Accord transmission problems - best approach?

"TomP" > wrote in message ...
> If you have had this car serviced by the "dealer" for the last 5 years.
> They may go to bat for you.
> 10 year old car: At what point do you take full responsibility and own the
> car?
>
> I'm curious, just what is your expectation regarding transmission life?

My expectations are for the whole life of the car, 300 thousand miles or more.
Properly mainained transmission should never go bad in my opinion :-)
Are my expectations too high for honda?

jim beam wrote:
> Tony Harding wrote:
>> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>>> In article >,
>>> Tony Harding > wrote:
>>>
>>>>> It resulted in the largest recall ever, and is the direct result of
>>>>> Honda giving too much power to the beancounters in the late
>>>>> 80s/early 90s. They went too far, and damn near destroyed Honda's
>>>>> carefully built reputation. But what did they care--they needed
>>>>> results for next quarter, screw this long term thing.
>>>> That philosophy has worked out great for Detroit, hasn't it? One of
>>>> the major failings of US management IMHO.
>>>
>>> Absolutely.
>>>
>>> Except that Honda had a reputation that Detroit NEVER had. And Honda
>>> took steps, voluntary steps, that to this day Detroit management
>>> ignores the same way a frog ignores anything that doesn't act like a
>>> fly.
>>>
>>> Honda WANTED to take care of the horrendous problem they created.
>>> Detroit doesn't even recognize the problems they create.
>>
>> As demonstrated in multiple safety recalls - if settling the
>> anticipated no. of law suits is cheaper than correcting the problem,
>> that's the way they go, no matter how many people die. This is what
>> happens when MBAs run the show.
>
>
> thank this guy:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Macnamara
>
> it's simply the "quantitative approach" he instilled in everything he
> touched. he didn't work in detroit long, but his doctrines have been
> taken to heart and never forgotten.

Yeah, I'd forgotten all about Mr Operations Research.

On 2008-07-19, Pszemol > wrote:
> "TomP" > wrote in message ...
>> If you have had this car serviced by the "dealer" for the last 5 years.
>> They may go to bat for you.
>> 10 year old car: At what point do you take full responsibility and own the
>> car?
>>
>> I'm curious, just what is your expectation regarding transmission life?
>
> My expectations are for the whole life of the car, 300 thousand miles or more.
> Properly mainained transmission should never go bad in my opinion :-)
> Are my expectations too high for honda?

Your expectations are too high for anyone.

While most of them will last that long, mechanical failures do occur,
and at that age/mileage, it is hard to tell the cause, especially if
you don't know the maintenance history...


--
Joe - Linux User #449481/Ubuntu User #19733
joe at hits - buffalo dot com
"Hate is baggage, life is too short to go around ****ed off all the
time..." - Danny, American History X

In article >,
says...

> The 1998 Accord is, as far as I can determine, not part of the inherently
> defective crowd.
>
> Honda has very publicly admitted to the existence of several serious
> defects in V6 auto trannies for the '99 to '04 model years of various
> models, and has been generous in fixing them. Honda has had its eye on
> Toyota and their past troubles with certain 1MZ-FE 3.0 V6's, and is not
> eager to be tarred with the same brush.
>
> Your '98? Well, it's ten years old, with ten years of potential neglect and
> abuse. The wrong fluid, neglected changes, who knows what.
> To "mashup" Curly and the rock group REM, "What's the Code, Kenneth?"

OK. I mistyped the model year in my original post. It's a '99, not a
'98. Purchased with 41K miles on it, as a certified used car from the
same dealer that's serviced it since then. The maintenance intervals as
specified in the owner's manual for severe conditions have been followed
since then (it gets well over 90 degrees here for several months out of
the year).

Since the tranny fluid changes have been performed at a Honda dealer, I
assume they're using Honda ATF. But this is the same dealer whose
service department aggressively pushes powerflushing the transmission
whenever the topic comes up. I have always refused to have it flushed,
but I did have them do a drain-and-fill (once, not 3x) about three
months ago when they said the fluid didn't look too good. It was due for
a fluid change at 120K (we're only at about 115K now), but I didn't want
to risk waiting for the 120K service if the fluid was showing its age.

I finally had a chance to drive the car today to get a better feel for
what was going on, since the extent of my wife's description of the
problem so far has been "it's shifting funny". For the first part of our
trip today, it drove fine, with no problems. About midway through our
errands, after driving maybe 15-20 miles, I noticed a rough downshift -
much rougher than normal, almost enough to chirp the tires. By the time
we made another couple of stops, it was very hesitant to upshift. The
engine would rev higher, but the car would barely move, and when it did
finally upshift, the upshifts were very abrupt and jerky. Downshifting
was similarly delayed and rough - the car would come to a complete stop,
and sit for a couple of seconds before the final downshift would occur.
It eventually got to the point to where it was almost undrivable, and I
wasn't sure we were going to make it home, but we did. Oh, and the CEL
has yet to come back on since it was reset.

My wife mentioned that the problem seems to be worst in the afternoons,
which are obviously the hottest part of the day. I was hoping to buy a
little time to research the problem further, but based on our drive
today, the car is unsafe to drive with the transmission acting like
this, so I'm going to have to do something sooner rather than later. My
father suggested taking it to a transmission shop to see if it can be
repaired as opposed to swapping it out for a remanufactured tranny, but
I'm more inclined to start with calling Honda's US customer service
department. Since the model year is outside the scope of the warranty
extension, and since it would've been past the warranty period at this
point anyway, I don't expect a free ride, but I don't think some sort of
consideration is unreasonable. With proper maintenance, there's no
reason a transmission shouldn't last for the life of the car.

Dave

So, you do not know how the car was driven, or exactly what was put in
there before the 41K mark...

It is possible that the car may have been running non-Z1 for quite
some time...

Also, is the radiator full and the overflow at the MAX line?

It sounds like there may be a problem with the cooling system or the
flow of tranny fluid to the cooler. Or, you may benefit from adding a
cooler to the car, like would be added if you were planning on towing
things. Clearly the heat is a factor...


--
Joe - Linux User #449481/Ubuntu User #19733
joe at hits - buffalo dot com
"Hate is baggage, life is too short to go around ****ed off all the
time..." - Danny, American History X

Pszemol wrote:

> "TomP" > wrote in message ...
> > If you have had this car serviced by the "dealer" for the last 5 years.
> > They may go to bat for you.
> > 10 year old car: At what point do you take full responsibility and own the
> > car?
> >
> > I'm curious, just what is your expectation regarding transmission life?
>
> My expectations are for the whole life of the car, 300 thousand miles or more.
> Properly mainained transmission should never go bad in my opinion :-)
> Are my expectations too high for honda?

Your expectation (IMO) is unreasonable for any brand car, including Honda, equipped with
an automatic transmission.

At what point do you take full responsibility and own the whole car?

On Jul 19, 6:29*pm, Joe > wrote:
> So, you do not know how the car was driven, or exactly what was put in
> there before the 41K mark...
>
> It is possible that the car may have been running non-Z1 for quite
> some time...
>
> Also, is the radiator full and the overflow at the MAX line? *
>
> It sounds like there may be a problem with the cooling system or the
> flow of tranny fluid to the cooler. *Or, you may benefit from adding a
> cooler to the car, like would be added if you were planning on towing
> things. *Clearly the heat is a factor...
>
> --
> Joe - Linux User #449481/Ubuntu User #19733
> joe at hits - buffalo dot com
> "Hate is baggage, life is too short to go around ****ed off all the
> time..." - Danny, American History X

I've had the same same problem on my 01 V6 Accord. I had about 120K
miles on mine as well and I was unaware of the warranty extension
(somewhat to my dismay when I did find out later). I do not think the
extension was large enough in terms of miles to cover it anyways. At
first the dealership wanted about $3500 but then they matched a $2800
quote from a small transmission repair shop.

I have a friend who has an Accura plagued by the same transmission
problems and having received a similar extension. He's had to replace
the transmission multiple times. The last time he had to replace it
he was outside of the extension, but after some negotiations, the
dealership convinced the manufacturer to provide the parts for free
and my buddy only had to pay for labor. That's the path I'd take if I
had to deal with this issue again.

Gabor

TomP wrote:
>
> Pszemol wrote:
>
>> "TomP" > wrote in message ...
>>> If you have had this car serviced by the "dealer" for the last 5 years.
>>> They may go to bat for you.
>>> 10 year old car: At what point do you take full responsibility and own the
>>> car?
>>>
>>> I'm curious, just what is your expectation regarding transmission life?
>> My expectations are for the whole life of the car, 300 thousand miles or more.
>> Properly mainained transmission should never go bad in my opinion :-)
>> Are my expectations too high for honda?
>
> Your expectation (IMO) is unreasonable for any brand car, including Honda, equipped with
> an automatic transmission.
>
> At what point do you take full responsibility and own the whole car?
>

you're /way/ too used to being ripped off by detroit garbage whose
design spec /is/ 100k. honda /used/ to make automatic transmissions
that went 300k no problems. that's why people bought them. failure at
detroit intervals puts honda at detroit quality - not good for owner
loyalty.

In article >,
Tegger > wrote:
>The 1998 Accord is, as far as I can determine, not part of the inherently
>defective crowd.
>
>Honda has very publicly admitted to the existence of several serious
>defects in V6 auto trannies for the '99 to '04 model years of various
>models, and has been generous in fixing them.

Wasn't 1998 the first year of that design of Accord that went until
2002 (1999 was the first year of a new design Odyssey minivan)? If so,
wouldn't it have similar issues as the 1999-2002 Accord (perhaps worse,
being the first year of a new design)?

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

In article >,
says...
> In article >,
> says...

> > The 1998 Accord is, as far as I can determine, not part of the inherently
> > defective crowd.
> >
> > Honda has very publicly admitted to the existence of several serious
> > defects in V6 auto trannies for the '99 to '04 model years of various
> > models, and has been generous in fixing them. Honda has had its eye on
> > Toyota and their past troubles with certain 1MZ-FE 3.0 V6's, and is not
> > eager to be tarred with the same brush.
> >
> > Your '98? Well, it's ten years old, with ten years of potential neglect and
> > abuse. The wrong fluid, neglected changes, who knows what.
> > To "mashup" Curly and the rock group REM, "What's the Code, Kenneth?"
>
> OK. I mistyped the model year in my original post. It's a '99, not a
> '98. Purchased with 41K miles on it, as a certified used car from the
> same dealer that's serviced it since then. The maintenance intervals as
> specified in the owner's manual for severe conditions have been followed
> since then (it gets well over 90 degrees here for several months out of
> the year).
>
> Since the tranny fluid changes have been performed at a Honda dealer, I
> assume they're using Honda ATF. But this is the same dealer whose
> service department aggressively pushes powerflushing the transmission
> whenever the topic comes up. I have always refused to have it flushed,
> but I did have them do a drain-and-fill (once, not 3x) about three
> months ago when they said the fluid didn't look too good. It was due for
> a fluid change at 120K (we're only at about 115K now), but I didn't want
> to risk waiting for the 120K service if the fluid was showing its age.
>
> I finally had a chance to drive the car today to get a better feel for
> what was going on, since the extent of my wife's description of the
> problem so far has been "it's shifting funny". For the first part of our
> trip today, it drove fine, with no problems. About midway through our
> errands, after driving maybe 15-20 miles, I noticed a rough downshift -
> much rougher than normal, almost enough to chirp the tires. By the time
> we made another couple of stops, it was very hesitant to upshift. The
> engine would rev higher, but the car would barely move, and when it did
> finally upshift, the upshifts were very abrupt and jerky. Downshifting
> was similarly delayed and rough - the car would come to a complete stop,
> and sit for a couple of seconds before the final downshift would occur.
> It eventually got to the point to where it was almost undrivable, and I
> wasn't sure we were going to make it home, but we did. Oh, and the CEL
> has yet to come back on since it was reset.
>
> My wife mentioned that the problem seems to be worst in the afternoons,
> which are obviously the hottest part of the day. I was hoping to buy a
> little time to research the problem further, but based on our drive
> today, the car is unsafe to drive with the transmission acting like
> this, so I'm going to have to do something sooner rather than later. My
> father suggested taking it to a transmission shop to see if it can be
> repaired as opposed to swapping it out for a remanufactured tranny, but
> I'm more inclined to start with calling Honda's US customer service
> department. Since the model year is outside the scope of the warranty
> extension, and since it would've been past the warranty period at this
> point anyway, I don't expect a free ride, but I don't think some sort of
> consideration is unreasonable. With proper maintenance, there's no
> reason a transmission shouldn't last for the life of the car.

Update: took the car to the dealer, and as I expected, the tranny was
toast. The dealer quoted $3450 to replace it. I told them I would be
requesting a goodwill repair from Honda, and immediately faxed a polite
letter to American Honda documenting my long history of Honda ownership
and awareness of the problems with V6 trannies over the past ten years
(including a citation of the applicable TSB number). Within a couple of
days, I got a phone call from a case manager in Torrance, and as soon as
he talked to the dealer to verify the service history of the car there,
Honda offered to cover the cost of a remanufactured tranny if I would
pay for the labor to install it ($560). That was all I was really hoping
for, and I expressed my appreciation to the case manager for Honda's
consideration. The new tranny has a 3/36 warranty, and he said he hoped
I wouldn't ever have to use the warranty but it was good to know I'm
covered if future problems arise.

Got the car back yesterday, and the difference is unbelievable. Judging
by how smoothly the new tranny shifts, I have to think that the old one
had been going south for some time, as it shifted much more roughly than
the new one even before it started exhibiting clear signs of imminent
failure.

Interestingly, I'd just had a brake job done about a month ago, and at
that time discovered that the front motor mount and one of the side ones
were cracked, so I had them replaced. When they pulled the tranny prior
to installing the new one, they found the tranny mount was also worn out
and replaced it as well. I'd been thinking that something in the front
suspension was worn out because the car seemed to be riding rougher over
bumps than it used to, but after the various mount replacements, the
ride is back to normal. I don't think I've ever had to replace motor
mounts on any of the cars I've previously owned.

This was really the first major repair I'd had to have done on this car
in the 75,000 miles we've owned it. Prior to this, aside from normal
maintenance of brakes, fluids, and batteries, I'd only had to replace
the starter, an O2 sensor, and the factory CD player (which was covered
while the car was still under warranty). Here's hoping for another
similar stretch of relatively trouble-free motoring.

Dave