I have a 2003 Accord V6 that seems to be having issues with the transmission. The problem is that it is not happening all the time. When I am driving, the car seems to search between second gear and third gear. What I mean is that the car feels like it falls into neutral, and then revs really high, over 5000 rpms, and then after about 10-15 seconds, it falls back into third gear. I have taken it to the dearler twice and they cannot duplicate the issues. There is no pattern as to when this happens, warm, cold, hills, etc. I am worried that I am going to need a new transmission and when I spoke to Honda corporate, they claim there is no known problem like this. I see many people have had this issue, but no one really seems to have an answer as to what I can do.

 

i had a similar problem, not exact...but close, and come to find out my motor mounts were going bad. to see if this is the case have a person look at your engine and put 1 foot on brake (while car is in drive) and quickly press and release gas. if the engine raises up and then drops back down then it is your mounts. do the same in reverse gear (to tell front from rear mounts a lil easier)

now again my problem was close but not exact match.

 

that is not very common at all on 03-07 accords. either the transmission is dying or possibly a misadjusted shift cable.

have you had the trans fluid inspected?

 

Is there a way to verify if this is a misadjusted shift cable or the transmission is really dying

 

5 spd auto? it's toast............ and yes there is a problem with them.....they are almost identical to the 5sp auto used in the CL/TL cars

 

there is no known problem with the 03-07 accord auto trans. i haven't done more than 5 or so and have seen only about 20 done in our shop since it's release. we are a very busy shop in downtown chicago. the training center also confirms the failure rate of 7th gen v6 trannys is MUCH lower then 6th gen accord v6's.

secondly, to check if the shift cable is misadjusted, put the car in neutral, key on engine off. gently push the shift lever upward until the red N disappears on the gauge. now pull the shift lever downward until the red N disappears again. if it seems about even the shift cable is ok. another symptom of a misadjusted shift cable is intermittently unable to get it out of park easily.

 

Thank you for your suggestion. I will test the shift cable and see if that helps.

I just hope that if this is not the case, when I take it back to the dealer again, they can get the car to duplicate the issue.

 

v6P net has a farily large reporting of 7th gen failures.......are they as bad as the 6th gen no, but to say that there no issues is a incorrect statement. They requre some of the same fixes as the 01-03 CL/TL transmissions (2nd gear over heat for example) and these trannies are NOT NEARLY as bullet proof as the pre 98 4sp autos used in Honda V6 application.

Here is the recall information for 03 accords





2003 HONDA ACCORD Recall ID from NHTSA: 04V176000


Auto Recall Date: 20040415
Vehicle Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Estimated Vehicles Affected: 1099796
2003 HONDA ACCORD Defect Summary:
ON SOME MINI VANS, SPORT UTILITY AND PASSENGER VEHICLES, CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS CAN RESULT IN HEAT BUILD-UP BETWEEN THE COUNTERSHAFT AND SECONDARY SHAFT SECOND GEARS IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO GEAR TOOTH CHIPPING OR GEAR BREAKAGE.
Defect Consequence:
GEAR FAILURE COULD RESULT IN TRANSMISSION LOCKUP, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH.
Remedy:
ON VEHICLES WITH 15,000 MILES OR LESS, THE DEALER WILL UPDATE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A SIMPLE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE TO INCREASE LUBRICATION TO THE SECOND GEAR. ON VEHICLES WITH MORE THAN 15,000 MILES, THE DEALER WILL INSPECT THE TRANSMISSION TO IDENTIFY GEARS THAT HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED DISCOLORATION DUE TO OVERHEATING. IF DISCOLORATION EXISTS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE REPLACED IF DISCOLORATION IS NOT PRESENT, THE DEALER WILL PERFORM THE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 21, 2004, FOR PILOT, ODYSSEY, AND MDX OWNERS. OWNERS OF THE ACCORD VEHICLES WILL START RECEIVING LETTERS ON JUNE 28, 2004, AND ON JUNE 29, 2004, FOR OWNERS OF THE TL AND CL VEHICLES. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009 OR ACURA AT 1-800-382-2238.
Notes: AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., P30/P31

Here is the information for 2004





2004 HONDA ACCORD Recall ID from NHTSA: 04V176000

Auto Recall Date: 20040415
Vehicle Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Estimated Vehicles Affected: 1099796
2004 HONDA ACCORD Defect Summary:
ON SOME MINI VANS, SPORT UTILITY AND PASSENGER VEHICLES, CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS CAN RESULT IN HEAT BUILD-UP BETWEEN THE COUNTERSHAFT AND SECONDARY SHAFT SECOND GEARS IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, EVENTUALLY LEADING TO GEAR TOOTH CHIPPING OR GEAR BREAKAGE.
Defect Consequence:
GEAR FAILURE COULD RESULT IN TRANSMISSION LOCKUP, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH.
Remedy:
ON VEHICLES WITH 15,000 MILES OR LESS, THE DEALER WILL UPDATE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A SIMPLE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE TO INCREASE LUBRICATION TO THE SECOND GEAR. ON VEHICLES WITH MORE THAN 15,000 MILES, THE DEALER WILL INSPECT THE TRANSMISSION TO IDENTIFY GEARS THAT HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED DISCOLORATION DUE TO OVERHEATING. IF DISCOLORATION EXISTS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE REPLACED IF DISCOLORATION IS NOT PRESENT, THE DEALER WILL PERFORM THE REVISION TO THE OIL COOLER RETURN LINE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 21, 2004, FOR PILOT, ODYSSEY, AND MDX OWNERS. OWNERS OF THE ACCORD VEHICLES WILL START RECEIVING LETTERS ON JUNE 28, 2004, AND ON JUNE 29, 2004, FOR OWNERS OF THE TL AND CL VEHICLES. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT HONDA AT 1-800-999-1009 OR ACURA AT 1-800-382-2238.
Notes: AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., P30/P31 Problem was not corrected until 2005 model year BTW this is for V6 application I4 trannies are pretty much bullet proof

 

I have looked into the recall and they told me everything is fine with the recall.

The wierd thing is the car has not malfunctioned for about three days now.

 

that recall is simply a re-routing of fluid to cool down 2nd gear. a digital picture of the gear was taken to prove no damage was done if the recall was done when teh car had over 15000 miles. everyone has different opinions on it.