scottd

About a week ago my Check Engine Light came on, 1999 Accord V6. I checked the code and it indicated “Torque Converter Clutch Malfunction”. The car was shifting and driving fine, so I brought it in to the Honda dealer to get the transmission fluid changed. I cleared the error, but it came right back on. The car was shifting and driving fine.

Today on my way to work at 75 mph at highway speeds, it shifted in to second and stayed there. You can imagine what that did to RPMs! Now it won’t go in to Reverse or any other forward gear but second.

I called my Honda dealer and they said I’m looking at a transmission replacement. $2950 just for the parts (doesn’t include labor). The transmission comes with a 36,000 mile warranty that I will easily use up in one year due to my long commute.

Being that the car has 136,000 miles on it, I expect a little maintenance. I would think it should last longer, especially being babied, but I figured it was highly regrettable, although somewhat understandable.

That was until I started looking online! Have you seen this thread! I know you can’t always trust the internet, but it sure looks like a recurring problem.

http://www.autofan.com/forum_t...=3625

I see the new 2006 V6 has a manual transmission... My second, more reliable car, is a modded DSM... Any idea if the 99 Accord V6 and 2006 Accord V6 have the same motor and accompanying transmission bolt pattern? I would drive the other car and take the time to fabricate all the crap to not deal with the glass auto transmission again...

MichaelQ

The engines are different, but the same series. You can bolt the manual to your 6th gen accord, but it's not simple and you're dealing with some wiring issues. Most likely you're going to need to trick the car into thinking it's in neutral. Sucks Honda was willing to put such a crappy tranny in a beautiful car.

Ross 2.0

Yea those year Accords and Odysssey's crap out their transmissions on a regular baisis. Too bad about the mileage because up to 100K miles Honda has a warranty extension on some of those transmissions. And a sublet company made those crappy transmissions, the stuff Honda makes under their own factories is golden, the sublet stuff is crap.

speed_racer012

that sucks. sounds kinda like the old Legend trannys though

scottd

Yeah, the thing I was worried most about was the ECU integration these cars have. Seems that the ECU is running/monitoring a lot of tranny things as well.

Such a great car, nice engine, too bad the transmission is so sub-par...

Duster

I dont know why hondas automatic tranny's suck so bad...My accord lx has gone through 2 automatic transmissions in last 120k miles...and its been BABIED...

scottd

I talked to American Honda yesterday. They said because of the widespread problem they consider even high mileage cars on a case by case basis. Many people with consistent service records have had them replaced out of warranty on "goodwill". Restores my faith in Honda a little.

If they can't do it, the trans is going to IPT. http://ipttrans.com/ I trust them a lot more than a reman'ed Honda tranny after reading all the posts online.

Cursed be the day that my significantly modded DSM is more reliable than my stock Honda Accord.

bostoncal

yeah i heard the 98-01 v6 is notorious for the transmission problem. i guess the wife car will be up for sale soon.

kbanks45

Do 03-05 auto trannys have this problem?

2001accord

A little off topic, but i am doing a swap and have my 01 v6 motor and trans for sale. It has only 47K and apart of the 100K warranty they issued for the failures. I was asking $950 obo for the tranny. Shift fine, and fluid was replaced with redline high Temp atf to give its life some extra help so it lasts.

promix

Friend of mine has Accord Coupe 99 with V6 auto. His transmission started falling apart @140k. He was qouted $4000 for the transmission plus $1500 for the replacement. He replaced it himself with a remanufactured transmission. Paid around $1500 plus tools. Runs fine, no complains.

By the type of his work he has to deal with different types of metal. When he looked at description of IPT transmissions he said that these transmissions should be incredibly sturdy and will outlast the rest of the car. But he didn't want to pay more than double price.

In general, yes, 98-02 Accord transmissions have problems.

Caveman74

I had mine replaced @ 54k. Same thing happened to me Internal Clutch. Mine was replaced under warrenty.

scottd

Got a call from Mile High Honda today... they talked to American Honda corporate and Honda is replacing my transmission for the cost of labor, the parts and everything else will be free...

At 136,000 miles that's pretty impressive if you ask me... Definitely restores my faith in Honda... also really impresses me that Mile High Honda dealt with corporate for me and made it so easy...

MichaelQ

The other day mine got stuck in 2nd gear, pegged the RPM needle at 6. Mine is going again.

YeuEmMaiMai

Those automatic transmissions should easily last 200K plus with normal maint...however they have problems with internal gears not being up to spec

scottd

Wow...

On Saturday, as I mentioned, my dealer called to tell me good news..

Today, American Honda called to make sure I was happy. They also mentioned that because I was paying for labor, that the transmission would be covered for 3 years or 36,000 miles.

Transmission problems aside, this is some incredible customer service. On a car with 136,000 miles they have been more than fair even given the high incidence of transmission problems.

shvr007

Hi Scott,
I have a 02 Honda Accord V6 and am having Tranny problems. The dealer says the Tranny needs to be replaced. He says this is a known issue with these models. So I am in the boat as you were.
How could I get Honda Corporate to replace the Tranny ? What did you/your Honda dealer have to do in this regard ? I would like to try the approach.

Would greatly appreciate any information.

- Harry

graham_h

I've just had mine rebuilt at a cost of $2,700. Clutches were completely gone. Good news was it was all original and never been touched. Just clicked over 308,000 k's.