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Vans & Minivans Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey Transmission Problems
1285 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2009 at 12:50 PM
You are in the Honda Odyssey Forum. Your Host is Karens
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My 2002 Honda Odyssey transmission failed after 74,000 miles. The minivan had transmission oil change/ service after 30K and 60K miles. The minivan had single owner with about 10K miles a year. Last week the started feeling jerks while driving, After a little while the TCS (Traction Control System) light came on and would not go off. The light would not go away. There after the D light [indicating car is in Drive gear] started flashing. When it was taken to dealer, was informed that transmission had failed and replacement cost for a new transmission and computer would be $6100. When I found from this forum that 99-01 Honda Odysseys had transmission problems and had class action suite which resulted that Honda extended the warranty to 7 yrs 9 months and 105000 miles. However dealer told that this is not extended to 2002 odyssey and even under goodwill repair Honda may not give more than $1000 towards repairs. So I took the other option of trading in the car for $3000 (about $ 1500 below the trade-in cost for car with good transmission) I have had 5 Honda over last 20 yrs with a 1992 Honda accord with 180K miles still running. Obviously I am not pleased with shoddy quality of Honda Odyssey. I found that it is not so easy to report a problem to Honda USA (no email contact) but I will use every avenue to notify this. 
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I bought a new 2001 Honda Odyssey and the check engine light came on around 96500 miles. It is within warranty for miles but out of it by about 10 months on time. Took it to a new dealer nearby (Hamilton Handoat Hamilton NJ) and they came back with tranny, catalytic convertor, struts (!!!) & cracked motor mounts (!!!). I figured that they are trying to drum up business, though they talked to Honda and said that Honda would cover 50% of transmission. So took it to the dealer (Willis HOnda, Burlington, NJ) that I bought it from and they are saying tranny, catalytic convertor, Timing belt and spark plugs. I talked to Honda and initiallyt they said tough luck, you are out of warranty. When I told them about the first dealer's offer they said that's the best they can do. I asked them how they could say tough luck first and then 50% is the best. They gave me a spiel about each case being different. They initially would not give me a supervisor, but after a second call said that a super would call me within 24 hrs. Super called the same day wand was very curt and said the offer would be valid only for a couple of days(whereas the 1st dealer had given a written diagnosis and offer valid for 30 days). I felt like I was dealing with shysters and not a reputable company. It was really shocking to me that they do not have a uniform spelt out poliicy of dealing with this. Willis Honda came back to me and said that Honda is not willing to go above 50% but that the dealer would throw in couple of hundred bucks. I guess that this is the best I can get and am going to take them up on the offer. I will never buy any Honda product again. Mark my words, this coimpany is going down the tubes in a few years the way GM & Chrysler went |
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I am looking to get a van, but I am considered about the trouble I am hearing regarding the transmission. Most of the Hondas out there for sale have between 50k and 75k miles. What do you recommend as I have been told that Honda is rated the best for safety?
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Replying to: soccergirl2 (Jul 01, 2009 12:41 pm)  Erase the Honda Odyssey from your wish list. The transmission problems make this van a nightmare to own and at trade-in the Honda dealers are the worst to deal with because of the problems incurred. Case in point my 2002 Honda offered me $1000. as trade-in with a bad trans. Toyota gave me $6000. with another $2000 off as a factory incentive. Honda parent company does not admit to having a problem, although they settled a class action suit on 1999 thru 2001 models 2002 to present are still failing. Class action suits are being pursued on this website on the later ones. Please see my post # 758. Keep in mind the safety rating will look pretty good with it sitting disabled in your driveway or in the shop for transmission replacement.
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Thanks to all for posting problems and solutions on this site. I have a 2007 Honda Odyssey that I have been fairly satisfied with. Current mileage is 36000. For the past 6000 miles or so I've been experiencing a vibration/shudder at 40-45 mph, observing engine rpms fluctuate from 1300-1600 associated with shifting into 5th gear. I have also noticed what felt like an intermittent misfire feeling at cruise speeds. I noticed this more during cold weather, more when the car was cold and more when I had the whole family in the van (600# of people). At 40-45 the problem was regularly intermittent with variations in engine rpm and an engine lugging sound (and associated vibration). Also, the best way of reproducing the problem seemed to be to get it into the sweet spot (40-45mph/1300-1500rpm) and come to a slight incline in the road requiring almost a breath of increase in the accelerator. On my initial complaint to the dealer I got the "normal condition" line. Doesn't work with me, I test aircraft for a living and know the difference between normal and "interesting". After the first visit I did my internet research, worked on defining the problem and developed my strategy for the next visit. 1st, I needed a dealer who could hook up a computer to take a snapshot during the shudder behavior. 2nd I needed a dealership technician who had seen the problem before (very important). I found both at Scholfield East Honda in Wichita, KS. The technician, who had experienced two Odyssey's with the same condition in the past, was able to reproduce the problem, take the snapshot and send it to Honda. The solution was to replace the torque converter. The repair took two days, the torque converter was replaced, the engine computer was updated, they cleaned out the transmission cooler lines (I have a towing package) and performed an alignment all on warranty. I picked up the van this evening and it drives "properly" again. Hope this helps. I would definitely shop for a Honda dealer that has seen this problem before. Search out a technician who knows how to reproduce the problem. Thanks again,
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After having been through 2 trannies on my ody 2005, I with the help of my Honda dealer switched to Amsoil over 3 oil changes (drain-and-fill) each time. Before the switch on my third tranny, shifts were quite harsh with the honda fluid. After the switch to Amsoil synthetic ATF shift quality has improved greatly. My Honda dealer has a great service manager who I deal with directly and he told me after the second drain and fill that the drained fluid looked superb unlike normally with the Honda fluid the drained fluid looked dark and brown. Also hetold me the drain plug magnet was clear and had virtually no filings. I also switched to the same fluid in my Acura TL again with the help of my Acura dealership with identical results. Also my Acura dealer actually thanked me for recommending the fluid as they actually used it to solve a torque converter issue in an Acura MDX. This saved them having to replace the torque converter since the shudder had just started. A few things that I wanted to note here are: 1. If one can find good and honest dealerships who are willing to help you then it makes it worth it to try out better products without fearing warranty issues and there indeed are dealerships out there that are good. 2. Sometimes it is just worth taking the risk to try out a new and better product. I was also discouraged by both the dealerships from using Amsoil ATF instead of the Honda Z1 ATF, but eventually I managed to convince them both to the point that they are believers. It is quite important to note that yelling at the dealerships for Honda's fault never advances your case - they won't help you, however patience and sweet talk will. Disclaimer: I do not have anything to do with Amsoil (I am not an Amsoil dealer nor do I recoomend any) nor Honda (which is why I am not naming the dealerships here). I am basing my personal experience with my Ody 2005 and the horrors of going through with the repairs (I had many issues with my ody 2005 - tranny, motor mount, a pipe, power steering pump). Hope that helps folks with tranny issues on the ody. |
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1. When do your Odysseys switch from 4th to 5th gear? Mine usually does it y at around 50mph/2100rpm, resulting in driving at 5th gear at 1500rpm at most of the time, engine moaning. 2. 5th Gear easily slips when I slightly rav to pass or the cruise at 80mph meets a regular medium length slope, where I think the car can easily maintain the required speed w/o switching back to 4th gear for more torque... Is it a problem? |
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| does the 1995-1998 ody generation have the infamous tranny problems? How is the overall reliability of this early generation odyssy? | |
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| I have a question. If engine mounts are cracked and I don't replace them, what will happen? As of yet I do not see any symptoms. I just had tranny, timing belt and spark plugs replaced. Am planning to keep it for 2 years and then trade it in. Will it last that long with cracked engine mounts? | |
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| Oops. Posted in the wrong forum. Sorry | |
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