Having just faced fears of the same myself (you've recently changed the fluid, right?? I was only 10k over the recommended oil interval... trans was rebuilt at 105k, the vehicle had 70k miles when the recommended interval was 60k after a rebuild and then it suddenly out of nowhere started missing shifts, slipping, and jerking... the MOMENT I did the trans fluid change it's purred like a kitten without a single hiccup for the last 2500 miles) it sounds like the way to go is either good used trans from 06-07 or getting JDM imported transmissions. Costs around $1000-1100 for V6 models, 4 cyl's notably cheaper by the sound of it. I saw a claimed rebuilt BAYA trans (apparently the good model) for $1100 on ebay not long ago... for those prices I could keep driving but a trans fluid change cleared me up for the moment.

Rebuilding this trans yourself is probably a bad idea - this isn't one of the old 3 speed anvils that probably will work forever, they act like sensitive precision instruments that get really persnickety over seemingly minor things. Statistically 1 in 3 even "professionally" rebuilt transmissions fail in general so if it's not a factory remanned unit i'm not even sure i'd trust it, and Honda's sound like among the more finicky of transmissions in general... However SWAPPING the trans for another used one could well be feasible and save alot of cash - i'm hoping I might be able to do that myself in the future with the car I have at some point. Alot of the work is just the pulling and replacing afterall, the rebuilding is separate so skip that. Buy used, swap yourself, seems like the only way to avoid the $4000 groin kick of most stealerships.

 

The classic advice was always if the fluid was pink and didn't stink it was good for awhile... modern super sensitive transmissions make some of that irrelevant. Mine had just the slightest tinge of pink-red but it was slipping and jerking. The only thing you can do is buy lower miles and hope for the best (many JDM trans have like 50-60k) or get a factory remanufactured unit (I wouldn't trust home rebuilders, or even "professional" rebuilders after ugly statistics i've heard of a 1 in 3 failure rate even from trans shops, and definately not with THIS trans), and the only bit of advice everyone had me sold on was use an 06-07 BAYA transmission because the earlier 03-05 shared various problems which is what led to all these dying in the first place.

That or try to find junkyards with 06-07 trans if anyone ever has a low mile anomaly (like a rollover of a grandma car) likely to still give some decent life left.

PS - I dont suppose this is any use is it? http://www.hondahookup.com/forums/do...hp?do=cat&id=7 You have to be a member to download the 03-07 manual, it's like 8000 pages. I can't view it on my current old as **** computer but I have it on a different PC elsewhere.

 

A few comments in no particular order:

• Regarding the BAYA; as I understand the history, it was only built in the U.S. and only used in North American cars. For someone in New Zealand the closest you will be able to get is a unit tagged as an MAYA (which I believe is a very close, but not identical, sibling to the BAYA, built in Japan).
• If I was in New Zealand I would opt for either a used JDM MAYA unit (if one could be had at a reasonable price), or
• Find a remanufacturer (note, NOT a "rebuilder") who sells the 5AT in New Zealand. I have heard anecdotally (but never able to confirm) from some folks the earlier 5AT units can be upgraded to the BAYA engineering build during the remanufacture process.
• Unfortunately, your only other option would be to find a wrecked V6 5AT and put it in. I strongly suspect, unless it is already at a BAYA/MAYA build level, this would probably turn out to be lot of wasted labor as the transmission will most likely fail sooner than later.

 

Weill thanks again guys for all that extra advice and offering the options. I get it that rebuilding it myself is not likely to go well if for no other reason than the precision nature of this equipment suggests it can be hard to get right especially on a first attempt. But there are also some frightening scenarios where used tranny's dont last. I also appreciate the advice from SHIPO regarding the MAYA/BAYA difference and the preferred option others have also suggested of looking at a reman tranny rather than a rebuild. I will have to look into this a bit closer in New Zealand. We have a number of 'franchise' re builders like "The Gearbox Factory". They are re builders and my experience with them hasn't been great except they were cheaper than my last geabox repair who was a gearbox specialist but charged a small fortune. I sense a reman gbox in this country is going to be hard to find!! I'm not sure what I am going to do now because money is an issue whichever way I go but at this point I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed it will last a wee bit longer. It has some occasional slip 2-3 and a judder but no CEL codes being thrown...at this point. Seems to be some flaring between other gears going on too. I will do an oil change (not a flush) and see how that works out for me although I have been told that if you already have problems and change the fluid you may well accelerate the issue. Why are these things so difficult!! Anyway. Thanks again guys.

 

There are also issues with the third and fourth gear pressure switches; when you do the 3x3 ATF change, change the switches as well.

By the way, what part of New Zealand are you in? Back in 1990 I bicycled from Queenstown all the way up to Auckland (via the Picton ferry); I absolutely love New Zealand.

 

I'm from Auckland , well...Helensville actually which is about 50km northwest of Auckland CBD. That is some bicycle trip you did Shipo!! For those who don't know, Queenstown is in the South Island of New Zealand and the journey to Auckland in the North Island is around 1600km or about 1000 miles. Beautiful scenery to look at and some really interesting little towns to stop at along the way. And we are mostly a pretty friendly and welcoming bunch. Now I'm sure there are plenty of places in the States that you could do the whole bike trip on the flat and probably not turn a corner to speak of but Shipo's journey with a fully loaded bike would have been hell on wheels!!! Our countryside is hilly, mountainous or rolling but it is almost never flat. I bet you were super fit after that mate!

(PS) I was ex Air Force aircrew so I like the Corsair avatar. The type used to be flown by the RNZAF (well before my time though).

 

Yeah, I'm ex USMC (lots of Corsairs during WWII); I took that picture back in something like 1998 up in Maine at an air show.

Regarding the bike trip, yeah, some of the sections of the south island were pretty difficult as my bike was, like you guessed, pretty loaded down. I remember a long(ish) valley of like 75 miles somewhere north of Queenstown surrounded by mountains on all sides, and climbing out at the north end was a matter of riding a half kilometer (being careful not to pump too hard on the pedals lest I flip the bike over), resting, another five-hundred meters, and resting again; going down the other side I hit 115 kph, even with all of that drag. During the trip I managed to stop at A. J. Hackett's place on the river and doing an ankle jump over the water; lots of fun.

I ended up using that trip as a springboard for getting into triathlons that summer; I taught myself how to swim and did five Olympic distance events plus a half-iron. Oh the memories.

 

Wow, I'm impressed too. I've done a lot of biking, & packed with camping gear all through the 1970s (Wisconsin, Michigan & up into Canada on one trip). Didn't have the money to go overseas with it.
I'm OK swimming because I grew up around sailboats, but I never liked competitive swimming. And I don't like running.

 

Could you expand this? what is done and how is it done and how hard is it?

I just did my own fluid change fixing my problems but didn't hear anything about pressure switches, yet i'm pretty sure that when it DID misshift it was third or fourth misshifting with the slightly dirty fluid, hmm... (separate from coming down out of 5th temporarily or/and lockup anyways)

 

Sorry, personally I'm kind of allergic to automatic transmissions and as such, I've never owned one of Honda's 5-Speed automatic units. The information regarding the pressure switches is something I've gleaned from the various Honda/Acura forums I participate in. As I understand it, you can go to YouTube and find videos on how to do the switches.