mhallon24

Today i was attempting to drive to school and there were times when the car just wouldnt shift to 3rd gear. I would accelerate, the rpms would be high, but i wouldnt be going any faster. A few times it would shift normally. Once i got back home i saw smoke coming from under the hood. Could driving like that mess up the engine or anything else under the hood?

fsttyms1

Yes. Driving at high rpms for longer period of times could cause damage. The smoke was probably your trans. Get it to the dealer or trans shop.

mhallon24

what kind of damage? and could driving like that once do serious damage?

fsttyms1

depends on how long you drove like that. Yes serious damage could occur if driven long enough. Like you would need a new motor

mhallon24

i drove like that 20 mins max... and it wasnt like that most of the time. Most of the time it was at low rpms or it would shift correctly.

Juancachorro

u never thought about shifting manually? that how i drive my car for now till i get my tranny fixed... i been driving for over 6 months like that...

mhallon24

i thought shifting manually would be the same thing but i guess i gotta try it because i cant go to school until i fix my car. I just dont wanan do any damage to the engine or anything else. Would shifting manually damage the engine?

jproy

That’s wild. I would have never though you could shift manually. You must be referring to the manumatic +/- section of the gear selector? I wonder how you are able to still drive yours? It is my understanding that Acura auto trans failure is usually shortly thereafter accompanied by the inability to get the car to move at all in any gear and in some cases sudden transmission seizure which can occur at any from the second gear cog and clutch pack fracturing at speed locking up your two front wheels. The second gear clutch pack and cog is what is attributed to most Acura trans failures due to metal fatigue from over heating. It has happened to a few members here and is stated in the TSB or somewhere by Acura. Sounds dangerous and you may put the lives of those in vehicals on the road around you at risk unnecessarily.

mhallon24

Im not going to drive th car until i get the transmission replaced. Its already ordered and i have to wait 5-7 days till it gets to the shop. I just wish it will be over after that , no more problems or issues, it sucks not having a car.

mcflyguy24

You take it to acura for warranty or just a trans shop?

mhallon24

i took it to acura and they said the warranty was voided because it is rebuilt. So then i took it to Japtech here in south florida and they can replace it with a brand new manufacturer tranny. It cost 2100 for the tranny adn 700 for labor

01tl4tl

jproy- most of the trans failures are not dramatic lock up the front wheels at speed causing death and destruction. Unless yours failed in that fashion,
Please!! dont alarm the masses that have not read and understand the Trans Failure thread.

SS-manual shift mode is not going to save you either when the trans is going.
If it revs and doesnt accellerate, the clutch pack is going and may leave you on the side of the road.
If that happens: let everything cool off 15-30 minutes and try again, if you are in a place that you cant park. While you wait, call the dealer and ask them to send the tow truck- its included in the trans warranty.

This is assuming clean title- not salvage or rebuilt car, in those cases no trans warranty
from Acura anymore

Everyone is registered with acura right??
1-800-382-2238 x5 and
https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?brand=acura on that site is also all the known failure symptoms and normal things the trans does- good info
here is the owner manual link too
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/...01_OMANUAL.asp

01tl4tl

To the original poster: open the hood- remove yellow handle dipstick on driver side of car- thats the trans fluid- smell burned- look burned- nothing showing on it at all?
Those would be bad signs

And dont drive the car- its not going to get better, and with slipping at rpm you could really endanger the engine to the tune of 2500-4000$$ damage.

mhallon24

i cant check right now because it is pouring outside. Do u think there could already be engine damage from my 20 minute journey getting home?

jproy

You are right, total lockup failures have been limited to a very small number of people. I want to say off the top of my head from something I read a couple of years ago that it had only happened about 20 times at that time and I think only one or so injuries had been reported. Its all in the letter to owners of the effected transmissions I think. I have a 6 speed manual so I have never first hand experienced autotragic failure but the norm seems to be a pretty peaceful death. My ex-fiancé’s '03 TL autotragic failed at ~70,000. Damn that woman!

But really, if your tranny is acting up, you never know what could happen and no one should be operating an automobile that is not functioning correctly for a multitude of reasons, safety being just one of them.