MOBB

Ok so i own a 2003 TL Type-S, It was on its original transmission since May 2009. In May the Car threw a CEL . I brought the car immediately to the dealership and the tech confirmed that the code was a P0740 he wrote down that the code was a TC Clutch system failure. He also mentioned that the trans had a late upshift in all gears and whines, and after the code was reset it came back on. Verdict Replace transmission.

He then replaced the tranny along with the ECM and the front motor mount. I was scared since my warranty was expired because I had 10 000km km over the limit and 3 weeks past the due date. The dealer called me that day and said that they would do a goodwill and pay 100% for the tranny and motor mount. I was happy as sh*t and couldn't thank them enough.

So i got my new tranny and its shifts so smooth and just feels slot better than my old one did. So heres the problem last week while cruising on the highway at about 60mph the car threw a CEL VSA along with the ! light. I turned off the car the VSA and ! light turned off but the CEL remained on. I drove down to my local mechanic got it scanned and it came of as a "P0740 TORQUE CONVERTER SOLENOID".

I was stumped because my tranny is brand new and ONLY has 5000 Miles on it, so I drove to the dealership and they hassled me right away saying that there is no more warranty left on the tranny and the 1year 12k warranty only applied if I paid for the replacement trans. And if the tranny needed replacement it would be 100% my out of my pocket. I visited another dealer and same thing, No sympathy. They were going to charge me for a diagnostic fee and everything from there on.

I don't understand because my tranny shifts just like it did in May and there is no signs of failure nor any symptoms. I just have this p0740 TC solenoid CEL on, I dunno what to do can I file a case?? Maybe the tranny was defective from Honda, please help i dunno what to do.

gold2003tl (90)

your tranny is fine, it seems to be that your torque converter solenoid is bad which can be replaced. someone else should chime in to give more info.

MOBB

What exactly does this soleniod do?? Can I do any harm by just leaving it like this?

MOBB

EDIT- I Got the CODES wrong, It just came out as Toqure System clutch failure.

gold2003tl (90)

torque system clutch failure sounds like a bigger problem

fsttyms1

Contact Acura Client Services. The trans is defective,the problem is is like they said, good willed trans they dont have to offer warranty on them. I would contact them and see if they will help out at all

russianDude

damn, another post 2005 feb tranny dies, only 5000 miles? its messed up.

01tl4tl

call 1-800-382-2238 x5 customer care-
ask for a claim file to be opened and a real manager to contact you
Have all info on past visits ready for when a manager from acura calls you back

mention acurazine and only 5000 miles on rebuilt trans... that you would have paid $300 for the 3/36 or even as 12/12 if they had offered it...as you read happens most of the time for others

01tl4tl

ignore any negative info or opinion from the person answering the 800 phone- they are not managers- just read from the book of NO!

phee

iTrader: (5)

my goodwill tranny had a 3/36 warranty on it from acura. and it was done after the milage point

russianDude

what you guys think, 5000 miles should be defect/bad installation?

gold2003tl (90)

ehh this makes me worry, i just had mine replaced.

russianDude

mine was replaced couple month ago. I think 5000 is a defect or bad install, even original trannies hold more, so this can't be normal expectancy.

gold2003tl (90)

i hope so, my original held up pretty long, and my rebuilt one seems to be better built. i hope i can get another 80k out of my car.

wichitaone

My 2003 CLS just got its second tranny a couple weeks ago. First one lasted to 117k miles. The dealer would only give me 50% goodwill because my vehicle was supposedly not "affected" according to the extended warranty. Mine threw 3 trans codes...P0740, P0780, and another. Now I have a trans with a 3yr/36k warranty.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

OK your replacement trans get 3/36 in the states not sure in canada ..
When they put a new transmission is they reUSE EVERYTHING that is not attached to the transmission.. They reuse all the solonids





How long ago was your tranny replaced?
IF it was recently the might have misdiagnosed the problem (which was a bad soliniod not the whole tranny) and replaced the transmission and used all the soliniods.
They put the bad soliniod in the good transmiision causeing the P0740 code to pop back up... This is unacceptable, they should have tested the soliniods first before blaming the whole tranny!

fsttyms1

Shit happens. All it takes is for one solenoid to fail and you have a problem. Exact same thing could happen to a "New" trans. This isnt normal expectancy.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Ref# 33 in the first pic is the soliniods that need to be replaced for a P0740 code.
They are 2 soliniods ref #6 and #11 in the first pic.. this pic


I think those are the soliniods that need to be changed out for code P0740 I gotta double check tommorrow though if you need me to..
I know for a fact that acura re-uses the soliniods when the swap trannies to save on $$ and in my case they even swapped a dirty ATF external filter..

Acura might try to screw you and get you to pay for the soliniods which is a few hundred$$ but I would just tell them firmly that they should have swapped and tested those 2 soliniods b4 they changed the whole transmission out!!

I am in the car buesness and was in the tech/service writer part of it so I know what goes on at DLRS the tech never checked that they just got the OK from acura for the goodwill and since the goodwill pays them more then the soliniods they just went and replaced the whole tran and never really fixed the problem!!

I bet you never needed a new trans just a new soliniod!!

Here is my thread on some info about the trans!!!
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/here-some-info-2g-cl-tl-transmission-atf-filter-change-solenoids-ect-739205/
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=739205

MOBB

Well, I've been driving the car for the past 2 days everything seems fine, Im gonna go back to Acura tommorow and really tell them it isnt acceptable for a transmission to last 5000 miles, even if its a solenoid the rebuilt trannies should be free of problems.

I dont mind if the trans is defective, as long as they take care of it on their part I just dont understand and they can give me a new tranny, and then fail 5000 miles later and expect me to pay for everything.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Mobb When they reused your old soliniods in your new transmission and one of the soliniods was bad then that would cause a cel to come.On even if it was a. Brand new tranny. So yes a bad soliniod can cause a new transmission to throw codes and even sloppy shifts!

TheMightyQuinn

I'm pretty sure this won't help, but I'll share since I had a similar problem.

5k miles after Acura put in a new transmission in my 2002 TL-S I got a P1753 fail code. The dealership replaced the solenoid and harness assembly for free, telling me this is the only free work they'll give me on the transmission. That was 40k miles ago.

russianDude

Let us know what dealer tells you. Hopefully its just a bad solenoid.

MOBB

I brought my car back today and the service manager took good care of the situation, he took in the car for a diagnostic scan free of charge he told me to leave the car there and if it turns out the tranny is faulty they will take care of the problem. They even paid for a rental a 2009 Ford Flex. I'm supposed to get a phone call from them today before 5pm and their decision with my car. Ill let you guys now ASAP whats happening.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

If it has anything to do with the tranny they MUST take care of it..
Every replacement part gets at least a year 12k warrenty and call acura corp if they dont wanna help you.. Every DLR i worked at must give u a 12/12 warrenty on ALL replacement parts!

russianDude

So, whats the verdict from the dealer, we would like to know

UWgrad

Any updates Mobb?

UWgrad

StonedCL, I just ordered solenoids #10 and #11 (1 each) do I need two of each? Also I'm going to change out these two parts before buying the lock-up solenoid set which costs around 270$

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Is your car throwing a check engine light code?
If so what code is it?
Let me know and I will look in the helms manual and let you know what soleniods it says to replace..

UWgrad

I just checked the helms manual, and it says I only need one of each. I think the diagram above is from the 98-02 Accord. I got the P0740 code also. The parts just arrived today, I'll let you guys know if I notice any difference after the install. This is the second transmission on the car, but the solenoids probably came off of the original transmission.

UWgrad

I just checked the helms manual, and it says I only need one of each. I think the diagram above is from the 98-02 Accord. I got the P0740 code also. The parts just arrived today, I'll let you guys know if I notice any difference after the install. This is the second transmission on the car, but the solenoids probably came off of the original transmission.

I_Need_One

Hello, MOBB. What was the outcome?

MIYAKUZA

I have a question.

When you said your tranny upshifts late, is that solely the tranny that went out?

The reason I ask is because my tranny has been upshifting late lately and its been getting annoying. I just did the 105k service and it hasnt changed much.

Can anyone help me out as well? I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

MOBB

Well the outcome was that they agreed to "GOODWILL" the tranny for the 2nd time. I was at 190 000 Kilometers at the time. I watched the service tech as he tried to diagnose my trans he ran the computer found NO DTC's. He tested all solenoids and all of them clicked and were functioning. He reset the system then took the car for a drive and got the P0740 CEL light on again. He was fed up and just wrote a bunch of crap on the report, and he couldn't get the tranny to mimic the late up shift. I have no Clue as to why my tranny after 5k miles threw that code but shifted so nicely.

The only gripe I had was under WOT when the car would bounce of the rev limiter once and then engage in gear very smoothly in gears 1>2, and 2>3.

MOBB

Well the feeling I had was if I was in SS, and floored it WOT and forgot to shift so the car would bounce of the rev limiter once, and the engage in gear very smoothly. This wasn't an abrupt or harsh shift, just annoying.

Also another thing once the tranny was replaced a second time, the CEL came back on while the tech was test driving it. He found that there was a corroded transmission speed sensor wire, and noted that the battery ground cable was corroded as well. He replaced the wires and all is good im at 6k miles now and all is good. Maybe the wires were the issue and not the tranny??

I really don't know what they did since they didn't give me any paper work, the only paperwork I saw was an order for a new tranny.

01tl4tl

and you wonder why you got a `bum` transmission???????????
try not running it to redline in low gears!

Especially when just freshly rebuilt- give the parts time to get bedded in

Everyone should ask the service manager exactly what the warranty is on their cars replacement parts

01tl4tl

probably a good idea for all us gen2s to replace the battery cables-based on age

ground is all important to these cars!

MOBB

Well I had to test the tranny, I babied it the first 4.5k miles then ran it WOT and found it had a stutter (late upshift) in low gears. If I hadnt have known id still be stuck with a crappy trans. I have a feeling the tranny wasnt the issue since they found a corroded tranny speed sensor wire, and a bad (corroded) battery ground cable.

MIYAKUZA

I think I might have that same problem. Do you know what exactly causes it?

MOBB

No, but I'm assuming a tranny speed sensor or a bad ground since that was replaced I've haven't had that problem again. But then again they replaced the tranny so I dont know what corrected the problem.

MIYAKUZA

I see. Thank you for the help!