I stripped the transmission drain on my 2001 accord v6 when I overtightened. Inhave ordered the time sert kit to repair the hole but is it absolutely necessary to remove the transmission in order to tap this hole? Im desperate! Please feel free to email me as well. Thx 4 ur help!

 

no, not necessary to remove it,
just after you tap it and put the helicoil, pour fluid in the trans and let loose shavings fall out, use a small soft brissle brush to brush out and shavings.
I would run the trans with some fluid and run all the gears then re drain it just in case you missed any shavings, then run the new fluid that you just drained through a strainer so you don't have to buy new fluid

 

On F22/23 cars there is room on the right side to work on the drain plug. J30 the drivetrain is flipped, as long as there is enough room to work you should be fine.

 

do they have a tranny pan mike ?

 

AFAIK, all 90-02 ATs be it an F or J series does not have a removable pan. There is just a sump integrated into the case with the magnetic plug.

 

That sucks. Ya all the accords I've had have been manuals. My camry had a removable pan.

 

Your Camry probably had an Aisin transmission. Aisin used to be partnered up with Borg/Warner for a few decades, it has some more older/common design integration and conveniences. But also maintained more common nuances as well, like a large pan for valve body access. Such a footprint takes up precious area in a vehicle, not just physically but also being able to readily access it.

Honda didn't want to pay Borg-Warner/Hydramatic royalties for using patented components in their Automatics. So they Yao Ming'd it and came up with their own form of AT. More common AT parts can be removed, planetary gear set + all associated components, mechanical governors, place the shift solenoids on the outside of the case rather than buried behind a valve body, etc. The great thing about this is they can control all aspects of the design and build to create a compact transmission like the H4A(90-97). However if someone screws the pooch you can end up with a product that may be disastrous like the M6HA(98-02), and not have a secondary supplier to help in fixing the issue.

TL;DR I think it sucks that the Accord AT's don't have an access panel of some sort for easier filter replacement, but by the time the filter needs servicing due to lack of fluid replacement/plugged up. It's ~200Kmiles and Honda is probably more concerned with it's latest model. Not a 10-20y.o. Accord not owned by the original owner.