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Comments
anyone?
anyone?"
Yep, I got a slight rattle in the B-pillar on the driver's side. It's more like an annoying buzz rather than a rattle, and is there about 20% of the time. If I lean my elbow against it with enough pressure, it goes away.
I'm not sure what to do about it at this point. It's not really that frequent, but it's pretty annoying. Not as annoying as the headliner rattle that I used to have, which is apparently fixed by me pushing in the headliner in the area where the rattle was coming from.
This is a pretty rattle prone car. It seems to be mainly due to inadequate gluing in certain places. Even in areas where there are no rattles, there are random loose areas of certain panels due to inadequate gluing.
Otherwise a great car!
Back to cars. I think my service manager is going to have a proposal on my transmission whine this week, so I'll post that answer and results of the fix as soon as I can.
One interesting thing is that the dealer solution is different from the manufacturing solution. Apparently applying the manufacturing solution to an "in-service" transmission would require removal and disassembly of the transmission. But it is something that's easily incorporated into the assembly line. Anyway, they do say that the oil jet kit is considered a complete and permanent solution on cars repaired at a dealership.
It does seem that there are other 4 cyl/Auto cars that have this whine, and I am waiting to see how this turns out.
I do expect, however, that Honda will extend the transmission warranty just like they did for 2000-2002 cars. I am definitely going to talk to Honda about this.
Thanks for the updates. I strongly believe that the problem that is happening with the V6 tranny's is the same that is happening with the 4's. As mentioned on this board, Honda should look into extending the warranty on the Tranny's. I am an engineer in the mechanical, structural fields and if a motor in our building is making a noise of that nature, possibly due to poor maintenance/lubrication, etc., 9 out of the 10 times the motor has to be replaced down the line. I believe that there is damaged caused already, but not a significant amount as per Honda. If we do decide on keeping the vehicle for a long time and Honda has not extended the warranty we may consider purchasing Honda's extended warranty for 7/70K miles. Only time will tell, I really had high hopes in this new vehicle design, but with something that is the life of a vehicle, it's tranny, it's giving me second thoughts on ever having to purchase another Honda vehicle again, but again time shall tell. Lastly, I am due to have the recall done in a couple of weeks, I shall keep everyone updated.
I have been studying the Honda Tranny issue that happened earlier, and there are many examples where the remanufactured tranny gave way and some people were on their 3rd tranny already. Therefore, I am really really hoping that there is a Honda extended warranty campaign like the earlier one so that I can keep the car I so dearly love.
An interesting aspect to me about the transmission problems the three of us are experiencing is that I don't believe the news release from American Honda references our whine noise as a symptom. I believe it says the driver may experience erratic shifting.
It identifies the cause (insufficient lubrication around second gear), the fix (oil jet kit or remanufactured transmission), and potential worst-case results, i.e., gear breakup and transmission lockup.
So the three of us are getting some kind of fix based on a symptom that I haven't seen others talking about. Although, as I mentioned, my service manager did have a Honda article about "AT Whine," but that article didn't link that to the recall. As for erratic shifting, I've experiecned nothing. As far as I can tell, the tranny is performing flawlessly -- just whining about it.
At any rate, 03accordman, at least you have an answer, and I do hope your remanufactured transmission does the job. Same for you, nw1997. As I mentioned, I hope to hear something this week about what my service manager proposes to do.
I have to say, I'm struck again by 03accordman's comment about choosing the Accord in the first place and how much he still likes it, and by nw1997 talking about having high hopes for the redesign. I feel exactly the same way. The 98-02 Accord was just not quite there for me (even though my son has a 98 coupe that is really a sweet car), but the 03 model put it all together, at least for me. I only hope whatever fix I get will be good enough to allow me to keep driving the car with confidence. For the money, I just couldn't find anything else I liked nearly as much. I say this so that those who are shopping for a car and reading these posts understand my overall high marks for the car, and won't focus entirely on this transmission problem. If Honda can fix it, it's still a great car. The last thing I want to think about is selling it.
Austin, you are right, what we are facing is something different to the recall, so I am not sure what's gonna happen next. Even my tranny was performing flawlessly, and like you said, just whining about it.
I feel the same way. Since we now have an Ody I contemplated selling my Accord and using something less expensive as my daily driver. However, looking at other options just made me realize how much I really enjoy my Accord. For the price it is simply the best sedan out there in my opinion. Sure I would like to have a manual transmission again but the car has so many other attributes I like it is hard for me to justify losing a couple of thousand dollars just to shift my own gears again.
Likes:
1. Seats
2. Looks (I have a silver EX-L with OEM fog lights, decklid spoiler, splash guards, and fenderwell trim ... I also have the front chin spoiler but have not installed it yet)
3. Safety (excellent crash test scores - even better when it has the side curtain airbags)
4. Roomy (this is important when you have a rather large car seat and a 6'6 husband)
5. XM radio (it's hard for me to listen to regular AM/FM now)
6. Engine (sounds great when rev'd and it offers good performance while still getting good gas mileage)
7. Interior (I like the design and it has an overall quality feel)
8. Heated seats
9. AC works great (will be even better when I get the windows tinted)
10. I love the way it drives. It is a highway champion.
11. Gauges (very bright and easy to read)
12. Large cupholders
13. Quality and reliability (mine has been rock solid in 18,000 miles of driving - not a rattle or squeak to be heard either (knock on wood)
Dislikes
1. Wish it were a stick
When I first saw and drove the new design in August 2002, it just "felt like me." It's not a sports sedan (and I considered some of those, including the Acura TL and Infinity G35) but it has a feel that's just right for me -- unpretentious, quietly competent, and, I feel, a real bargain. As you say, a nice feel of quality inside, even with my cloth upholstery.
I even like the graphite color, though I chose the car mainly for the gray interior. The Honda graphite has some depth to it, a slight touch of blue it seems to me in a certain light, like gun metal. Compare it to the washed out gray of a Camry, for example.
I was looking at Toyota too. I was mad at Honda right after my 94 Civic blew a head gasket at 165K miles - lost the engine, not worth fixing. But I calmed down after a while, the Accord seems like a very good value, so here I am.
anyone get XPEL clear film protection on their car? I think I am going for it (my dealer didn't even know what it was, so I have to go to an independent installer I guess). the hood, nose, and headlights on this car just looks like it will suck the rocks right into it.
Graphite was one of my top color choices but we went with the silver because it was easier to keep clean.
Desert Mist is nice as well. I has a 99 Accord in Heather Mist which is a bit lighter than the Desert Mist.
Surprised this caused you to lose the engine unless you let it really overheat or something. Just a head gasket isn't a big deal.
I hope you have better luck this time!
anyone notice this? or is my coolant gauge or coolant sensor faulty? thanks.
also, anyone put the DRL option (dealer installed) on their car?
car engines warm up very quickly these days to help lower emissions. my '03 v6 coupe's engine heats up fast too...
Here are some pics.
http://www.jinnysplace.com/brian/
also just threw on some HyperOptik window tint and got that stupid pin stripping off my car.
I asked the dealer how much it would cost to have the tranny replaced it I was to do it on my own, and he gave me an astronomical figure, around 6k. As stated earlier, my worry is that if I have a failure in the next 30-40k miles, how am I gonna cough up that kind of money. For this reason, I am following up with Honda to get some kind of goodwill commitment in case the proble reoccurs. Otherwise, its too much of a tension to keep thinking about, and I may have to move on to some other car (hopefully not)
Thanks again for the update. Was the service manager on drugs when he quoted a price of 6K for another tranny?:) That seems extremely high for a tranny. When we got our accord back in December there were no noise, but only when we started to touch the 1k-2K mile mark did I notice the noise. I am in the engineering field, so I am constantly tuned into things of that nature. Currently, the noise comes and goes. I too hope that Honda will extend the warranty for this new generation of vehicles. It would be nice to know that the tranny is warranted for 100K miles. I shall keep everyone updated as soon as I get the recall completed.
My thoughts exactly. Honda designed a tranny that has design flaws. This should not be, especially since the last generation Accords had tranny issues. These vehicles should have been tested in real life scenarios, not just on a track. Overall we like our vehicle, but to have to inconvenience us for something that could of been prevented from the start is not a great way to build consumer confidence. The extra warranty, should be given to all who the recall affected.
if the tranny fix doesn't work, i see lots of people dumping Hondas at the 35.5k mark on the odometers...;) why reward Honda with paying them MORE money for crappy products? assuming you buy the Honda extended plan.
You know, I guess this is how Honda (and all car manufacturers) gets its remanufactured transmissions. Your old one will now have the defective parts replaced and then be installed in another Honda -- maybe mine! It would be nice to hear from American Honda on how this really solves the problem for the long haul.
If, for instance, there is a design flaw, as nw1997 is suggesting (and I like the fact that you're an engineer), then replacing the worn parts with new ones will set the whole problem in motion again, one would think.
I have to admit that, while I'm following procedures and working with my service manager, dealing with a problem transmission at 4,000 miles, when the interior of the car still has new car smell, is just unimaginable to me. Yes, I know all cars have problems, but I have a 40-year history of owning and driving used and new cars, mostly American, one German, and in my experience this is unprecedented. Water pumps wear out, sensors have to replaced, etc., etc., all in due time. But a whining transmission out of the gate....
The fact that I'm not used to such major driveline problems is why I really didn't even think much about Honda's new car warranty. I guess I was thinking that cars still had a 3-year overall warranty, and then a longer one for just the drivetrain. I'm sure I've had a new car in the past with that kind of setup. Now it's just sinking in that after 3 years or 36,000 miles, a new transmission would be my nickel. Wow.
I do hope, as isellhondas believes, that the problem is not widespread. But until American Honda compiles the figures and tells us how many cars had to be fixed, it's all just speculation. And that will take a while. In the meantime, I know of one car I'd love to see fixed -- mine!
I think Hyundai has a 10 year/100,000 mile power train warranty included because their service record has been so lousy in the past.
It seems to me that the only people who should consider an extra-cost warranty are those who pile on the miles and/or can't afford to make expensive repairs early in the life of the car.
Remember that extra-cost warranties are moneymakers for the sellers and insurers and a bad deal for most (but certainly not all) purchasers.
I didn't even THINK about an extra warranty when buying my '04 Accord EX-L--if I had to consider that, I would have bought a more reliable brand if one exists.....Richard
Normally with a remanufacture tranny, the entire guts are removed and replaced with new parts/components, the outer casing/shell is reuse. A rebuilt tranny, only the defective part/s are replaced and put back in service. My opinion is that Honda had already known of this issue a long time ago and instead of them having to remove thousands of trannys of the shelf, they probably decided that it would be cost affected to keep installing the bad design trannys in the vehicles and have the dealerships retrofit the trannys with the oil jet kit. It's not cheap to redesign mechanical components, it has to got through many costly steps.
I