guyenacurazine

my 2002 tl-s is approaching 220K miles this year and now last few days, i think i am feeling the tranny is starting to shift harder.

Last time it was replaced was on 130k, so based on the schedule:
120,000 miles (192,000 km) or 72 months, then every
90,000 miles (144,000 km) or 60 months
it looks like it is just about time.

I am wondering how much they charge these days at the dealer or indie shops? For the big job like this, I'd go for dealer, as last time they offered 6 months warranty on the repair.

I am thinking to go further to see how far it can also go. Has anyone blow past the 90,000miles recommended schedules to see how far it can go without changing?

Thanks.,

SuperGreg

Changing fluid? Or are you treating the whole tranny as a maintenance item to change every 90K? LOL.

If you want your tranny to last you should be changing the fluid out once a year IMO.

02tlnate

Change the fluid, change the filter and add Lubeguard platinum aft protectant. I bet you you it will smooth out your shifts

guyenacurazine

well, i am assuming the tranny is going to south once i change the fluid, so i mixed up all that and i am bracing for that. that is what happened last time. this would be the 4th time it will be replaced

02tljj

The crankshaft bolt is by far the hardest thing to remove on my TL. I have given up on air tools and bought the Milwaukee 2763-20 1100 ft/lbs. impact wrench. Even that too is a hit or a miss. I managed to remove 3 out of 5 2nd gen TLs at the junkyard with zero problems. Axle nuts popped off without a blinking an eye. I wish I bought this cordless impact wrench sooner! This impact wrench is a beast! My 450 ft/lbs IR air impact wrench is useless now.

That said, I tried removing my crankshaft bolt for 5+ mins. The 5 amp battery went down to 50% and the impact wrench shut off due to over heating protection of the tool or the battery. The deep drive 19mm impact socket got so hot, it burnt my hand when I touched it!

I heated the bolt for 30 seconds with bernzomatic blow torch and the bolt broke free without any effort. The head of the bolt looked like it went through war. I don't see a problem using it again but I had a spare bolt in hand from the junkyard.

I bought the lisle harmonic socket remover from amazon. It's due to arrive tomorrow but I just finished my timing belt change today. lol

I bought the Gates kit and some seals. I ended up not changing the cam shaft seals but I did change the crankshaft seal even though it looked mint. There is an oil leak somewhere that I wanted to address but it wasn't the crankshaft seal. It's not coming from the cam seals and I think it's coming from the area above the oil filter.

I have a 2002 TL with 170,000 kms (with 2007 AV6 swap when it was at 157,000kms). Original timing belt and it literally looks brand new.

musiclevelz5

Have you considered putting an AV6 transmission in? You would only do it once and not worry about it anymore.

If you want to get it rebuilt again your looking at 1200 for a cheap job up to 2400+ for a higher price.

guyenacurazine

Yes I did. In fact last year's I ordered av6 tranny from local store in San Jose but they just blew up in order and got it refunded. If there is a reputable shop with proven track record in North cali area I am willing to drive but I gave up trying to deal with shady establishments. Or Alternatively I take a chance at fluid change at dealer and on worst scenario have it replaced one me again and if it goes another 5 years /as it did previous 5 years/ then 5 years from now on i'd say I am done with the car and just give up on this one.

guyenacurazine

If i read it correctly or remember correctly from maintenance schedule, tranny fluid was to be changed @ 120k and after that 90k miles?? I dont think that translates to once a year.

musiclevelz5

Acuras direct service intervals have widely been known for some time now to be age old and incorrect especially for the schedule of fluid changes on these types of cars.

Almost everyone who has an automatic changes their fluid out once a year or even sooner than that. Some change it out along with the engine oil.

Time to get with the times.

Midnight Mystery

So, people really do treat transmissions as maintenance items, like tires... It's sad because that's the only way to go sometimes...

If you can feel it, it's already beyond fixing and needs replacement...

This may not always be the case, but it seems to be spot on most of the time...

My grandfather just replaced the transmission in his '99 F-350 Dooley truck, 191,000 miles, and a lot of pulling horse trailers, and a Dragster Tractor...

He said it started shifting wrong and slipping a little in about February...

SuperGreg

LOL... If you want to blow your Honda tranny, that's how you do it.

thoiboi

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...-story-946366/


Preventative maintenance for the win ^

guyenacurazine

i took to the honda dealership today and the lady at the service used to work at acura. i told my story about after changing oil tranny got broke and what she told me was that you do not want to flush your tranny instead just change the oil and filter. i can not recall whether this was a complete flush when it broke down. emailed mcdavid acura in austin tx where it happened and asked about it, provided my vin number and requested to lookup the service record whether that was complete flush, the guy named Jackie Boone emails me back then based on the reply he provided he appears to be cutting his corner and covering his base: he would not say definite things and just kept saying we did some fluid change. I am going to look back at my service records to see how they did it.

guyenacurazine

it has not shifted wrong yet but every once a while in the morning while it is cold, i think it hesitates to shift and stay in lower gear till 3k rpm. normally it starts shifting to higher gear around 2k rpm. Saying that I am just going to install another brand new tranny. At least it served well for last 5 years with nothing changed . Asssuming the tranny replacement cost about 2k$, that boils down to about 400$/yr, it is kinda soso expense, not terribly but not cheap either.

MilwaukeeDave

iTrader: (3)

so you're saying changing the fluid is bad??? Because it's definitely not. Would you say changing engine oil is bad?

guyenacurazine

the reason i havent changed this many times if because it failed after the change, not due to neglection. I'd rather take a chance and go without changing since it is slow death than quicker death.

Midnight Mystery

So it's death regardless, just let it die in peace instead of messing with it, makes since...

So if someone wants a TL like this they need a good maintenance nest-egg...

In reply to the last post, if it's shifting wrong (at all), it's already on its way out in most cases...

Midnight Mystery

I think what he's trying to say is disturbing the transmission in any way is a risk...

musiclevelz5

The theory behind changing the fluid after it has not been changed in forever goes like this....

1. Clutch material mainly from the third clutch slowly breaks down and finds its way in every spot it can in the transmission.

2. After 60k+ miles the owner wants to finally change trans fluid because he forgot about it for 5 years and feels bad.

3. New fluid with its primed cleaners wreak havoc on the lodged particles causing a huge particle tornado in the transmission.

4. All the newly dislodged particles go straight into the filter causing it to clog extremely fast resulting in zero line pressure.

4. Two months later owner blames fluid for transmission failing when in fact it has been failing the entire time but very slowly.

guyenacurazine

spot on.

MilwaukeeDave

iTrader: (3)

Changing the fluid isn't a disturbance. It's maintenance.

pwehmeier

Lubegard platinum atf protectant? I thought we were supposed to keep everything away except the honda dw1 itself?

Midnight Mystery

To do anything but drive it like normal is a threat to these transmissions... And even then, it still dies young...

Midnight Mystery

Honda fluid in a Honda transmission only...

SuperGreg

Maybe. Mine started acting up really bad at around 170,000 miles. All the usual lights on the dash, RPMs jumping all over the place. I made it back home, and tried changing the fluid. Took it for another drive and it wasn't much better, changed the fluid again and things smoothed out. I changed the fluid three more times with about a week or two in between each drain/fill, and changed the filter. The tranny then made it to 206,000 where it crapped the bed on Friday . I knew it was coming, I've just been waiting for it. Honestly I wish it would have gone sooner, it was hard to justify buying a new tranny and putting it in just because I suspected the old one was going to go any time.

guyenacurazine

So I got a quote from South Bay Honda in Milpitas CA and quoted saying 5800$ with 3000$ for tranny itself? I was like really are you shitting me the car is not even worth that much? Not only that, few years back, it costed me less than 2000$ total labor and parts and cancelled appt. The guy still has guts to ask me whether I wanted to do a diagnosis to see if it is really a tranny. and that would be like 170$.
Unless I found something around 1500$ range or lower, I'd just better off buying another car.

guyenacurazine

update this week I went to chevy and just purchased volt 13 @ 16.5k with 40000 miles. it is amazing and technologywise light years ahead of my 02 tl-s. 40 something miles on full charge and 37 mpg afterward. i traded my poor 02 tl-s for 1100$ I am happy to get rid of it. well in the end how my experienced driving my tl-s, I think it has been so so experience : tranny anxiety, I never been able to get the sound system working since it has locked up one time it lost the battery charge and persistent electrical problem with the interior lightings. well what do I say it is 14 yrs old. I am just going to see how volt last. I was spending about 200$ on gas plus 50$ on insurance. with volt, 250$ on finance payment and 100$ on insurance if I won't go anywhere else other than commute /unlikely scenario/ than gas cost will be zero so it is just 100$ increase and I d say it is hugely worth since it has kinda all hi tech stuff that makes it incredibly convenient: USB port, bluetooth, remote control, push button start, unlock lock car without key, still learning all the features.
I ll come back here from time to time for dejavu experience if anyone has question regarding purchase of volt I ll happily assist. imho after considering several plug in and Ev-s I.e. leaf, Prius, tesla and some hybrid SUVs volt was obvious winner.