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The 98-02 Accord EXV6 has tranny issues; so bad infact they extended the warranty to 112k miles and 7 years after a lawsuit; had mine changed out by a shop about a year ago w/88k miles on it. You should check the manufacturing date on the car and check around for a dealer that can replace it. New tranny, from the dealer, runs $1,300 which is a steal when you consider everything inside is brand new and the thing'll run another 100k without a problem. You can pretty much pull the engine, drop the trans, attach a new one, drop the engine in, bam, done. If the timing belt/water pump needs done then is the time to do it.

With that said, CV joints can cause hard shifting if they're loose; check your boots and try to move the CV joints around a bunch in directions they aught not to go. Typically, a lot of clunking park to 1st and reverse will indicate there's an issue. Manually shift the thing 1/2 and 2/3, bring it to a complete stop, etc to see where it's clunking. A bad solenoid can cause problems as well; the tranny sets its own codes so it may be worthwhile to find a shop that can pull codes for you.

Check your alternator; the trans shifts based on solenoid input, if the available power low it won't shift right.

Check your speed sensor since that also has a bit to do with the solenoid base shifting.

Burnt clutches will tarnish the fluid inside of a month, if you've got to change it out that much consider getting some trans fix; it'll tighten up the shifts by adding some grit to the fluid. It's generally made for older transmissions.

Otherwise, the trans wasn't designed for this car and it blows up inside of 100k miles typically. Dicking with engine RPM rapidly and inconsistently will screw up an engine; it wasn't designed for that.

 

ur trans is done. I would definately get a HONDA REMAN unit. they have corrected all of the issues and the new trans should easily last 200K or more

 

Basically bobinator5000 and YeuEmMaiMai covered it all. These transmissions can, and often do go bad, even if you perfectly maintenance them.

Fortunately these tranny replacements are getting cheaper in most areas.

 

what does the install cost at the dealer? approx 3k? including labor

 

Obviously the price can vary, (you know someone there, mechanic can get the trans cheaper, etc.) but I'd say you can expect a typical dealer quote around that.

Make sure to look around though. A surprising amount of people seem to be having good luck finding someone who will do it for a grand or two. Guess its because its becoming a more common fix.

 

if you can get the trans and install it yourself that would be the best route. a trans shop typically charges $700-1K for a trans R&R