fluid at 93K. If you are wondering how I drive my car, I am prolly one of about 2 or 3 people that can get 23 city and 32-34 highway out of this type of car. it's rated 17/27 under the new ratings

northsidecaly

: )

YeuEmMaiMai

no that's not fair

galloni

Looking for any and all advice! Please help!

I recently bought an '01 3.2cl type-s from a family friend and before doing so looked into it to see if the transmission was replaced or not under the class action lawsuit. it turned out it was replaced at 67k and the family friend I bought it from said they had no problems whatsoever with it up to that point.... I bought it at 97k

a few months ago (at 105k) I first had the problem where I was driving down the road and it suddenly jumped as it was downshifting from 3rd to 2nd gear. The D5 light started blinking, VSA light on, check engine light on.... I took it to the dealer and they said that there were two diagnostic codes:

1) P0715: A Problem in Mainshaft speed sensor circuit
2) P1457: EVAP Bypass solenoid valve failure

The dealer looked into the issues and ran some tests and said they could not find the problem; in addition, they could not re-simulate the problem by driving it. Another few months went by and it drove with no problems until it happened again. When I took it back to the dealer they said the P0715 code had come up again and there was most likely an internal transmission problem and I should have it replaced. The dealer is offering a 25% goodwill discount so that a replacement transmission comes out to $2700 from my pocket. They also are including a 3 yr/36,000 mile warranty with the new transmission.

I have spoke to a few transmission shops and read thru many of the forums and understand that the problem will almost definitely come back with the replacement transmission eventually. I also am under the impression that I could elect to have it "rebuilt" by a custom trannie shop so that the problems don't come back, but that will run me $3,000-$4,000 and not have a warranty.

The advice I'm looking for is what people recommend doing in this situation. I understand a lot of the decision comes down to how long I plan on keeping the car. It currently has 107k and if I got a new transmission that worked properly I would be happy keeping it 5 or more years....

I also have read that installing a trans cooler will help to prevent the excessive heat build-up in the trannie when it is in 2nd gear. Would you guys recommend getting this with a new transmission if I plan on keeping the car???

Please help!
Thanks

galloni

Hamster6705, do you still do replacements of the trannies with your friend? I just posted in this thread (long explanation on post) and would consider going to Marysville, Ohio if you still do the replacements....

russianDude

galloni, I'd recommend taking Acura deal if they are giving you 25% discount. Quality rebuild outside dealership will cost you about the same. Acura rebuilds are better because the whole unit is re-manufactured and modifications are applied to make weaker parts stronger. In what year was last transmission replaced? 2005+ units seem to be more durable, but still fail. I'd say that there is a good chance (>70%) that Acura rebuilt transmission will last at least 70K miles, and depending how many miles you drive it might last you for another 4-5 years, that might give you enough time not to care about your car because its value will be small and you could just dump it. At the minimum, you will have 3 year warranty on your replacement unit.

russianDude

That is not true, even most reputable tranny shop can not solve the design problem. For 3000-4000 they will just do what Acura does (complete rebuild and inspection of ALL parts). Cheaper quotes (such as $1200) will only do half ass job, on the other hand if you are willing to spending $4k than you might as well go with Acura. Also some places are known to milk money, they will promise you low quote, but then when they take everything apart they will call you and say that something else is broken and it requires X dolors, in the end $1200 will turn into 2-3K

galloni

thanks russiandude, i appreciate the feedback. It was replaced in 2007... and if I can get another 50-70k out of the trannie I would be more than happy. The dealer has stated there have been many modifications and the ones they replace them with now have much smaller failure rates. I hope they're telling me the truth!

russianDude

The last modification was in 2005 Feb. So they are telling you partial truth.

lokijibber

Never posted this here. Ardmore Acura in Ardmore PA replaced my tranny with an authorized 50/50 split for me and Acura NA. I had no maintenance records as all maintenance since 45k was done in my driveway.

Muthaof2

Hello, I have an 01 CL S type with 198k miles. I took it to dlr in june for wheel shaking at 60+mph, dlr test drove car and performed comp diag. Told me that I needed front brakes and rotors. Ok repair it! Then service advisor starts to recommend add'l services like trans flush, power steering flush, brake fluid flush, etc. I told him there was nothing wrong with my trans, power steering, etc. He insist that my trans fluid was very dark and if I didn't perform the service my trans would blow. So of course I didn't want that to happen so I ok'd the tranny flush. Well 3-4 wks later my trans blows. I go online to research if the service they performed caused this and i find that it does. One site stated that if the trans has no problms then leave it alone b/c the dark sludgy fluid and debris that it collects over time is what the trans relies on to operate and once taken away it basically goes into a state of confusion and manufactures don't recommend trans flushes. So I call Acura, xplnd the situation, they gave me a claim# and advised that I speak with mngmnt at the dlrshp. I spoke with the service mngr who insist that they don't do flushes only drain and fills, so I ask why would the mechanic write that on my service order if you don't do it or have a machine to do it. Make a long story short he claims that due to my high mileage he can only discount the repair cost from 3680 to 2800. I feel that I shld not have to pay anything being that they messed it up. If there is anyone that can give me some advice on how to rectify this situation, I really would appreciate your help. THANK YOU!!!

russianDude

Did this car have original transmission? If so, its actually pretty impressive it lasted for 198K miles. When was the last time transmission fluid changed? If it was never changed, and your transmission lasted up to 198K I am speachless... in that case I would not let them touch your fluid at all.
Let me get it straight, you can get it for $2800 and you are thinking about it? Its the same price AAMCO would charge you, except that aamco is horrible and in the end it might even cost you more.

Cruz_msl

Well, my #3 tranny is getting ready to bite it. I have 163K miles- I had a slow shift from 2nd to 3rd and the dash lit up. I pulled over, re-started the car, all lights went off accept for the engine light. It's shifting weird and the fluid smells and looks like shit. I'm sure glad I didn't buy new winter tires!

I guess I'll call my Acura dealer and see if I can work something out. I need a new water pump and timing belt, so maybe if I throw them some business they will help me. If not, it's getting sold.

Cruz_msl

Nope, my Acura dealer will not help at all. Buh bye CL-S.