Southern

10 days ago I had my 2001 Acura in for the trans recall. They inspected the trans per the recall and said everything was fine then installed the oil jet kit.

Today driving home from work my trans started to act up. The up shifts were harsh like the torque converter was locked-up and ocassionally the engine would red line because it would not engage in the next higher gear. I believe it was between 2nd and 3rd gears.

I proceeded to drive the car to the Acura dealer <10 miles away. As I was within 1 block the 5 was flashing in the gear shift indicator, check engine and TCS lights came on and the car was free-wheeling. I was fortunate to be able to coast into the service center.

After I explained what happened to the service writter, he said my car needed the transmission replaced. This was the original transmission with 83K miles. Fortunately Acura will pick up the entire tab and they anticipate that the car will be done in 1 week.

The down side is that they gave me a 2004 ford taurus with 9000 miles. This car is a total piece of crap. It shifts worse that when my Acura was first starting to act up and it drives worse than my previous 1988 Honda Accord with 180K miles. (Mental note - never buy a ford product)

I guess my story reinforces the fact that the trans recall didn't address the real problem with the Acura transmissions.

oneilc

Gee, so you got the recall and then your transmission broke? Who here is actually surprised by this? ... Acura service dept. ... gotta love em

Chet03TL-S

Well the tranny recall doesn't replace the tranny fluid which could have been brown and burnt when you brought it in. My guess is the dealer installed the oil jet and didn't look at the fluid or inspect the 2nd gear. So they had you on your merry way to get another car in the shop.

Southern

I purchased my certified Acura used from the same dealer. The records indicated that at 60K miles the trans fluid was changed, which by the color of the fluid it looked like it was changed. Before the recall I checked the level of the trans fluid and the color. The level was correct and the color was a shade darker from new.

During the recall the service writer said that they inspected the 2nd gear and it looked fine. Since the recall only requires an inspection of the 2nd gear, I believe the mechanic put his blinders on and only inspected what was required.

I have high regards for my Acura dealer (Acura of Libertyville), they appear professional and there work is top notch.

oneilc

Acura service gets a giant meh

nick04tl

the trans recall does not address and is not meant to address the problem of trans shift and eventually slipping. the trans recall is only to address a problem with second gear overheating and possibly locking up and causing an accident.

fsttyms1

thats what i was told by acura them selves. appearently there are 2 tranny problems. i have had 3 failures now and all 3 were the trans slipping then complete failure with in a matter of days

ncxvtguy83

iTrader: (1)

Do they cover/replace the tranny if theres slippage/shift failure under warranty or do they only replace it if theres problems with 2nd gear?

heehaaw

ford taurus's rule man, youre messed.

valeo77

fsttyms1,
How are you coming along with your transmission situation?

I was at 109,415 when my transmission crapped out. I have since gotten my car back after a month. Acura paid 25% of my bill. I ended up coming out of pocket with $2,111.03 (hope you get a better deal than that). I tried AAMACO and some other transmission places - my Dad is a mechanic with some connections but the cheapest we could find for a rebuild was $2500. Acura installed the transmission that does not put the oil jet kit in the fill plug. Instead it is off to the side along with some wierd mechanism (will post pics later).

JPritch

Exactly. Alot of people seem to think that the recall will solve the problem that led to the extended warranty. Two completely different problems. Funny that the big problem causing all the tranny failures didn't warrant a recall.

nick04tl

its beacuse it wasnt a real safety concern. a trans locking up and causing the wheel to lock is a major safety concern. i guess acura extending the warranty on the trans was there way of dealing with the slipping issue.

shawn744

i got my letter in the mail today.....hard issue to accept....anyway, i called up the dealer i bought the car from (terrible service) and they gave me a date 12/8/04.......then i called up PARK AVE ACURA they supposedly have awesome sales and service, they gave me a date of 11/7/04.......the guy was laughin when i told him the waiting date of the other dealer......hope i get a friggin TSX, or something NEW......fuckers........i better not get an 02 accord lx or something.....although this is a recently built dealership and they SHOULD have all new loaners.....well, wish me luck, i hope they don't mess up my car. .....

Southern

In order to have a recall the manufacture needs to have a fix. The oil jet kit was the fix for the 2nd gear overheating. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that there is a fix for the slipping trans issue.

That Girl

[q]nick04tl
Registered User


Join Date: May 2004
Location: Feasterville,PA
Age: 25
Posts: 201
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPritch
Exactly. Alot of people seem to think that the recall will solve the problem that led to the extended warranty. Two completely different problems. Funny that the big problem causing all the tranny failures didn't warrant a recall.


its beacuse it wasnt a real safety concern. a trans locking up and causing the wheel to lock is a major safety concern. i guess acura extending the warranty on the trans was there way of dealing with the slipping issue. [q/]



The other problem did cause the transmission to lock up ...Whatever that problem is....So how can that NOT be a safety issue? There were many people that had their transmission LOCK- Up and noone ever said it was due to 2nd gear ...I wonder if they did find broken teeth of that 2nd gear and are just saying that the 2nd gear problem .....is a NEW problem identified and that they are nipping the problem in the bud before any danger result's from it???

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

2nd gear doesn't lock up, the teeth on the gears break off causing the gears to spin without catching. If and when they do catch the car will jerk from it.

Happened to me about a year ago. I broke the reverse gear, 2nd gear, and 3rd gear.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

The "slipping trans" issue you all are refering to is the clutch packs wearing out causing an unwanted downshift from 5th gear to 2nd.

I do not think the transmission problems would cause the transmission to "lock" nor would they cause the tires to "lock." If anything they cause the transmission not to engage so it seems like you are in neutral. At least for the 2nd gear teeth breaking problem.

The clutch pack failure will cause the transmission to slip from a higher gear into 2nd gear no matter how fast the car is moving. Again, I don't see how either of these failures cause a tire to "lock" up. If that were the case, the transmission failing and tire locking would cause the car to spin out (since one wheel would lock and three would still spin free). To my knowledge an instance like this hasn't been reported on A-CL or A-TL.

That Girl

The "slipping trans" issue you all are refering to is the clutch packs wearing out causing an unwanted downshift from 5th gear to 2nd.

I do not think the transmission problems would cause the transmission to "lock" nor would they cause the tires to "lock." If anything they cause the transmission not to engage so it seems like you are in neutral. At least for the 2nd gear teeth breaking problem.

The clutch pack failure will cause the transmission to slip from a higher gear into 2nd gear no matter how fast the car is moving. Again, I don't see how either of these failures cause a tire to "lock" up. If that were the case, the transmission failing and tire locking would cause the car to spin out (since one wheel would lock and three would still spin free). To my knowledge an instance like this hasn't been reported on A-CL or A-TL.
************************************************** ******************************


Mr.Steve.


You are so bold to state that car's don't lock-up from the OTHER..problem's ..Adain WHATEVER That is ..


I will CORRECT YOU.... YES THEY DO.. POINT BLANK... and about the tire's ..............They replaced my tire's after LOCK-UP there were BALD Spots ..and Steve ..my car was NEW ,no chance the bald spot's were from driving ..

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Did you even read my entire post? Maybe you missed the last part:


Was your failure due to the 2nd gear failure or the clutch packs wearing out?

And what did you try to say here:

That Girl

Yes I did read it and I don't think I misenturpretted what you said. I didn't mean to come off so RAW,but ...You stated that even the other problem and this current 2nd gear problem couldn't cause lock-up's ..that you did not see how that was possible.

I don't knoew either ..some do though...But what I do know is that they DO and they also will bald your tire's ..I think it was my 2 front tire's ? I could be wrong on that ...because they said they went ahead and replaced all 4 as a courtesy...

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

I don't see how both front tires could lock up. Your TL does not have a limited slip differential, only one of the front tires is recieving power.

Are you sure you didn't slam on the brakes when the tranny crapped out? I'm just tryin' to figure this out.

That Girl

Steve......


I could not begin to tell you what occured when my tranmssion locked up ..i say locked -up because when driving along at high speed in an instant my car....tried to come to a complete stop on the highway almost throwing me through the windsheild ....

You say did I apply the BRAKES???? Steve this happened so fast ..you must not have ever had this happen ..but I will tell you I had no need to apply brakes my car was already stopping uncontrolablly..


How could I tell which tire was locking up ???? Do I care ...what tire ? The fact is I don't know that it was the tire's all I know is that the car tried to come to a complete stop ....the tire's made horrendous noise like if you did try to slam on your brake's....


The car did this many times on my 1 hour commute to work that day ...You do not want to expierience this ..I then had someone from my work come and get me off the road and Acura came and towed my car away ... I got my car back ..with a supposed all new transmission ...I was driving back from lunch in heavy traffic and my car again locked up...I say locked up because it Tried to come to a stop in the middle of the road ....I do not remember any noise from tires the only thing I know in that split second is that I thought the world came down on me ...A car slammed me in the rear traveling 55 mph .....I could not speak for a long time ...I think I was in shock ..I don't know if the tire's lock or not ..I DO KNOW that the car tried to stop with no help from me ! What and how that happen's I have no clue ..but I will tell you ....you do NOT want that to happen ...Trust me!

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

I've had my transmission fail from the 2nd gear teeth chipping.

Did you take any action against Acura? Sucks to hear you got rear ended in the process.

fla-tls

mrsteve, the thing that causes the sudden downshifts is the clutch material building up in the hydraulic lines. Eventually some of the lines can clog and the transmission will not shift correctly.

The technician showed me one of the parts from my first transmission, and there was black goop all up in some of the hydraulic lines.

Sure, slipping is noticeably experienced by some, but sudden irratic shifts are also a sign of the dreaded "chronic acuratrannyitis."

Southern

And you still drive a TL? After the first experience with the trans locking up I wouldn't want to experience getting into another TL.

heehaaw

my good god. im sorry to hear that. i cant imagine how bloody scary that would be. and i cant believe it happened twice, and that someone rearended you the 2nd time. wow what an ordeal. i really think acura needs to do something about this transmission issue immediately, i mean like a huge recall, the mother of recalls or something, because someone is going to get killed really soon, if it continues. im really glad, especially after reading this post, that i had my transmission replaced before a lock up situation, but hey its the luck of the draw, it could have happened to me, and that scares the shit out of me.

anyway im glad youre ok, and i think you have a good law suit on your hands, not to say that you should milk them for $$$, but i surely think you deserve something for your trauma.

good luck.

Southern

Update:

I got my Acura back last Friday with a re-manufactured transmission (2nd trans since new). I noticed that the new trans seem tighter (due to the original trans had 83K miles) and the shifting was a bit different (due to the new PCM). I didn't fully test out the trans (hard acceleration) since I am treating it like breaking in a new car.

When I got home I checked the trans fluid level. The level was over the top fill mark by 1/4". I drained out 200ml of trans fluid which brought the level half way between the low and high fill marks.

I also noticed that I had a ATF fill plug on the top of the trans. I recalled that when my oil jet kit was installed on my first trans that it occupied the ATF fill plug. I call my Acura dealer and was told that I have the latest designed transmission and the oil jet kit is internal instead of external.

At this point I am satisified with the new transmission and plan on going easy on it for the next 1000 miles. I also plan on 15K miles trans fluid change intervals. This worked for my last Honda (1988 Accord LXi with 180K miles). The engine and trans were like new when I donated it.

That Girl

To the person who said ........................and you still drive a Tl ...that you would not get into another Acura.....

PRECISELY ...what I thought ..........But Acura swore to me that the TL had a totally new transmssion ..they told me that it was the transmission from their NSX model ...This goes way back in the story ,but many remember me stating this ..I bought it hook ,line a nd sinker... My anology was ...NO WAY would they tell me this under my circumstances' ..........And it made total sense that they would throw in the NSX tranny ,since their other design's were causing so many failure's similar to mine!


Imagine my panic when I learned that my new TL was part of the recall ...and NOW hearing that SO MANY transmission's are failing after recall ...BUT the worst of it is ..EVEN THE NEW TOTALLY REDESIGNED TRANNY'S WITH ALL FIXE'S ARE FAILING ...THe ones they are replacing that failed from the oil jet kit install !!! ... This is like the twilight zone ..it just can't be REAL... Yet it is!

alleyesonmeee

My transmission dropped in heavy traffic also...making three cars swerve crazy behind me trying not to hit me...Acura replaced my transmission and even though I asked them it this is a brand new transmission with the problem fixed on it, and they said yes, it's funny that the new transmissions already shifting bad. I would just bring it to another Acura dealer but I live in BFE and the closest dealerships are 80 - 150 miles away either direction. Would a NSX tranny actually fit into the TL?

heehaaw

hmm doesnt sound right to me that an NSX transmission would fit into a TL. i seriously doubt it, but hey, what do i know?

fsttyms1

ncxvtguy83......... yes they cover it up to 100k
valeo77 .... i replaced my tranny myself. after teh research i did, i found it wasnt worth spending the money on a rebuilt. none of them had a fix to the problem.
That Girl.... they did redesign the tranny on the 3rd gen. the 2nd gear shaft that over heats was redesigned. that isnt the major problem with our tranny. the 3rd gear clutch pack is the problem that 99% of the people who have had failures have had. making the 2% failure rate that honda has come up with for the 2nd gear shaft over heating correct. and no they didnt use the nsx tranny

Southern

fsttyms1,

When I was talking about trans failures with my Acura dealer, I mentioned about the third gear clutch pack going bad and the Acura dealer stated that its not just the third gear clutch pack its all the clutch packs that are toast.

fsttyms1

from talking to about 6 different trans rebuilders its the 3rd gear clutch pack that leads to the failures

nick04tl

well they did update the ecu to try and help the slipping situation.

Ianbiz3

FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily

Never buy american, its land of the great, but home of the shittiest cars around.