sstearns2

Our 99 TL started leaking trans fluid at about 30K miles. We took it to the dealer and they found the case had cracked causing the fluid leak. We got a new trans. Hope this one makes it for longer than 30K. The 90 legend we traded in had 125K miles with no problems at all so we're pretty disapointed with Acura. Maybe it will be a Lexus next time.

Scott

AcuraTL

Cracked? This is the first I've heard that the case was cracked. It was probably cracked from an impact to an object rather than the tranny failed by itself.

sstearns2

Yeah, I'm not sure if I buy that the case was cracked, but that is what the dealer said when they replaced the trans. It still shifted fine as long as the fluid was full. We never hit anything to my knowledge. I can't imagine something hitting the trans hard enough to crack it and not doing any other damage, leaving an obvious mark, or being very apparent to the driver.

My theory is that had a leaky gasket or something and we let the fluid get a little low and it would shift a little hard when cold. We topped off the trans and it was fine. We told the dealer it shifted hard sometimes and they may have assumed it was one of the problem transmissions and replaced it.

We'll never know for sure though. I wish I could have seen the original trans after they pulled it.

Scott

12V Guy

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, but felt very compelled to share my story. I bought a smoking hot white TL type S late in 2001. I loved the car, awesome to drive, lightning fast.

We'll my first issue came about 22K miles. The tranny began slipping into neutral and then dropping into second. The traction control, D5, and Trac Control Off lights flashed and finally stayed on. I took to dealership, but they claimed no knowledge of any issue. They replaced the soloniods in the tranny and sent me on my way 1 week later.

A very short time later, the exact same thing happened. This time is was driving on freeway and the front wheels locked up and I was very lucky the car behind me was able to notice the rapid reduction in speed without any brake lights and avoid me. Again into the dealer, this time the reluctantly agreed to replace my entire tranny. (This is tranny #2)

The car again drove like brand new and was a thing of beauty. However, over time, I began to notice the small signs that the tranny was going to fail again. For example, the upshifts become less fluid and even jerky. The car also tries to shift up and down when you are stopped ata light. In any case, I have 4 small kids and no desire to die, so back to dealership.
To their credit, they replaced the tranny again, no questions asked. (This is tranny #3).

Addionally, about 3 months later as part of regular service, they told me they needed to replace the PCM (powertrain control module, TCU, ECU, etc.) becuase Acura had "better" software. Turns out the new PCM created a very noticable performance reduction and the car is not nearly as fun to drive now. But hey, I'm thinking, "At least I'll live".

Well, just a few days ago (about 65K miles on car) same exact situation happened again. I noticed all the warning signs, but I'm thinkning maybe those aren't warning signs, just the way the car is supposed to shift. Silly me...... on freeway again, slip into neutral and then drop into 2nd or 3rd. Once again, VERY close call with car behind me, lucky!!!

Car is in shop now for 4th tranny and another PCM.

I love my Acura so the reason for this post is to repsctfully tell the Acura techs who post here that while I do think Acura dealer network and service folks are doing the best they can with a bad situation, if Honda/Acura does not do something more aggressive, sooner or later someone is going to be hurt or killed and that IMHO will be a tragedy that could/should have been avoided at all costs.

When I get the car back my wife is forcing me to get rid of it.

AcuraTL

When was the #3 tranny replaced? I heard that Acura had finally resolved the issue with their current trannys. I am glad you shared your story with the board, you might want to look into the Lemon Law in your state because this is the 4th time Acura is trying to fix the same problem and they should do something extra for you. Good luck. Keep us updated.

12V Guy

I did look into the Lemon Law, but as I understand it because the first incident of the problem accured at about 24K miles, I cannot make a claim in CA under the law. The law indicates (I may not understand it fully) that the first incident must occur within 18K miles.

The third tranny was replaced about 6-9 months ago (I think, haven't pulled out paperwork lately). I am not in the process of contacting the BBB Auto Hotline to see what they suggest I do. I get the car back tomorrow. Fingers crossed.....

AcuraTL

You might want to contact Acura Client Service and see what they can do for you. Having 4 tranny replaced is not normal.

12V Guy

The Client service line told me to pound sand... they were not even polite about it. The dealership and service guys have been much more kind and helpful even though have no idea how to solve the problem for good.

I have opened a report with BBB, but will most likely be out of luck because the first failure happened after 18K miles which is in fact the lemon law rule out here in Sunny CA.

In any case, wife is pushing me to dump the car and frankly I am scared to drive it anyhow.....

Will keep you all posted...

asianthug_ak47

How about 2002 Accord V6 automatic?

How long a typical transmission last? I know a guy with an Integra having 320k miles and counting without any problem. He did have the car broken down twice due to bad alternator at 280k. It was the shop's fault because they installed it improperly.

However, my Mazda 626 transmission went out at 105k miles. I sold it for 200 dollars because I didn't have 3k to fix it. I am not buying Mazda anymore because of it. The shitty part is that I had extended warranty convering up to 100k miles. It wasn't cool at all. Now I wish I have a beater car to drive around to work so I don't have to put city mileage on my new car.

hondatech

That's too bad. I hate to see ppl lose faith in the mighty "H". They're telling us techs that the rebuilt transmissions we are replacing failed trannys with are updated and fixed. They also have us change ECU's and fuel pressure regulators as well. None of mine that I have replaced have come back. It seems to be working and we are seeing less and less coming in now.