My car is sitting at the Honda dealer at the moment, service technician claims my car is in dire need of a new transmission.

Here are the details:
- The car has just under 70k miles. 2005 Honda Accord V6 Automatic. No accidents, I am the first owner, all routine maintenance performed by dealer while in warranty. Successive maintenance performed by me (which is basically brake pads/rotors and motor oil every 3-5k miles depending on driving habits).
- I had the 30k transmission drain and refill performed at the dealer, car ran great afterwards. They said to see them in another 30k miles for a flush and refill.
- Brought the car back at just over 60k miles for the transmission flush and refill, a $190 job. Figured with the failing reputation of Honda transmissions, it was not worth the risk to do the maintenance myself and be put at fault later.

The next morning, after starting the car as I normally would and shifting into Reverse, the car jerked into reverse and I thought to myself, "okay no big deal." I'm leaving my driveway and I feel the car holding 1st gear for way too long, whatever I come up to the red light. Light turns green and the car holds 1st gear for way too long and finally shifts into 2nd abruptly.

The car does this every morning, but stops doing it when the car is warm. What gives?

Technician already asked 3 times where I bought the car, which was 2 hours away so I obviously never took it back there for maintenance. Almost seems as if he's trying to have me drive out there and have them goodwill a transmission. He asked if I had a service contract with them, ummmm... I obviously don't if I brought the car to you for the first 40k miles.

He said he would talk to his people and call me back, it's been a little over an hour. I feel like they're going to try and put the blame on me.

 

Unfortunately for earlier years (2003 in particular) this wasn't too uncommon.

It seems like you're gonna need a new one. Sorry man. As to who's responsible or should pay, I ain't speculatin'.

 

 

You should do some Googling to see if your car is covered under the 100k transmission warranty extension. I have a feeling it was only 1999-2003 models... but can't hurt to check!

 

I'd suck it up and let if fail if it got worse on its own, but for it to just start doing this the day after I got it serviced doesn't make sense to me.

I might have to bury the whole car when I'm done with this.

I did some research and apparently Honda put out a TSB on automatics, but only until mid-04 production. Later production is said to have the TSB done from the factory.

 

Oh man Oscar.... I hope it isn't so...

 

Did they really do a "flush and refill?" If they did, then they screwed up because Honda specifically recommends NOT doing this. Just drain and refill x 3

 

My service record says:

1) 31HOATFDRAIN
-SERVICE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
DRAIN FLUID
2) 31HOATFFLUSH
-PERFORM TRANSMISSION SERVICE USING FACTORY
APPROVED METHOD AND ATF Z1 FLUID

 

My service record says:

1) 31HOATFDRAIN
-SERVICE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
DRAIN FLUID
2) 31HOATFFLUSH
-PERFORM TRANSMISSION SERVICE USING FACTORY
APPROVED METHOD AND ATF Z1 FLUID



And still no call from the service tech.

 

Ugh, sorry to hear. I got lucky with my '03 CL-S and had it replaced free. It doesn't sound good. Hopefully they'll at least cover part of it.

 

From the looks of it, they may have hooked it up to a machine to flush out the old tranny fluid. I mean, why else would it list a service (#1) for draining the fluid and another one (#2) for flushing the tranny?

If they did, then they could have screwed up the tranny.

I'd ask them what their "flush" procedure is because if they used a machine, that's not what Honda recommends. <-- link to Honda Service Bulletin

 

Wow. I thought that by 2005 they would have had these issues fixed on the other vehicles. Sounds like your trans is on its way out. Id wait to see what the dealer says. Make sure they are aware that you have had ALL trans service work done there and see if they can help good will it.

 

At this point I'm willing to split the bill, but I'm hoping the rebuilt unit comes with some sort of warranty.
Thanks for the link! I'll definitely mention this to the service advisor if they refuse to work with me.

I thought so too. Bought it in 2004, so it may have been built close to the time they were still having issues. I made sure to ask my dealer as soon as I knew about the TSB back then and he just looked at me with a blank face and said, "if there's a recall, you'll get a notice by mail."



I just got off the phone with the service tech. He said he spoke to his manager and that they are tring to work with me, but they need to speak to the regional parts&service manager to move forward. Said he'd call me tomorrow. There's a sliver of hope

 

Well hopefully they will resolve this in a good way tomorrow. This is what has really tarnished my view of honda. I went thru 5 trans, and there just seems to be no end in vehicles with trans issues.

 

Aside from a throttle body malfunction and a faulty head unit (both of which the dealer replaced under warranty), this car has been solid. I really couldn't ask for more from it, the maintenance costs up to now have been very wallet-friendly. I would be buying another Honda if this transmission made it to 150-200k miles.

It's unfortunate that the transmission would be the part to handicap this car and ultimately dissuade me from buying another Honda. It will be up to the replacement unit to gain my trust back because I don't plan to sell/trade the car when I get another. I'll be passing it down to my little sister or mother if she decides to dump her Suburban.

 

Let us know how it goes!

 

Let us know.

My 2004 has been awesome. NO major unscheduled maintenance since I have owned the car. I'm very happy with it, and would buy another Accord if they didn't get so bloated.

 

trade it.

 

they fucked it up if they did a flush. u may have a case

 

Where do you live?

 

Isn't yours a V6 6MT? No tranny problems with the 6MT... except for the 3rd gear pop out issue.

 

GL. I am just about out of the warranty on my 4th (see sig).

Hope you fare better.

 

Nope, he's got an automatic.

 

Honda AT FTL

 

You can flush the trans by drain and fill or Using the BG no psi machine ( shop equip ). It uses nothing else but the vehicles own force. It's proper term fluid exchanger. Connect your lines, cycle the shift positions manually and presto.

I myself drive, drain and fill. Drive D & F, x 3

 

Confused his with your 6MT

He's got the sedan, right?

 

Sorry to hear... Good luck man.

 

 

could it be a similar issue with the AT pressure switch that we have been replacing on the 3G TLs?

 

How many miles? Did they perform the TSB on the 2nd gear issue? Where have you had your transmission services performed?

It's tough to say no. I've become a little attached to it since it had been so good until now, it keeps asking me to give it another chance

That's about the only thing I'm banking on right now. Whether they will own up and agree that their method caused a malfunction is another story though.

Montebello, Ca.

4th transmission?

 

I had originally planned a DIY but at the last minute I got a little nervous reading about other owners' experiences and decided to take it in.

Thanks.

I see some recalls for solenoids on the 2004's but none for the 2005's.

 

Service advisor called me late in the day and I was unable to answer. Left a message saying the big honcho "authorized some assistance."

Tomorrow I'll find out just how much assistance I'll be getting but frankly I'm starting to feel as if I shouldn't be paying anything out of pocket. My transmission never had a hiccup in the 5+ years of ownership, for it to start acting up the day after a service doesn't settle with me.

 

You guys, especially the ones with multiple failures need to read up on the 3rd and 4th gear solenoids. A search for "very interesting conversation with my trans builder" under my username will bring up the info.

What we're seeing is an electrical problem causing a mechanical failure. When the so called "techs" transfer over the sensors and solenoids, the faulty ones cause the new trans to go out fairly quickly too.

I replaced these solenoids around 60,000 and combined with Redline D4 and racing fluid, I have better than new shifts at 93,000 miles.

To the OP, I would spend the $100 and 15 minutes of your time to replace these before tearing the trans apart. Even if it's too late to save it, you can make sure they install them on the new trans.

And get that crap Z1 out of there. ANYTHING is better than Z1 in these transmissions.

 

Might these solenoids cause problems only in the 1-2 shift and into reverse, also ONLY while cold? My car shifts perfectly fine into 3rd, 4th and 5th, while cold too.

Is there a chance that these solenoids would go bad immediately after a transmission service?

Sorry for all the n00b questions, I'm just trying to make sure I'm connecting the dots correctly.

 

While looking for more info on these solenoids, I found these two TSB's:

http://www.allworldauto.com/tsbs/NHT...in_210920.html

http://www.allworldauto.com/tsbs/NHT...tin_10195.html

 

Please let them make their offer and push for 100% Acura paid. Nothing less is acceptable. At least tell them you need to decide over the holiday if they ask you to pay part. You do know they just swap in a remanufactured unit right? Honda knows about all the trouble they have had. G/L

 

Remanufactured unit with an extended warranty I hope. I'll definitely sit on it thru the weekend, we need the car.


After looking at the solenoid thread, looks like they only affect the higher gears. A member said the 1-2 gears don't have solenoids

 

Just got off the phone with the service advisor. Honda basically offered to cover 75% of the bill, which leaves me paying ~$700 out of pocket. He also suggested I replace the rear main seal while we were in there, an additional $300 job.

I still haven't agreed to the work, I'll be heading down there to pick up my car and will likely push for more assistance and bring it back next week.

 

Umm since they'll already have the transmission out I wouldn't think replacing the rear oil seal to be a $300 job. I could be wrong entirely, but I would think that removing the trans is the most involved part of the job. Sounds like they are trying to recoup more of the bill IMO. Also I say get them to document to you the method they used to replace your trans fluid and maybe call honda corporate about it if they used a pressurized system to do the job. Also explain to them that you've had no problems with the trans until they performed this work. You may get the whole thing paid by going over the dealership clowns heads.

 

I agree. Unless the rear seal is a 2pc where they have to remove the oil pan, $300 is too much.