Honda Odyssey Transmission Problems

dave594 · December 2003

Considering the van weighs over 4000 lbs, it's being subjected to a lot of load. I try to baby my tranny just be driving as smooth as possible. If you do a lot of stop and go with frequent upshifts and downshift, that'll probably contribute to the wear and tear. Just be gentle with your right foot. It also doesn't hurt to stop completely before shifting from reverse to forward, vice versa. I also am a believe in using the parking brake when I park the van, to keep the weight of the vehicle from being put on the tranny. Whether that does any good I don't know but so far it's worked for me. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to get a tranny flush every 30k miles or so.

pat84 · December 2003

Perhaps, some of us did what you suggest and treated the transmission like a baby. Perhaps, I even ordered the Honda transmission oil cooler installed prior to delivery. Perhaps. My 99 Odyssey was dealer maintained and the transmission fluid flushed every 30 K miles.
The transmission still went at 68 K miles. I hope yours does much better.
.

buddyzuniga · December 2003

I personally know three people with a the 2002 Honda Odyssey. Two had their transmissions replaced once so far and the other twice, at the dealers expence. One had a water leak in the rear section and had to have the damaged interior replaced, at dealers expence. I also know a third person who is a mechanic he has a 1999 Odyssey that has had a transmission replaced at 36,500 miles and a transmission cooling system installed at the time the new transmission was installed. I also want to add that while I was at the dealership having my Odyssey equiped with lowjack, I noticed a lady dropping off her Odyssey. I was curious so I asked her what year her van was she said it was a 2002. I'll give you one guess as to why she was there "THAT'S RIGHT HOW'D YOU GUESS!" She told me the van was running fine when a warning light came on but she still brought it in to have it checked out. When she got it back the warning light was off, they told her to bring it back if it happened again, it did happen again. According to her it was still running fine up to that day. She got a free replacement transmission on her 2002. Dispite all of this I recently purchased a 2004 EXL-RES. I never drive off until the temperature gauge touches the first line of the temperature reading even if I have driven it earlier that day. Last but not least I do baby it, but the transmission is always in the back of my mind. Is it true that transmissions in the 2004 models were made in Japan? If this is true what difference does it make? Till next time, happy trails.

dweick · December 2003

Previously wrote about transmission problems in my 80,000 file 2000 Odyssey, took it to the dealer and Honda is going to replace it. I appreciate that Honda is footing the bill, including a rental car but have they solved the problem in these transmissions?

jchan2 · December 2003

is a 2002 EX, doing fine after 40,000 miles. I do a lot of highway driving with the cruise control on, that might be why mine's lasted so long. Good luck to those that need repairs, I hope Honda is helping you get a new transmission!

hills99 · December 2003

We purchased a 2004 Odyssey two days ago. This morning, my wife calls to say she was pulling up to an intersection and all of a sudden the van started to accelerate. There were cars stopped at a light in front of her, and she slammed on the brakes which did nothing but generate friction and smoke. The light changed and she made it through the intersection before the accelerator became "unstuck." She said it felt as though the cruise control was stuck on. She went directly to the local dealership who checked out the vehicle and found no problems.
Has anyone else experienced such a problem?

stever · December 2003

The dealer's usual reaction to a situation like this is operator error.

I don't know what else you can do if the van has been checked over. Get a second opinion at your own expense perhaps.

You could also send a letter to the dealer and Honda to put them on notice of a potential safety problem so that your heirs will have a better law suit if it happens again.

Seriously, I would look at the NHTSA.org complaints and see if there are any similar reports and file your own. And contact Honda customer service if you think the dealer is shining you on.

Good luck!

Steve, Host

isellhondas · December 2003

With the brakes slammed on there should be no way the car could still move even with the gas pedal pushed to the floor.

Steve, it usually IS operator error. Remember the Audi deal back in the eighties? They could never duplicate the "problem" although they did determine the gas pedal and brake pedal were probably mounted too close together.

Still...pretty scary and nothing I have ever heard of before.

stever · December 2003

Here's some stuck throttle posts of interest. There were more I found with the Advanced Search tool on the left sidebar but didn't skim past the first couple of pages of hits. There are surely a few if you search for "unintended acceleration" also.

abayarde "Suzuki Aerio SX" Jun 25, 2003 8:34am

steve_ "Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada" May 12, 2003 4:00pm

kosh_2258 "Chrysler 300M" Mar 12, 2003 11:59pm

andre1969 "NISSAN and Unintended Acceleration" Feb 26, 2003 8:32am

otherthanthat "Mazda MPV Owners: Problems & Solutions" Sep 6, 2002 9:32am

bishopk99 "Honda Accord problems" Apr 15, 2000 4:23am

Hope this helps.

Steve, Host

jchan2 · December 2003

I would alert Honda and complain to NHTSA. Yours just may be the one that opens an investigation into the 99-04 Odyssey minivan.

jchan2 · December 2003

your complaint.

nofeer · December 2003

these are unusual for any trans, with or without cooling, sounds like a design defect i'll wait a while before buying the new ody, what's the failure rate of the sienna trans???? i'll bet much less. honda can have design flaws, just like toyo with the sludge problem took years to admit it, requred a model change to 3.3 l to change it. honda needs a new trans design

dtownfb · December 2003

I would also check your floor mats as well. I have an Explorer and when we used the black plastic mats in the winter months, the mats slid around so much that it would sometimes get caught up on top of the pedals. Sometimes this would cause the accelerator to be depressed as the brake was being pushed down. These mats also had a "lip" on them to hold water on the mat. This normally happened when my wife drove as she has a tendency to "push" the mat under the pedal instead of lifting her feet.

Also I have size 14 feet and at times if I get lazy with my feet, I accidently hit both pedals causing the car not to slow down. So it is quite possible that this is operator error.

The best thing to do is to take it to another mechanic and check it out.

sgiurlando · December 2003

The "Malfunction Indicator Lamp" came on over the weekend in my 2000 ODY w/ 55K miles. We dropped the van at the dealer last night and guess what - we need a new transmission. I have an extended warranty so it is covered, but I believe it would be covered anyway by Honda.

I am now wondering if we should be keeping this van past the 7 years / 100K miles that my warranty covers as we had originally planned. This is very dissapointed as we had put alot of money into this van over the last four years, meticulously following the recommended maintenance schedule in the owners manual.

All of my service was done by Babylon Honda - any past experiences with them related to them repairing transmission problems?

laurob · January 2004

I posted a message in mid-Nov. about a brand new 03 Oddy w/transmission type problems. The dealership service manager drove w/us, experienced the problem & made us wait until the tech from CA came. The tech drove the car for 15min, stated it's driving as normal & told them to give it back to us. The service dept has told us, we've experienced the problem, but we don't know what causes it, and if we don't know what causes it, we can't fix it... Great logic,huh? We're still waiting to meet w/the area rep, as we've been told this is the next step. My question is, does anyone have any suggestions on what to do from here? I know the lemon law is available, but I've heard this is a time consuming & often futile exercise...? Any ideas on dealing w/Honda would be appreciated.

dtownfb · January 2004

I would write a letter to the service department detailing your actiivities. Meaning describe exactly the trouble with the car, how the service manager also experienced the same situation, and ultimatley how the teech declared it "nnormal". Make sure you note everyone's name as well. Stick to the facts. Keep as much emotion out the letter as possible. I would also send this letter to the regional/district manager as well. This is to make sure the incident is documented in case their is further damage to the transmission and the vehicle.

I don't think you qualify for lemon law yet but you should check the standards of your state.

indianhead · January 2004

I have 1999 Odyssey, in good shape, with 38,000 miles on it. Recently, after accelerating to highway speed, I get a light "shudder" noise, when I take my foot off the accelerator. This doesn't happen at highway speed, when I slow down.
It only happens when I am gaining speed
and then remove my foot from the accelerator.
Thoughts?
Thanks.

azkid1 · January 2004

Have 2002 EX 60K miles. Buzzing noise between 1 & 2K RPM. Goes away above and below those RPMs, and occurs while stopped or moving. Occurs in all tranny shift positions. Is getting gradually louder. Two dealers don't really have any idea. PS is very sluggish in weather under 40 degrees, but haven't been in temps below 25.

spartanmann · January 2004

My advice is sell. Honda service depts tend to be very courteous and helpful, but they can't always figure things out. From personal experience with Honda, the chances are very slim that the zone rep or anyone else at the corporate level will assist you or even pretend to care about your problem. I speak from firsthand experience. My story is much too long to get into, but to understand what you're getting into, try to get the name and contact phone number or e-mail of your zone rep and then try to make an appointment with him/her.

Corporate Honda's attitude toward customer satisfaction is astonishingly bad. I still drive an Odyssey that has been troublefree with one glaring exception. I'm reluctantly going to by a 2004 Ody. Love the product, despise the Company.

dbiderman · January 2004

I'm posting just to let everyone know that Honda/Ourisman put a new transmission in our 2002 Odyssey in late Dec., and we didn't get charged anything (37,100 miles). I was told that at least 2 solenoids went bad, because if only 1 goes they fix it, while if 2 or more go they replace the transmission. They gave us a van as a loaner for a week while they got the new transmission and got us our van back so we could go to Fla for the holidays. We put 2600 miles on the new transmission, and so far, so good.

blmccall · January 2004

I too have a 99 ody. which had a tranny shudder in D4 only.At least I thought it was the tranny.The dealer in Bradenton Fl. said it could be the EGR valve.They put in a new valve and EGR kit which has to do with enlarging some holes which can become clogged with carbon or particles from tranny metal.
  The new unit seems to have cured the problem but I will reserve judgement for a while.
    My van also has about 37000mi.Did you know that an extended warranty has been issued for 99-01 Odys.The EGR valve warranty has also been extended to 8yrs/80000mi. for my vans VIN#
  I would suggest that you contact Honda head office to find out the status of your vans VIN#.They will confirm recalls etc.

spseps · January 2004

i had my tranny replaced at 44000 miles, and it just dosent feel the same. gas mileage is worse. i took it to dealer and they said they could find nothing wrong. i told them i did not believe the 5th speed was engaging and they said that tranny only has 4 speeds! do you think they would put a pre 2002 tranny in there as a replacement? since honda picked up the tab i feel limited as to what i can do. any suggeestions or comments appreciated.

tjy · January 2004

Hoping someone out there can help me. We have a 2002 Odyssey EX and have had a problem with the transmission. At least 4 - 5 times a week seemingly at random, when starting the car, the car will not shift out of park. None of the gear selector lights light up, not even the "P" for park and the stick on the steering column won't budge. From there we have to turn the car off, take the key and jam it down into the small hole through the top of the steering column (after popping the little plastic cover off of it), shift the car into neutral and then start it again. From there the transmission will shift for as long as the car is running but when we park it and turn it off again, we never know when it will get jammed again. Took it to the dealer, they of course won't do anything if they can't reproduce the problem so we're stuck, much like the shifter. Anyone else have this problem and know what it was so we can diagnose the problem for the mechanics/dealer....apparentely they need us to their jobs for them. Any help would be much appreciated.....THANKS!

allieoop · January 2004

My 2000 Honda Odyssey with 65,000 miles just had to have a new transmission and catalytic converter. The dealer said they are having "trouble" with transmission out there so Honda has extended the warranties on transmissions for 1999-2003 Odysseys, Accords, Preludes, Acura TLs and Cls. The guy at the dealer told me off the record that increased production has forced Honda to use a variety of contractors for their transmissions, resulting in a substandard product. Further research on the Internet confirms this as tons of people are having transmissions go out at around the 50,000 mile mark.

isellhondas · January 2004

It's something like 2%. The newer Odysseys and Accord now have a different 5 speed transmission.

tingwen · January 2004

It seems Ody has long history of transmission problem. Does Honda resolve this problem in '04 model? I am in market shopping for a van. If this problem persists, I might go for Sienna (which I need to pay more :-()

wen

isellhondas · January 2004

You will find similar tales of woe including transmission problems.

These forums attract the minority of owners who have had troubles. The vast majority have not.

mrsmaddmaxx · January 2004

I looked up the TMV of my 2002 Oddy Sept 2003 copied it for my records, then I did it again today Jan 18 2004 to see how much it depreciate. I put in every thing in the same way except the mile I put in then was 20404 to day it's 26000.To my surprise... TMV went up $406.00????? How??? Everything is the same!!!!!!!! EXCEPT I PUT MORE MILES ON IT! Please respond Thanks!

mrsmaddmaxx · January 2004

I called my Honda customer service and they said there was no extended warrinties on the 99-03 oddys trans except the 3/36000 it came with. How do I find out diff? Thanks!

rbell2 · January 2004

This happened on my 1998 Accord - it was a bad brake light switch. As you know, you have to press the brake to move the transmission shifter out of Park. When you press the brake, it makes a switch that allows you to move the shifter out of park. The switch had gone bad in my Accord and so the shifter was not being released and I had to over-ride it with a manual switch like you are doing to get it out of park. This switch also tells the brake lights to come on so I was riding around with no active brake lights during this period as well!! Maybe this is what is wrong with your Ody. We have on '03 Ody and so far no problems with 7,500 miles. Good luck!

speedyzx6 · January 2004

I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey Ex with 33,000 miles . For some time now I have noticed while driving the vehicle, the transmission will downshift for no reason. It does this rather harshly. The vehicle will then slow down while the RPM jumps up. This is really a very uneasy feeling. Just last week I noticed that when the vehicle was cold the transmission will bang very hard into reverse. This problem was not intermittent and actually got worse. I made an appointment at the dealer. I dropped off the vehicle to the dealer the night before so they could feel the transmission problem while the vehicle was cold. To my surprise the dealer stated no problem found. I told them impossible!. I told the dealer I will not pick up the vehicle, but I would return the next morning and duplicate the transmission problem to them. I went to the dealer the next morning and started the engine up, put the vehicle into reverse and sure enough it banged very hard into reverse. I went into the office and told the advisor that its doing it now. The advisor called the shop foreman and he verified the problem with me. The dealer stated that they will check the vehicle out further and measure the transmission line pressure. The next day the advisor called me and told me that the vehicle will need to have the transmission replaced. I was very surprised to hear this. The vehicle only had
33,000 miles on and it's only 2 years old. All I can say is, Thank God its under warranty. I am even more surprised because I thought that only the 99-01 Odysseys have transmission problems. The 2002 has a different transmission than previous years. The 2002 is a 5 speed while the previous models are 4 speeds. I can only hope that this replacement transmission will last longer than my original transmission. I wonder if I will get some kind of warranty on this replacement transmission. I hope Honda will give me more than the balance of my factory warranty on this replacement transmission. I will call the dealer and ask them. Any comments will be appreciated.

dave594 · January 2004

Honda extended the warranty on the 99 and 00 transmissions about over a year ago. I have a 99 and received the warranty extension to 7 yr/ 100k miles directly from Honda. If you didn't get one, contact Honda, not the dealer.

pat84 · January 2004

these forums attract the minority of owners who have had troubles. The vast majority have not.

This is probably true. I traded in a 96 Dodge Caravan at 72K miles with a bad transmission on a 99 Odyssey EX.
I had the dealer install a transmision oil cooler. The dealer- maintained Odyssey transmision went out at 68K miles. It took 3 transmissions and 21 days for a re manufactured transmission that was functioning sufficiently for installation. The first two had problems.
This was before they extended the warranty to 100k miles on the 99's too. To their credit, Honda covered the out of warranty transmission replacement.
But, if you are one of the 2% with a bad transmisson, there is a 100% failure rate.
I told my Honda dealer to fix it just good enough to get me a block away to the Toyota dealer.

isellhondas · January 2004

Toyota aren't immune to transmission problems either. Check the forums. No car is perfect and there will always be a percentage that cause trouble. Hopefully you will be with the majority this time who don't have problems.

mrsmaddmaxx · January 2004

I have an 2002 oddy. I called Honda 1-800 # and they told me no.

hondamom1 · January 2004

I have just had the transmission replaced in my 99 odyssey at 75,000 under the extended warranty. Now am told that head gasket needs to be replaced due to a coolant leak. Any else experienced this?

pat84 · January 2004

I bought a 4Runner. They don't even have a transmission problem forum.
I will say this about Toyota. Their service department sucks. I told them they should go on a field trip to the Honda dealership a block way to see how it's supposed to be done. Honda service was outstanding. If Honda offered an equivalent to the 4 Runner I sure would have looked at it.

kilzok · January 2004

I have a 2004 Oddy with 2,000 miles. The area I live in gets pretty cold (near zero) When I shift to reverse and the car is cold it really slams into gear. I try to wait some for the car to idle down but it does'nt help much. Does anyone else have this problem? Will this damage the transmission? Any thoughts will be appreciated.

ac00lra · January 2004

I just had my transmission replaced on my 2001 Odyssey. I heard about it before too. But about 2 months ago I actually noticed the hard shifting when it's cold, and also the Check Engine light came on. I checked http://www.honda.com and clicked on Honda Cars, then click on Owners Link, register for a login and enter my Odyssey's VIN and voila, it tells me right there that my van is under the extended warranty. I printed out and brought to the dealer. They agreed and schedule it to be replace. The only bad experience out of this was with the dealer. They told me my transmission has to be ordered and will take a week. I said that's fine but will I get a loaner car. They told me no. Then they told me I will also be charged with $100 for diagnostic fee. They said that's the policy. I got really pissed off but didn't want to argue with them. So I called up Honda Customer Service, they told me in no way I have to pay for that fee. They also said they can re-imburse my rental fee. But I didn't want to bother with that since I do have an extra car at home. :-) Anyway, my learnings from this experience is that don't let any dealer give you BS. Read about it on the Net like these kind of forums, check Honda's website. And best of all, call Honda Customer Service. I think they are first class in support.

raygur1957 · January 2004

Are you parking on a hill or any type of incline? That can cause the harsh shift to reverse. My driveway is on an incline and I use the emergency brake when parking. I notice the shift isn't as hard when backing out when I use the emergency brake as it is when I don't.

masterpaul1 · January 2004

I use my emergency brake when parking in my garage. My floor is on an incline and if I don't use the emergency brake, the van rolls forward a couple of inches. I noticed that it was hard shifting from Park to Drive with all the weight of the van on the trans. I highly suggest using the emergency brake when on uneven surfaces to prevent future trans. problems.

kimo9 · January 2004

I, too, have an incline on my drive way. I will stop the vehicle, engage the emergency break, take my foot off the brake pedal, then put the vehicle in neutral for a few seconds....this ensures that the brake is taking on the weight.....then put it into park. If you put on the brake and immediately shift to park while stepping on the brake pedal, the trans is still taking on a lot of the stress. In doing this I've not had any problems shifting into gear from park.

raygur1957 · January 2004

I do exactly as you by putting the car into neutral after applying the emergency brake to let the brake take the weight of the car and not the transmission.

I am also trying to make sure after reversing, that I let the car come to a complete stop before changing the gear into drive.

After reading about the problems with the Ody transmissions, I am trying to change my driving habits, to put the least stress on the transmission as I can.

rmtrader · January 2004

We have had the same transmission "knocking" problem with our 2002 Odyssey and this is with the emergency brake used on a flat parking surface. It really only started over the last couple of months. I am also noticing some gear slippage between 2nd and 3rd. The van is going in for routine servicing next week and I am having them look at the transmission. I want my concerns documented if there is ever an issue in the future. Will let you know what the dealership says.

We also have a 1998 Pathfinder (this was supposed to be the family vehicle until we had three Kids in 2 years!). The reliability has been superb and the transmission will not 'knock' when shifted into reverse from park even if it is -25 outside. It is hard for me not to compare the Honda to the Nissan in this regard, despite being completely different types of vehicles.

-Dave

kimo9 · January 2004

Should we assume that the "knocking" or "thumping" that happens when shifting into reverse is necessarily a bad thing?

I know that the ABS brakes shudder like crazy when they engage, but that is how they are designed.

Just a thought.

speedyzx6 · January 2004

Yes my 2002 Honda Odyssey also has a very harsh shift into reverse. This message is a reply to an earlier post. I also tried to let the idle drop but it does not help. Even when temperature outside is not that cold the transmission will still bang very hard into reverse. My Odyssey is right now sitting at the dealership waiting for a new transmission. Thank God its under warranty.

oxie · February 2004

My new 2004 Odyssey purchased Jan. 2, and mine does exactly what yours is doing. Dealer says this is a "characteristic" of this transmission. I believe that this 5 speed has been in the newer Odysseys for about a about 18 months. I'd like to hear from other 2003-2004 owners that are having this problem. Thanks!

lzh7gh · February 2004

I bought my 2004 EXL on Dec.03 and have same harsh shift from Park to Reveerse. Like many posts, it only happens once a day when it is parked overnight in my garage. My garage does not have any incline and it does not help when I shift into neutral first and into reverse. Others have mentioned that this is a cold issue so I am waiting until spring to see if this problem still exists. I don't know if I believe this is "characteristic" of this transmission. Pilot owners have mentioned similar type of problem and I am going to search the 2004 Saturn Vue board since they are using the "Honda" 3.5 liter and same 5 speed transmission.

buddyzuniga · February 2004

I live in Southern, CA. I have an 04' Ody EX-L RES. No shifting problems so far with just over 6000 miles. I will keep in touch.

steinbrecher · March 2004

Has anyone had to replace the converter on their '99 Oddyssey? My EX has just over 100K on it. Honda said we need a new one (They checked the code, since the check engine light came on).

Honda Odyssey Transmission Problems

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