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#1821 of 2392 Honda Odyssey Transmissions Stink!
by michellecmf
Mar 04, 2011 (3:23 pm)
February 29, 2011: I own a 2004 Honda Odyssey with 136,961 miles. I loved loved loved my Honda, until now. TCS & Check engine lights came on. Took to my local repair shop and they got the codes P0700AT & P0740TC. They advised I take to the dealer because it was a transmission issue which they don't. Dealer said could find nothing wrong with transmission but battery was weak and timimg belt & timing belt holder needed replacement. After paying $1200 I picked up the van and drove it home. The next morning the TCS & Engine came on again. Took it back to the dealer. They said local repair shop must have erased the transmission coded when they check them and that is why they didn't see them and thought there was nothing wrong with transmission even though I told them there was something wrong with it. They said I will need a new transmission. I called Honda America to file a case. They took my information and then told me there was nothing they could do to assist me. I asked to speak with a supervisor who told me the same thing. I don't know what to do. We are a one income family. I am a stay at home mom who takes care of her 92 year old Grandfather who has Alzheimers. We bought a Honda because we have always loved how dependable they are and now I don't have a car. With so many cases of transmission problems, I can't believe Honda won't back up their product. I can't afford a new transmission and have no idea how I am going to get my kids and my grandpa to school, doctors appointments, etc.
#1822 of 2392 Re: Honda Odyssey Transmissions Stink! [michellecmf]
by autowrite
Mar 04, 2011 (5:14 pm)
Opening CASES with Honda of America does not work in Canada. We also do not know of any garage up here that has 'bring it back once a year'. I gues I could let a BWM garage do it; but I trust Honda more than BMW. It my case my Honda dealer is side-by-side the BMW dealer.
#1823 of 2392 Re: Transmission Flush? [pgnagel]
by spdrcr61
Mar 06, 2011 (4:41 pm)
Is a transmission that easy to rebuild? Yes, I am a back yard mechanic. And is the torque converter part of the rebuild? Where did you get the parts?
#1824 of 2392 01 Accord LX 2.3L with AT Transmission problems
by spdrcr61
Mar 06, 2011 (5:09 pm)
No, I did not research this car like I've done every other car I purchased in my life. It was on the side of the road, ya know, kinda like 'Christine'. Didn't have much time to make a decision and Bam now I have a 3500$ beater car, that I plan on using for work (50mi each way) so I can limit the wear and tear on my 2010 car now with already 20K on it. Anyway, the Transmission which has 50K on it, I understand, from research and driving that it has more issues than 'Life' magazine. It slips and bangs into third. Here's the thing, when I purchased it, it drove ok... they probably filled it with Lucas or something. When I changed it, it smell horrible, not sure if it was a burning smell, but my garage still stinks. I performed a Drain and Fill 5X with Val Max Life Dex/Merc fluid. Well, now it has gotten 3X worse. Is it because I didn't use a 'Lucas' type bandaid? Is it because there's new fluid in it? Or (Skepticism alert) is because I didn't use the recommended Honda z1 atf fluid or the replacement DW 1?
#1825 of 2392 Re: Transmission Flush? [spdrcr61]
by pgnagel
Mar 06, 2011 (5:21 pm)
I thought it wasn't bad at all. If I did it again I would by a rebuild guide. They are $100, but I wouldn't have broken $162 in parts if I would have had the guide.
I got the parts from TransmissionPartsUSA.com, except for the stuff that I broke, which I got from my local Honda dealer. Any decent transmission shop can rebuild or source a rebuilt converter. You can't do it home as they are welded shut during assembly. I didn't rebuild mine since it didn't fail, but if I did it again I would fork over the extra $200 to have it done.
I was very organized, took lots of pictures, labeled EVERYTHING, kept my work area as clean as I could, and took my time. I disassembled, rebuilt, disassembled, rebuilt, etc., until I was comfortable with how it all went together. It's just a 3 shaft 4 speed with differential. There is planetary gear set or clutch band witchery to fool with, just shafts, gears, clutches, servos and the like. Not bad at all.
If you decide to do this and you have questions, let me know and I'll answer them as best I can. The hardest part was splitting the cases. After I saw the guts of the thing it pretty well made sense. If you are comfortable doing other work on your car and you have a decent imagination you can do this work and save yourself thousands.
Our van now has 6,000 miles on the rebuild and I'll be changing it over to synthetic fluid soon, and adding a transmission cooler.
#1826 of 2392 Re: 01 Accord LX 2.3L with AT Transmission problems [spdrcr61]
by pgnagel
Mar 06, 2011 (5:28 pm)
Use ONLY Honda fluid. I did the same thing with our 1999 Odyssey years ago and it was a mess. The Honda fluid has more friction modifiers in it, allowing for smoother shifts. Honda has recently switched over to a synthetic fuild, which should give a longer service life.
Also, it sounds like your second and third shift soleniods are plugging up. It's a little work on the outside of the transmission to pop a little cover, pull some tubes, and clean out the slime. The passage tubes have little screens in them that jam up with clutch material. Once partially plugged it takes a lot of pressure to trigger that shift, and SLAM! you think the bottom is going to fall out of the car.
Let me know if you want to give it a try.
#1827 of 2392 Re: 01 Accord LX 2.3L with AT Transmission problems [pgnagel]
by spdrcr61
Mar 06, 2011 (6:05 pm)
Thanks for your advice. I just hate to put out 80$ in fluid but I guess it's much cheaper than a new trans ,, And yes, you bet, I wanna pop a little cover, pull some tubes, and clean out the slime !!!! Do you have a DIY on this or something that may help me out... ?? Thanks
#1828 of 2392 2009 Honda Odyssey Engine smoking
by jaydowns001
Mar 12, 2011 (4:37 pm)
My wife was idling and speaking with one of the neighbors and this loud buzzing/spraying sound started coming from the engine. She freaked out and turned off the car. I started it up again and drove it the few houses down to put it in the driveway and popped the hood. About 4 minutes later the sound was duplicated and smoke/steam started coming out with it.
It sounded like something was spraying out or venting somewhere on the left hand side (if you're facing the car). The smoke was kind of sweet smelling (not like oil or radiator fluid). The reservoir for the radiator was about a quart low (which I filled) and the oil was a bit low (which I also remedied). Afterwords, I ran the engine for about 30 minutes with the AC on high... can't seem to duplicate the problem. No leaks. No smoke.
I did notice the power steering fluid was a bit high, but otherwise the normal stuff seemed OK.
Has anyone had a similar problem or have any ideas?
#1829 of 2392 Re: 2009 Honda Odyssey Engine smoking [jaydowns001]
by pgnagel
Mar 12, 2011 (6:05 pm)
Where exactly was the steam coming from? There aren't a lot of fluids in a car, so it should be easy to figure out. It sounds like you may have popped a hose. It happens.
#1830 of 2392 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L, shuddering transmission
by scahartman
Mar 12, 2011 (6:17 pm)
Hello all, I too am having problems with my Honda. We are getting a shuddering when the vehicle tries to change gears from 25 to 45 mph range. It doesn't do it all the time, mostly when in normal mode vs ECO mode. I am the original owner and the vehicle has under 58,000 miles. I took it to a local repair shop (not dealer) and they informed me they have replaced numerous Odyssey transmissions because of this known issue. They suggested using a Jasper transmission as it comes with a 3 year 100,000 mile warranty. But, the cost is $4800. I started doing a net search and it appears Jasper is the way to go as the Honda transmission don't seem to hold up even if you can get Honda to pay anything toward a replacement. I have not really had too many problems with our vehicle to date with the exception of the transmission. I find all the posts disheartening. This is the first foreign vehicle I've ever bought and I expected more. For a transmission to go out this early, with nice and easy driving, it's a shame. Honda should have a recall and fix this once and for all.