AcuraTL,

just wanted to mention that at times it isn't just a small powerdrain.... at freeway speeds the car tends to shake/bounce as if the engine is cutting in and out, and at cold starts in the morning if accelerating hard the car feels as if the clutch has been disengaged and re-engaged (that's why i thought it was the clutch initially) <- when this happens i find it to be a very harsh thump. if it were a small problem like an a/c power drain i honestly would care less (used to own a '91 accord so i'm used to electrical drains of sorts, especially when the car got older). basically, i'm not a mechanic and don't know how severe the problem is. like i said earlier in my post, my dealership has acknowledged a problem on these acura's but has so far hesitated to fix it. i was just hoping that someone else on this wonderful board had some better luck. thanks again for everyone's help.

roman

ps... i live in south carolina, so a/c is a must for me, so it's annoying when i need to shut the a/c off for my car to run properly at times.

 

romand, it does sound strange and I hope Acura will find a way to fix it soon.

 

well.... looks like disaster hit my vehicle today. was driving this morning to work when i tried passing a slow car.... i down shifted and hit the gas and accelerated up to around 5500 rpm... the car all of a sudden lost its power for a second then violently came back with a grinding noise. after this, i up-shifted and the car was shaking. after pushing the clutch in and out the car seemed fine. however, trying to get home from work later today i was unable to get the car to move at all from the parking lot... don't know if the tranny or clutch went. worst part is the dealership is closed and i had to get a lift home. needless to say i will be towing it to the dealership tomorrow. i will try to keep everyone posted as to what happened. this is truly dissappointing and i am very stressed out over the incident. i hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.

-roman

ps. after this i don't think that i will be purchasing any future honda products... and after 13 years of driving them, this is very hard to say.

 

Roman:

Sorry to hear about your problems. Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat. I've got an 03CL-S manual that had given me clutch/tranny issues intermittently for almost 30K miles. I took it to the dealership I bought it from shortly after the issue arose, and they fed me some bull about a leaky engine mount which they "replaced". When I took it to another dealer for regular maintenance (I just moved and they were closer), they mentioned that they noticed a clutch issue. When I showed them the service order from previously, they almost blew a gasket laughing about the rip. That said, they werem't willing to touch it under warranty in spite of the pre-existing condition, and strongly urged me to take it back to the original dealer. Well, I made an appointment for the car to be serviced while I was away on business. Because the dealer is over an hour from my new house, my wife and kids were going to follow me in their vehicle, as I drove mine to the dealership. Well, the clutch failed catastrophically en route (bear in mind, I only have 60-some-K miles on it). After dealing with an incompetent Acura TLC CSR, I finally got the vehicle towed to the dealer, who told me that the clutch needed replacing, along with a seal and a few other things -- all for a grand total of over $1700, and that none of it would be covered under warranty. This is after a number of other repairs had to be performed prematurely on the vehicle -- steering column replacement, radio replacement, seat heater switch replacement, hose premature failure, etcetcetc

I've checked a couple of other HA forums, and there does seem to be a relatively common thread of clutch issues inthe 03CLs which MAY carry over to the 04TLs, but Acura USA Customer Care (My wife just spoke with them) doesn't give a darn...

After 4 Hondas and Acuras, I am saddened to say that this may be the last I buy.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. I would be turned off by Honda/Acura too if I was in your shoes. You should do a formal complaint to the dealership and also check out Bureau of Automotive Repair.

 

Those of you who are noticing a hesitation or a slight momentary loss of power at highway speeds most likely have leaking EGR valves. As far as clutch problems on late CL's I havent seen any but that is a relatively rare car in my area.

 

I am having problems with my 2003 CL Type-S Manual Transmission (MT) too. I do have a lot of miles (75K) on the car since it is a 2003 that was sold in 2002, but I don’t consider it high miles for a Honda product. I've driven a stick for over 20 years and this is my third Honda product. I put 225K on an Accord and 150K miles on an Integra with no clutch related problems or replacements required.

The first time I noticed something feeling strange was at about 70K miles. It only seems to happen when I am taking off after a stop in first gear and also when I am attempting to shift into second gear. The clutch pedal either feels like I’m pushing my 1978 Z-28 non-hydraulic clutch pedal or it goes all the way to the floor and feels like a brake pedal does when there is air in the brake line, when I am slowly releasing it. Today was the worst so far because I started to ease the pedal after being stopped at a light and could tell something was wrong. I pushed the pedal in to shift into second gear and I was pushing lead and couldn't shift into second. I drifted onto the side of the road and pushed the clutch pedal in several times hoping to finally feel it "feel" right. I have had no problems when I am in the higher gears or when I am down shifting. I took it to dealership and the one tech said that it was "too heavy" and that a bearing was probably binding.....another one said it felt fine. They flushed and replaced the trans fluid hoping that lubrication was going to fix the problem. Well it didn’t and instead of the problem being an occasional one, it has become more frequent and severe.


If anyone else has experienced clutch/manual trans problem with a 2002-2003 Type S CL or TL, please let me know. By the way, I have registered a complaint on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)...in hopes that there will be enough complaints to warrant an investigation and possible recall.

Thanks,
Carol

 

I have 38k on my 03 CL-S MT. I have had the car for about 4k within two months and havent experienced any problems at all.

Has anyone actually looked into this to see if there is indeed a genuien recall or issue from Acura? Any TSB's out on this car?