Hey guys. I'm a professional mechanic (or 'technician' for the uppity) with a lot of experience in makes OTHER than Honda. Dealer work has included Volvo, Infiniti, and Ford, but I'll generally work on anything. Which has led to me just working for myself.

I'm not making any attempt to brag or anything, btw- I'm not one of those guys that posts his credentials on internet forums and tells everyone how smart he is (...those guys are usually idiots). Just trying to give a little background before asking some questions.

I'm capable of rebuilding transmissions, but have never specifically been a 'tranny guy' (ok that phrase sounds bad when you're not in a shop). No experience with Hondas. I know they pretty much buck the industry standard with their design, for better or worse...seems like worse, from what I've seen of the problems they've had with models in the 90's and 2000's.

A friend of mine has an '02 Accord that she began experiencing some issues with. I talked with her about it and gave her advice while she was living in another part of the state. She took the car to a couple places (trans shop, dealer) and...well, dealt with the kind of stuff that makes me not want to associate with most shops. The trans shop gave her some bogus quote (like $500) to remove and 'inspect' the transmission...I alerted her that this was a ruse to get her car in for a trans overhaul without quoting a full price up front.

The dealer quoted her the typical price for installing a factory-remanned tranny. Some kid there drove it and said he'd seen cars go 10,000+ miles with that kind of slippage before failing. And somewhere along the line, someone convinced her to do a trans flush, against my recommendation (good grief, what shop in their right mind will even allow a flush to be done on a slipping trans?)

Now she's back in my city...I test-drove and confirmed my suspicions and then some. The second gear clutch pack is dying. 1-2 and 3-2 shifts are inconsistent and take way too long. If this were the only problem, as least she would have the third gear limp-in mode when it fails, and the trans would be rebuildable.

...the other problem is the absolute HOWL coming from the final drive. You can feel the roughness when you spin the RF wheel; I'm sure the differential bearing on that side is toast.

I told her she could drive it to destruction, but that it was likely going to start leaking a lot of fluid from the half-shaft seal on that side, and that if the bearing came apart, the trans could easily 'grenade' if a piece of hardened steel got between some gears.

I think I've convinced her to fix it as soon as possible. Her budget dictates that that pretty much means I'm going to need to rebuild it for her.

This is okay with me. With a little time and some reference information, I can do a decent rebuild.



Okay...end of story time. If that was tl;dr, then start here. I've got a few questions that maybe someone can help with.

I'd like to be able to acquire an identical used trans to rebuild (so it's fine if it comes with pre-smoked clutches). That way, I can take my time building it without her car having to be down for more than a day. And I don't have to worry about taking her trans apart, needing extra parts, and getting delayed for multiple days.

What's compatible with the '02 Accord (2.3L)? I believe the 1998-2002 Accords used the 'BAXA,' which is a variant of the M6HA...apparently there are a lot of different four-letter variants. All appear to take the same rebuild kits...so what's the difference? Final drive and/or gear ratios?

Are there any compatibility issues with electronics? Different connectors, different TCM's?

And what's up with the early transmissions that seem to look externally identical? I'm having trouble sourcing a local 98+ trans, but there are plenty of 96-97 Accords in salvage yards that still have their transmissions. I believe this is the H4A (with, again, lots of 4-letter variants)- what's different between it and the M6HA?

I'm assuming the B7XA is V6 only, right?

Also, what's the best reference material for rebuilds? Most people seem to say Helm manual, as it's apparently what the dealers use...my problem is that, well, it's what the dealers use. A lot of manufacturers only recommend trans replacement on FWD cars, and do not provide their dealers with detailed overhaul information.

Anyone used the ATSG manual?

Sorry for the barrage of questions. In addition to wanting to help a friend, I'd also simply like to learn, and I seem to have exhausted what can be learned from google.

It's also simply a good area to get familiar with. As in, it's lucrative. There seems to be a heck of a lot of demand in my area (probably most areas) for someone who can fix Honda transmission woes for a reasonable price.

Anyhow, sorry for the long post. Any advice or clarification on some of these questions would be greatly appreciated.

 

No takers, eh? I guess most 'enthusiast' types don't mess with the autos, so it's understandable.

I had one other question to add, if anyone's able to answer- Are Honda's torque converters particularly reliable/unreliable? I've always replaced them with an overhaul. Usually with a Dacco reman from the local trans supplier, since they're pretty cheap (~100-150 bucks) and I've never had an issue with one.

 

Good plan, especially if a diff bearing spun in the case and ruined it.

'98 - '02 should work, make sure it comes from the same trim level, an EX trans normally has different gear ratios than a DX/LX and will throw codes with the wrong TCM. Don't get a JDM trans for the same reason, sometimes they use different gear ratios than a USDM trans.

Correct.

Get the helms manual. Honda does not ever rebuild transmissions at a dealer level, however the helms manual has all the rebuild info in it. The one time I rebuilt a Honda automatic ('03 Acura TL) I had my local dealership print me that section of the service manual (my friend was the service manager at the time, your mileage may vary on this one) These transmissions are not particularly hard to build, it's more or less a manual with clutch packs instead of synchros.

No, but replace it anyway, otherwise you may contaminate your freshly rebuilt trans with dirt from the old torque converter.