Help - Difference Between 03-05 and 06-07 Accord Transmission?
 

I read about people saying they used 06-07 Accord transmissions in their 04-07 TL and just changing out the range position sensor. Virtually all of these JDM transmissions are saying they are compatible with 03-07 Accords and early 3rd Gen TL's. I have a 2005 TL. Does anyone know the difference between the 03-05 and 06-07 Accord V6 transmission? The ones I'm looking at on e-Bay are Honda code MRDA and look identical to the 06-07 Accord transmission. Are there any differences? If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it. I need to know before I get this transmission.

While I do not know the internal differences, externally and functionally, all of the Gen 7 Accord 5-Speed automatics are the same, and very similar to the 2004-2006 5-Speed units in the TL. The 2006-2007 Accord V6 5-Speed autos carry a code of BAYA to distinguish them from the earlier units, and are considered by many to be a superior and much more robust transmission.

Thanks! So the following transmission will work on my 2005 TL after switching over the range sensor:

JDM 03-07 Honda Accord V6 Automatic Transmission J30A 3.0L 04-07 Acura TL MRDA

I know the listing says it's compatible, but I would like to be 100% sure before giving them the money. FYI I called them and they said they would do $950 shipped over the phone. Part of that is likely not paying 12% or so in e-Bay fees and I'm shipping it to my office 500 miles away (business address) vs the New England states about 1500 miles away.

No, I would avoid the MRDA at all cost, go with a BAYA transmission:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-2004-2...sid=m570.l1313

So you are saying the MRDA will not work on the TL? If it does work then is there something inherently wrong with the MRDA? I don't see how it could really be worse than the TL 3.1G transmission. They show it has 64k miles and looks really good.

The BAYA you linked to is more than double the price and doesn't include any of the sensors/solenoids. I really don't want to throw that much into the car since the book value is maybe $5k?

Both transmissions will work, but transmissions other than the BAYA are considered "glass" transmissions due to their inherent nature to grenade at the most inopportune time. You're call, but if I was driving a 3G TL with a bad tranny, ain't no way in hell I'd opt for anything else but a BAYA.

I see. Then do you think I would be better off with the MRDA transmission with 64k miles or a BAYA with 90-120k miles? I've found some used BAYA's with some more miles for about the same price.

:squint:

IMO: my sentiments exactly! You may want to check out a couple of other suppliers: TRY car-part.com and Hollander Used Parts. you should be able to source an 06-07 BAYA under 100k transmission for the same price. I would also recommend locating a transmission from a car HIT IN THE SIDE, OR THE REAR!

"JDM transmissions are saying they are compatible with 03-07 Accords"
Someone recently posted that they purchased one of these transmissions and later learned it was not the better 06-07 version.

Thanks guys. I found a transmission about 150 miles away with 94k miles and got them down from $1000 to $850. The car was his on the driver side door and has a 3 month warranty. I'll pick up the transmission next Saturday morning and maybe start tearing the TL apart in the afternoon. It certainly can't be worse than swapping a transmission on a 3000GT VR-4 and I can almost do one of those in my sleep. Can anyone here tell me which sensor is the range sensor that I need to swap?

Also beyond changing the transmission filter and filling it with Honda DW-1 ATF, are there any suggestions for other things I should do to it while it's out? This is my first Honda and I've had VERY few automatic cars in the 20 years I've been driving.

I'll keep you all updated!

Does anyone have a suggestion for a new torque converter? I'm sure the one that's in it still works, but while the transmission is out it might be a good idea to put a new/rebuilt one in. One that is as good or better than OEM? I've seen the Level 10, but I'm not racing the car so $500 for that is a bit excessive.

Update: I got a call from the auto salvage company regarding the transmission. Somehow there was water in it so I'm obviously not going pick it up. I found another one with 43k miles for $1075 shipped and a 6 month warranty. In the mean time I'll start taking the TL apart and getting it ready for the transmission to arrive. With that kind of mileage I'm not even going to worry about the torque converter.

I had the BAYA transmission rebuilt on my 07 Accord V6 back in April of this year. You can reuse the same torque converter if the metal is not blued from an overheating incident, but you need to get the torque converter clutch rebuilt while it's out. That's not something you can do yourself, need a transmission shop for that. Also, the fault in these transmission, which applies to previous gen Odyssey, Pilot, Accord, TL, CL, and MDX, is all in the valve body design. I had mentioned this in numerous threads here before. The OEM valve body causes fluid to seep out the channels designed to cool the torque converter when the car is at idle. You need to upgrade the valve body or that trans will fail some time in the future especially if you drive heavy traffic a lot. I had the problem fixed by upgrading the valve body using translab shift kit, Superior STL-HO5-388 | Superior Transmission Parts - The problem solvers of the transmission industry . Depending on the frequency of the fluid changed on the one you got, it can fail as soon as within 100k miles. This trans needs to have the fluid changed every 15k miles or you are looking at an early failure, due to the aformentioned flaw in the trans. I ran all original components up until 280k miles then the torque converter clutch wore out. You also need an external trans cooler installed to alleviate the heat in its OEM form.

Do you know the size of the stock transmission lines? I'm going to get a beefy external transmission cooler with a fan. I'm guessing it would be a -6 AM fitting (3/8") for a little Honda FWD transmission. If it's a -8 AN (1/2") I would be surprised, but I'd rather get it right the first time. I tried searching and can't find the answer yet.

You use 3/8" hose but no cooler will help that transmission unless you get the valve body fixed by a trans shop. I had already run the cooler for over 100k miles. You should not upgrade the hard lines to larger diameter either because it'll slow down the flow of fluid which causes more severe cooling issue. The same effect happens on a very large cooler, it slows down fluid flow and causes the overheat problem even worse.

https://www.sonnax.com/tech_resource...honda-overheat

My BAYA transmission with 43k miles arrived today at my office today. I started pulling the car apart last night. Most of the "top end" things are done. I'll work on getting things town apart in the evenings this week and hopefully have it swapped out over the weekend. Apparently the shift kit isn't an easy task to install and requires a total teardown of the transmission, at least that's what I got from a local shop that has rebuilt a lot of these before and installed the kits. I got a quote of $600 labor. I'll just run this one with a cooler and keep my BDGA on the side.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...131f2565de.jpg

Yes, you need to tear open the trans, remove the valve body and bore it out with a drill bit then fit in the new plunger, new springs, and end plugs. That's the fix. No frequent fluid changes or pressure switch changes help. I did all that and made it last until 275k miles.

How did your transmission swap go? I have an 03 accord and I am replacing the transmission with an 07. Did you have to change the range position sensor or anything else?

You need to swap the drive plate. The 06/07 Accord V6 trans does not bolt on to the 03-05 drive plate properly. Has been done on driveaccord.net

Transmission swap went fine. The car is up and running again with the BAYA transmission. Everything bolted up just like the original transmission.

You like?

I like that the car drives again if that's what you mean. It's still an automatic and not a dual-clutch, so there's still that, but it's a solid daily driver.

That's pretty much what I mean...


Notice any difference in how it drives?


I hear the gear ratios are a little different...

There are no differences in V6 transmission gear ratios; where did you hear that?

The TransLab kit is definitely worth it, had it done when my transmission was rebuilt. Shifts so much better, quick shifts without being harsh. 37k miles on the rebuild now, no issues.

Did it work for your tl?

Help with choosing the right transmission Acura TL (3G) 2004
 

Good afternoon. I want to clarify on the body of the automatic transmission. 03-05 Accord V6 has 21210-RAY-305 will it fit? Looked at a lot of data here for example.

https://www.oregonperformancetransmi...T-BAYA-RB.html

The set differs by year of release. I want to buy the correct automatic transmission, help me with the choice.

Look at your transmission numbers? 06-07 Accord has numbers 21210-RAY-306? Thanks.

Help with choosing the right transmission Acura TL (3G) 2004
 

Good afternoon. I want to clarify on the body of the automatic transmission. 03-05 Accord V6 has 21210-RAY-405 will it fit? Looked at a lot of data here for example.

https://www.oregonperformancetransmi...T-BAYA-RB.html

The set differs by year of release. I want to buy the correct automatic transmission, help me with the choice.

Look at your transmission numbers? 06-07 Accord has numbers 21210-RAY-306? Thanks.