Transmission failure. Gears began to "slip", particularly between 2nd and 3rd, seemingly during upshifts and downshifts. The transmission felt as if it was searching for the right gear, and as it was engaging it, would slip. The engine would then rev freely. After completely letting it rev down to idle, gear would reengage some of the time. Other times had to stop and restart the car to get moving again.
2001 Acura CL transmission complaints
Page 5 of 8: complaints 101 to 130 of 206, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My transmission failed on my acura cl for the second time. I had it "replaced" after the first failure @49k miles that nearly cause an accident if it hadn't been for good driving skills. Now the same problem almost caused me to loose complete control @ 91000 miles after the dealer "enhanced the fix" with a new PCM @ 88000 miles.
Automatic transmission erratic shifting, flare at upshifts, it shifts suddenly from 5th to 2nd gear, casuing extreme deceleration at high speed. Causing vehicle almost out of control, almost into an accident.
Acura cl type s five speed automatic transmission failed at 25,560 miles while driving on the freeway. No previous indications that there was a problem with the transmission.
Upon normal acceleration to enter the highway at about 50 miles per hour the automatic transmission locked up. The effect was a serious skid and inside the car it felt like I had hit a brick wall. If I had not been wearing my seat belt I would have been launched through the windshield. The car at this point was 1 year old with about 14,000 miles. The transmission was replaced. The new transmission slipped and shifted inappropriately and was also replaced on nov. 6, 2003. This trasmission is not much better. There has been three transmissions in the car and I am fed up. This is my third new acura since 1997 and I had no problems with the other two.
The transmission on my 2001 acura cl-s failed on dec. 31, 2003 at 35,000 miles.
Transmission failed with a sudden downshift while driving 50 pmh
2001 acura cl type s transmission failure at 32000 miles.
The transmission has been replaced once already and is about to be replaced again. After the first tranny was replaced the quality and performance level of my car dropped greatly. The 2001 acura cl type s I am driving now is not the car that I bought, nor want to drive. It is now sluggish, the transmission is stil acting up, it is louder, does not hold itself in a gear for more sporty drive. If I wanted a honda accord, I would have bought one. Now my car drives just like one.
The transmission in the car went at 25,000 miles. It was replaced but the replacement also failed at 60,000 miles.
Have had numerous transmission difficulties with my 2001 acura cl-type s. I am currently driving on my 4th transmission. Need to take it in again because it is showing sign of trouble....again!!
Transmission faliure.
Driving on the highway at about 55 MPH, all of a sudden there was no forward momentum from the car. Stepped on the gas and nothing was happening. Check engine light came on. I was able to coast off to an exit and park in a fairly secure spot on the side of the road. The car was towed to the nearest acura dealer. I was told the next day that a new transmission was ordered for my car and it would be about a week before I would get my car back.
Transmission abruptly failed at 56,000. This caused a dangerous driving condition as the engine would rev until the transmission would suddenly drop into gear causing the car to jerk wildly.
Transmission problems (slipping) upon acceleration. Automatic transmission has slipped a number of times (4 times) within the last week. It always happens at acceleration from a stop.
I am an owner of 2001 acura cl type s. Vin number [xxx], odometer 26,000 miles. I had a transmission failure today. At first car suddenly changed the gear from 5th to possibly 1st at 60 MPH on the highway a few times. This is very unsafe, I was lucky there were no close vehicles behind me. Then at the end of 15 mile trip from home clutch started to slip and I could not even move from the stop. I had hard time getting car home, it shifted erratically and stayed in first gear. While I understand that transmission is a mechanical device and can fail, this particular behavior of sudden down shift at the high speeds are not safe and can cause major accident. *la information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
While driving 60 MPH vehicle suddenly decelerated, and the automatic transmission stopped functioning. The cause of the problem had not been determined.
My 2001 acura cl s type has transmission problems. It would suddenly jerk when going from 1st to 2nd gear. When it goes into 3rd gear there is a loss of power. The engine d5 light blinks.
While driving on the highway transmission would slip and jerk, causing the consumer to pull off the road. The consumer has made contact with the tire manufacturer.
Automatic transmissin failed to upshift properly while driving.this caused vehicle to jerk forward as if down shifting on its own. Would shift out of 2nd gear with rpms running very high.
The automatic transmission fails to shift properly. Would jerk forward as if it was down shifting on its own. Transmission will not shift out of 2nd gear. Also, rpms would run very high. Recently was not able to shift in to reverse. Felt as if the brakes were on. The drive indicator started flashing. Traction light had came on with the engine light and stayed on. Problem had started on 7/7/03. Had taken the vehicle to dealership on 7/11, and had picked up vehicle on 7/18. Mechanic indicated the problem was not able to be duplicated. The problems with the automatic transmission still exists.*ak
I was driving on the freeway at 65 MPH and my 2001 acura cl type s downshifted into 1st or 2nd gear causing the car to slow abruptly and swerve. The people behind me almost hit me and I almost hit the car in the lane next to me (not ot mention the pain of the seatbelt cutting into my neck). Good thing the seatbelt did would or I could have sustained injuries slamming into the stearing wheel or windshield. The acura is on it's second transmission with only 41,000 miles on it, this next one will be the 3rd. I was told that acura is aware of the problem. I was also told that none of the replacement transmissions are "new". They are all "remanufactured" with a 36,00 mile or 3 yr warranty. Obviously with the same problems not being fixed. This vehicle is a danger to have on the road. Why doesn't acura fix the problem. Perhaps a lawsuit would inspire them to correct the problem hopefully before someone dies.
Consumer states when vehicle is put into any gear vehicle response like it is in neutral. When in 3rd gear rpms rev up very high. Took to dealer, and he replaced the transmission.
Consumer states that while driving and with no warning transmission locked up. Dealer notified.
Sudden downshift into 3rd gear - near accident.
Failed transmission in 2001 acura cl-s; approx 35,000 miles. I possibly noticed a discrepancy in shifting around 3rd gear maybe 2-3x over past 3-4 months, including the morning the car was taken in to the dealer for routine service, however was unable to repeatedly notice a problem. Dealer notified us that morning of the transmission failure & need for replacement under warranty.
Failure of automatic transmission in 2001 acura cl type s. I understand the sudden downshifting has been determined to not be a safety hazard, but in this case the transmission would not engage any gear while shifting between second and third. The resulting sudden loss of drive power almost caused the car behind me to hit me. The 2-3 shift is almost always under heavy acceleration away from a dead stop, to deem this not a safety hazard is absurd. If I were not able to pull to the shoulder of the road I would have been hit. Acura dealers have denied knowledge of this issue until the transmission actually fails. I tolerated 20,000 miles of erratic shifting before mine died completely. I now have 4,000 on the new transmission and it has been exhibiting the same behavior the original did, always between the 2-3 shift.
I have a 2001 acura cl-s and I've had the trans replaced once because of sudden down shift.(that by the way happen on an interstate and I almost lost control of the car) but that besides the fact according to palm beach acura. Now my car does the same thing again and they will not change it unless it happens when one of there mechanics drives it.
2001 acura cl type-s - transmission failure at 28,900 miles. Sudden downshift while traveling on highway (i476). Car was in for standard service days before incident and the dealer found no problems when asked to look into the transmission slipping. 7 days later the transmission completely failed causing an extreme downshift at highway speeds with no warning. Due to the alertness of other drivers - no injuries occurred..
Acura-cl type s transmission problems at 30000 miles. Transmission started slipping and engaged at random points. Accelerated to 60 miles per hour, at which the transmission down shifted abruptly without warning causing the tires to chirp. Warning lights came on after down shift in the form of a blinking d5 light, check transmission light, vsa light on with exclamation point. Would not shift out of gear until car was turned off and restarted.
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