I purchased this vehicle in March 2021 and noticed the issue with the transmission the first time I operated the vehicle. There is a grinding sound whenever the transmission is placed in third gear. I brought the car to Acura by Executive in Wallingford, CT at some point in 2021 to enquire about the issue. I was informed by the service advisor that the problem is a known issue but because there is no recall on the issue and the vehicle is out of warranty Acura is not required to resolve it. Recently I came across service bulletin 08-018 and noticed where it stated that after warranty expiration a repair may be eligible for goodwill consideration. I called Acura Customer Service, was given case #15843108, and told to acquire a formal diagnosis from an Acura dealership. The diagnosis from Acura of Berlin in Berlin, CT verified that the symptoms were the result of the faulty transmission as described in the TSB. I submitted this information to Acura Customer Service and was informed on September 29, 2025, that due to the age of the vehicle Acura will not compensate me fully or partially for the repair. In my view, although this is an older vehicle, it has low mileage at 102.000 miles and is therefore expected to be on the road for many years. The transmission only grinds at this point, but it may start to pop out of third gear in the future as described in the TSB. I consider this a safety issue in that the transmission popping out of gear unexpectedly would result in some loss of control of the vehicle. I don't expect Acura to fully compensate me for this repair but in light of this problem being a known and documented issue with this vehicle and all the parts for repair are still available I would expect that Acura would stand by its product and offer to contribute to the total cost of this repair.
Acura CL grinding brakes problems
11 of the 586 owner complaints about the Acura CL describe grinding or squealing brakes, most of them for the 2003 model year.
- owner complaints
- 11
- worst model year
- 2003
- typical mileage
- 52,000
By model year
- 20034
- 20022
- 20012
- 19981
- 19972
Often reported together
Transmission failure 2Stalling 2Ball joint 2Jerking 1Check engine light 1
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 acura cl. While driving 45 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal grinding noise coming from the vehicle. Also, while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle shut off. The contact pulled over, turned the vehicle off and on, and it resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the sensor for the driveshaft three and four gear cable failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 04v176000 (power train). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer provided case number: 10011555. The failure mileage was approximately 1,054.
Driving into work on thursday the 16th of april, 2015 I was rounding a designated u-turn at approximately 3-5mph. As I was midway through the turn, my car dropped on the passenger side and a scrapping noise started to sound. My car stopped abruptly and a grinding noise made me weary to move. Becoming stationary, I was sideways in the middle of the road with cars approaching. I proceeded to slowly inch my car out of the road and into a safe location with the grinding noise. When I lifted my car up using the jack in the trunk I could visibly see my lower ball joint had come out of the socket and the suspension on the passenger side was collapsed. If this occurred approximately half a mile before the location of the incident I would have been doing 70mph on highway 75. I am lucky that this component failure did not result in the wheel buckling under the pressure of the break. Also I am lucky there were no more than a few cars approaching me when this occurred (t-bone situation). I have been on the federal safety agency website to confirm the federal safety agency campaign number: 99v069000 has been repaired and is for this exact same consequence, which it seems to be. I understand that this may be categorized as a wear component but the ball joint on any car should never come out of place or fail at all. I have recently had to have another item that was already recalled and repaired done again due to the recall not holding up. The issue campaign number: 02v120000 was with the ignition switch contacts spreading resulting in a stall condition and in come cases a no-start condition post stall. The issue was addressed and just re-completed in the beginning of the month so it seems to me that the fixes that are being implemented by acura seem to bandage the problem instead of a robust fix that will not present the issue in the future. I have already contacted acura whom stated they will not do anything for me.
2001 acura cls (VIN [xxx]). When pulling out onto a major road (55mph) with oncoming traffic the car paused as the trans slipped, the engine revved to 5000 RPM, the trans then locked into gear, the tires squealed and the car lurched forward. Thank god that my wife didn't run into someone or lose control of the vehicle. Now I read that this is common with this model year and transmission. The federal safety agency knew of the problem and a class action settlement was offered. However nothing was done to make owners and the general public safer. It seems to me that at a minimum the federal safety agency should have mandated acura to warn owners, and mandate acura to perform more routine inspections on this poorly designed transmission, and perhaps more frequent fluid changes. I read that the federal safety agency was considering additional action on this issue and hope you do. This incident occurred with no prior warning. Allowing a 240 hp car on the road with this type of known failure is unsafe to owners and the general public in my view. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 acura 3.0cl. In 2004, four new tires were placed on the vehicle. In 2005, the contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic due to brake failure. The contact hears a squeaking noise coming from the wheel well in the front end of the vehicle. It felt as if the wheels were going to fall off, so she took the vehicle to her local mechanic again. The ball joints were identified as the cause for the failure. The contact researched complaints that other acura owners had with there 3.0 cl and located the federal safety agency campaign id number 99v069000 (suspension:front:control arm:lower ball joint). The manufacturer stated that her VIN does not apply to the recall. The current mileage was 79,000 and failure mileage was 77,000.
My 2003 acura cl-type s manual 6 speed is also having similar problems as the other owners with change in pedal pressure and difficulty shifting in cold weather, sometimes with gears grinding and it is unavoidable unless you put the vehicle in neutral and come to a complete stop and start from 1st gear again,reverse is also a issue, sometimes it wont go in at all, I have been to the acura dealerships to purchase the new tranny sensors which are not cheap but the problem still persists. I was driving on the freeway conditions were normal, nothing unusual and my transmission totally locked on 3rd gear, luckily I or anybody else was hurt. My front drivers side fender was damaged because I had to maneuver vehicle out of freeway traffic to avoid a major collision. Also front bumper needs some repair and repainting.
Car stalled on freeway - full electrical shutdown - gauges dropped. Put car into neutral, restarted ignition, slight grind at starter, and car started. Pulled over when safe & when put car in reverse, heard whining/grinding noise and it wouldn't engage. Drive worked fine so drove to dealer. Dealer found ignition to be defective and covered under recall - it caused the stall. Dealer said transmission needed replacement for $4800 - won;t cover it and say the transmission failure and stall have noting to do with each other. The stall was very unsafe and shifting into neutral was best safest manuever (agreed to by dealer and acura USA), but they argue no causality. Seeking remedy through bureau of auto repair, lawsuit if necessary.
Issue with 6 speed standard transmission. While cold difficulty upshifting into 2nd gear with occasional gear grinding. Clutch and 2nd gear syncros replaced, but the problem persists. Acura maintains that this difficulty is normal performance.
My 2001 acura cl s had the check engine light, vsa light, and ! Light come on. Thinking the problem was related to the emissions, I continued to drive car. The next day I took car to dealer, to have problem diagnosed. The service manager couldn't see me to the following day. The next day he ran test and told me the transmission was bad (grinding in torque converter), and to take it to his other dealer. The dealer confirmed the previous diagnosis.10-26-04. However, he wasn't sure about warranty because car was brought over from canada. I was told to contact acura customer relations, and I took car home. The next day I went on the web and found numerous complaints about exact problems I encountered. The differences were that the transmissions were downshifting from 3rd to 1st while people were driving on expressways, almost causing serious accidents. The problem with the warranty was ironed out within 2 days, and acura is replacing my transmission on the 3rd of november. However, the dealer's service mananger never warned me of the danger of driving the vehicle. The car has 53200 kilometers (33000 mi). The transmission fluid was changed by dealer about 2 years ago, when I complained of burnt smell. The oil jet recall for the 2nd gear was done in august 2004. The obvious problem with the transmission according to other owners hasn't been addressed. Now I'm going to revceive a rebuilt transmission, that may be a time bomb waiting to happen.
Rotors are warping prematurely. As a result, when applying brakes a grinding noise is produced. The dealer can't find the solution.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Acura CL grinding brakes
Which Acura CL years have grinding or squealing brakes problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2003 (4 complaints), 1997 (2 complaints) and 2001 (2 complaints).
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