Changed transmission fluid to Max Life 2X3 and shifting improve
 

Bought this car at auction - Acura TL S 2003. Transmission had rough shifting from 2 to 3 and when warm up a lot from 1 to 2 and in general rough operating. Changed fluid to Max Life 2X3 and everything improve. I have code P1730 for 3 clutch pressure switch but it wasn't only problem. As look right now transmission in very good. Way to go Valvoline.

Edit as do not exist inoriginal message - car is 206K and transmission look relatively new. It is not original.

Define "Rough Shifting" the only issue you can be feeling between 2nd and 3rd is the Dreaded Transmission Slip.

When start car go good from first to second but if I keep pedal pressed mid strength tranny wasn't capable shift from 2 to 3 unless I take pressure of gas pedal. Now is much better. Not perfect but good enough. Plus when tranny was hot I felt some light grinding when in 4 and 5.

Yep that sounds like a trans that is about to go belly up... I would not celebrate just yet.. An ATF Change usually helps as a band aid for some time but what you are describing is typical: Trans is about to die scenario.

That is most possible scenario. Time will show. Will post here if and when something happen with tranny.

Hope it keeps running! time to give the AV6 Swap Thread a look if you are planning on keeping the car.

Would you prefer the AV6 to the CL6?

Nope.. But the CL6 is a completely different animal in terms of retrofitting and $$$$
The AV6 wins in ease of installation and price.

Nice. That answers my question for that. The only other question I would have is if it were wise to use an AV6 6MT and put your LSD from the auto transmission in it. I personally think it is not too bad since they seem to swap out easily. I am planning on doing an av6 6mt swap in 2017 or 18 (depending on tax return) and going to try to tap the bellhousing and put the secondary crank sensor on it. It seems like it would be cheaper to fund that but at the same time I am wondering if I should just throw it into a av6 auto so I wouldn't have to worry about the ecu swap. Time will tell I guess.

I sincerely cannot say if you can do that BUT the Automatic Trans does not have an LSD.. It relies on VSA (Only on Type-S) to control wheel spin at speed the TL-p is Screwed with TCS (Which only works at low speed). I think the 3rd gen TL AUTO did have an LSD but not the 2nd Gen TL and the AV6 AUTO does not have an LSD Either.

Did last one of 3X3. Even auto part store guy notice how my tranny fluid was dirty even I did 2X3 past week. Lets go hope it is how it go. New fluid stay at top and old go at bottom and do not mix with old.

3x3 does not mean it will be 100% changed to sparkling new fluid it all depends on the current ATF Condition.
If you do the math after the 3x3 it should be around 75% new fluid as the transmission hold 9 quarts total but we must count dilution in the mix so the first 1x3 will be really diluted by the dirty ATF.

When I did my AV6 Swap I did a full 3x3 and even after that the fluid wasn´t cherry red like I liked to.. I did another 3x3 and that did the trick.
I think that is more difficult to do a single time 3x3 when the transmission has been neglected, When you have been keeping up with maintenance the 3x3 does bring back that cherry red color we all like.

Yeah drain and fills has to be done quite a bit to totally clean out the old fluid as already noted. Also not sure if the maxlife brand had anything to do with it than just new ATF going in...Honda OEM would've been good too. Keep us updated on the situation. This is the risk of some auto auctions....

Evidently code that I have is P1739, 9 not 0. Wrote by mistake. Shifting is good for now. I brought an used 3rd pressure switch and installed before 4 days but have code still always. Probably will buy new one.

Work on that final 3x3 so you get sparkling cherry ATF.

Well why I put in Maxi life? I had Infiniti I30 that I sold with 237K at it and original transmission. So as I read that max life is compatible with tl tranny I went that route. Did read that big tread in G3 about fluid F. Not sold to much. I like slippery situation in my tranny.

No more code P1739 to. I did replace 3rd pressure switch albeit was't necessary as previous owner just disconnect connector from 3rd PS and didn't connect back from some reason. Replacement of 3rd PS improved shifting slightly (2-3). Replacement of old fluid improve shifting a lot.

One year latter transmission work perfectly. No any problem with shifting. Every machine improve behavior when fall in hand of good ol' bbsitum. Actually if I would not stumble at this tread while seeking my audio thread would not know that I ever had any problem with transmission. It is as is right now. Can transmission fail again? Possible time will show. Here something to think about -
---"I worked 20 years at the biggest trucking co. in the us as a diesel mechanic , and we had to change transmissions and differentials on a frightening high rate until we started using synthetic gear lube, after that we nearly had to close the rebuild shop because we didnt have the business. Also we started using synthetic blend motor oil and doubled the oil change interval to 25000 miles, that's not a typo, we also went from 350,000 trade in intervals to over 1,000,000 trade in interval ask Yellow freight i have been retired since 95 so some things could have changed but I'm telling it like it was"---

Nice!! hope it keeps running for many years to come.

Well 2 years 8 months and 50K transmission work like clock. I think key is in above that I quote. SYNTHETIC.

How much total fluid did you remove in the 2 years and 50k only the 2x3 6 quarts?

Edit I meant 3x3 9qts in 2 years 50k

^^^ Yes it is all that I did. 3X3 in 10/2016. Didn't touch after it. Maybe will do next year 3X3, after 80K.

Well He is right. Probably will do 3X3 this fall.

^^^ Well winter 2020 it happen in cold weather 0F and below - I would start car and go and at first stop transmission would be in neutral even shift would be in D5. I would have to throw back to Neutral and to D5 couple time to get into gear again. Beside that no one problem, car would warm up and tranny would work good. This year I had exactly same problem in second half of October. Temperature was around 30F day and night. Mean much more than 0F from past winter when that problem happened. At top of it I had problem a few times when would guess tranny was in 2nd or 3th gear and has problem to engage. Did this week 3X3 and everything look good again. After job Monday to Wednesday did 1X3 and than in evening drove to bar.
That said this week is much warmer, around 70F. Will tranny act again in colder weather will see next week when will be 30F again. Conclusion is Max Life last 70K in this tranny.

This is from another tread of this forum
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Here is what I learned in my experience. The transmission issue seems to be an actuator problem, where the computer doesn't tell the tranny to "shift" so it goes into neutral for a second or two or five...(especially when the car is COLD). You can easily destroy your transmission by continuing to accelerate while it is in neutral, and you will feel a BANG when it finally engages... THIS action is what is hurting your transmission. Since TL's have AUTOSTICK on them, all you need to do is manually shift it when it is cold.(typically for the first 20 miles or so). Shift it and WAIT for it to engage the transmission, and then continue driving normally. If you don't give it gas during the shift it won't hurt the transmission.
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I did once when Stick was in D5 and tranny didn't engage swift to R and I had loud bang. So that is not good as is not good to accelerate as that guy above said.
However I do not think it is electrical problem. From my experience it is hydraulic problem and changing of ATF solve problem. It did so in 2016 will se if will work again.

Winter 2017, 18 and 19 I didn't have any problem with tranny driving in cold weather. 1/29/19 was -23F and I did drive around without tranny lagging. Remember that night because did hit hole and tire exploded. So I had to replace tire at -40F (wind chilly factor).

Thanks dude, I'll try maxlife next time. Sounds very promising :)