Hey everyone, just bought a 2001 Honda Accord (I believe EX) V6 Coupe with 4 speed auto tranny. I bought it from a local mechanic and in preparation for me he was going to safety and e-test it (I live in Ontario, Canada) and do some fluid changes for me. He did a transmission fluid drain/change (not a flush) and the fluid that came out looked like black engine oil (not sure about smell). Obviously hadn't been changed in god knows when. Car has 280K KM on it, so about 174K Miles. We only did the fluid drain once, I know it can take up to 3 times to change out most of the old fluid. I am also very aware of the lovely reputation this generation of transmissions has made for itself.

Now the problem I'm experiencing is when I shift into Drive or Reverse (not sure if this is normal) there is a slight hesitation before it goes into gear, about 1 second. After that I start driving (forward) and there is a hesitation before it shifts into 2nd gear. 3rd and 4th are perfect, no hesitation what so ever. Also coming to a complete stop seems to create a small jerk as well right before the car stops. When it shifts from 1st to 2nd there is no high reving or anything like that, it just seems to be shifting late. I'm not sure if the transmission is just getting used to the new fluid and will go away on it's own or if it's something much more serious. We did the fluid change about 2 weeks ago, I don't drive a whole lot and have maybe driven just over 10-12 times in pretty short trips. The jerks seem to be not as bad as they were when I 1st got the car, but are still very noticeable.

If anyone has any insight on this issue or needs more info regarding this just let me know and I'll answer promptly. Thanks a lot in advance for any help!

Notes:
-Used Honda Fluid
-Transmission light on dash only appears (in a few short blinks) once I turn off the ignition to the car.
-Problem only started occurring after fluid change.

 

Your transmission is failing. No way to sugar coat it. At 145k I did a drain and fill and started to experience the same symptoms with my 02 4cyl. You can try additives (make sure you take out the quantity of fluid that you are going to be putting in, these transmissions don't like to be over filled) but i don't think it will do much good.

What happens is the bearings in the case get worn out and end up looking like peanut butter. You will notice that it will take longer and longer to engage 1st when coming to a stop and it will jerk harder and harder until 1st won't engage anymore, you will have to shift to 2nd to get the car to move from a stop at that point.

I also experienced slipping in 1st and 2nd gear. This is because the glue used on the friction plates wears out and gives up.

Do not drive above 45mph as the bearings are going out and when you take it too fast it will expedite the failure. Also you will experience shaking, like a tire is Waaaaaay out of balance. It scared me soo much when I was going 75mph and the front of the car was jumping around like a wild bronco. This is probably what ruined my motor mounts.

I first noticed harsher than normal shifts into 1st, thats when I changed the fluid and right after that was when it went down hill quick. My transmission only lasted 2 weeks after the fluid change.

A rebuild from a decent shop will run about 2-2.5k
A new transmission from Honda will be 4,500


Sorry I dont have better news for you....

 

Thanks for the reply Silver6, now that I either have to do re-build or get a new tranny, should I stay away from the model I have now? Is there a better replacement I could swap it out with, something more durable? Or should I just do a rebuild and hope it doesn't happen again?

 

Or better yet, how painful is it to do a 5spd swap?

 

If you get it rebuilt make sure you do it through a reputable shop that has experience with honda transmission. You're not going to want to buy a new one.... I sure as hell didn't when honda told me the price tag.

I had my friends shop do the work, they put new bearing guides in that are more durable than the OEM ones. They also used better friction plates. IMO the transmission feels great but the 6th gen AT never had a good reputation. I still occasionally hear worriesome sounds when shifting from reverse into Drive, you know that metalic thwack sound... So IDK Im only 20k miles deep on the rebuild.

Also I did one drain and fill 5,000 miles after the rebuild, I would suggest this to any one. Rebuilt trannys will create debris in within the first 5-10k just as a result of the new parts "breaking in".

The fluid at 5k looked not great but not bad, there was also a fair amount of metal on the magnetic plug.


At 18k post rebuild I did another drain and fill. This time the fluid looked great and the plug had very few metal shavings on it.


I would also Highly suggest installing an additional tranny cooler and if you are ambitious a tranny temp gauge.

See my DIY Cooler Install Thread for more info. (Your fluid out and return lines will be located in a different place compared to my 4 cyl)
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...ictures-48791/

 

the 5 speed will not swap into the J30 v6. However you can swap in a CL-s 6 speed manual. Im not sure what that involves but I know there are a good amount of people on V6 Performance.net that have done this with their 6th gen accords. I'm sure there is a write up there.

 

Thanks a lot Silver, you've been a great help. I'm going back to the mechanic I bought it from and see what he says about the whole situation considering I just bought the stupid thing... Looks like I can keep spending money or can sell it and lose money, and then have to buy another car, therefore still spending more money. I'll certainly look into my options regardless. I'll post again tomorrow with what my mechanic says, he's a good guy and maybe he knows someone trustworthy. Thanks again.

 

Technically the mechanic caused the failure before you had possesion of the car. Also since he sold you the car through his company you do have claim to legal action, if it were to come to that.

You would have to prove a lot of facts and spend a good amount of your time digging and some money in court (which could be recouped if you win) So it may not be worth it. But it can be gently used as a bargaining chip with the mechanic. If anything he should be willing to go 50/50 on the rebuild with you. That isn't at all unreasonable.

 

Well went to the mechanic today and he hooked me up with a new(er) tranny that has less than 60K (miles) on it for $500. Thought that was a pretty solid deal and at that low of mileage I figure (and hope) that this one is going to be much better. Going to tear it out of the car it's in now, do a complete flush, including the torque converter and fill it up with brand new fluid (Honda) and baby it til I don't own the car anymore. I'm going to help him with the swap to save some time and money.

Anyone have any words of wisdom or anything I should know before we do the swap?