Honda Civic trans shot

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JakeR22

Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
627
Location
il
Our '01 Honda Civic trans went out today. It's got 215k miles on it, 90% being highway. I drained and filled every 20-30k miles, using Z1 and Amsoil. But I didn't start until 90k miles when I started doing the maintenance on it.

It started slipping between shifts. So as a last resort I did one more drain and fill, and I think that made it worse. I took if for another test drive, and I'm lucky I got home.

At this point I'm not sure what to do with it. Everything works fine, although it does burn some oil.

I'll call around and see how much it's going to cost.
 
honda trannys are pricey, and don't buy a used one. if a honda trans isn't maintained very well then you are going to have problems, and there is no way to tell how well taken care of a used tranny was. 215k is pretty good so i think you did pretty well, if you do put a new one in make sure you put an inline filter on it, since hondas don't have a filter all the junk just keeps passing through them.well i wish you the best of luck.
 
Have a good trany shop rebuild it, have them take it out and rebuild it all.

You can also take it out yourself, its not too hard. It will save you some labor. And the money for a tow if you do not have AAA.
 
Last edited:
I know this doesn't make you feel better, but for a tranny noted for issues, 215k isn't too bad. Daughter has an 01 EX with ~145k that has seen 4 total, one recently, Z-1 drain and refills since new. Still shifts well (knock wood), and has been a reliable relatively low cost vehicle.

IMO, based on the cost of a new Civic tranny, you may be at the point of cost benefit decision between keeping and looking for a new/new used vehicle.

Sorry about your issue, good luck with your decision.
 
>200k on an 01 Honda Civic, with a bad transmission... its time to sit down and ask yourself if its worth it, IMO. Unless it has sentimental value, I see no reason to spend a penny on it. Buying a used one of the same year/model with lower mileage would be more cost-effective, although given the rep of Honda automatics I'd make it a stick shift if I were you.
 
My mom also has the same exact car and I've done 3 drain/refills (9 quarts). Her car only has about 42K miles on it. The only thing that has died on the car was the Camshaft Position Sensor that costed $50 and an hour of my time to replace.

If your Civic has a tight engine, clean interior and the body is in nice shape.... I would spend the money and have the trans rebuilt. You can get another 7-8 years out of that Civic.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Originally Posted By: defektes
Have a good trany shop rebuild it, have them take it out and rebuild it all.

+1

I've had good experience with AAMCO which I believe is nationwide. They rebuilt the transmission for the 1999 Grand Prix GT that I previously owned after it's 4th gear clutch shaft sheared at 170,000 miles. They did a great job, for a reasonable price, and guaranteed it for 12-months or 12,000 miles, whichever came first. It cost about $1,300. Of course that was a GM transmission, so the information may not even be in the same ballpark as it would for a Honda transmissions.
 
Originally Posted By: barlowc
Originally Posted By: defektes
Have a good trany shop rebuild it, have them take it out and rebuild it all.

+1

I've had good experience with AAMCO which I believe is nationwide. They rebuilt the transmission for the 1999 Grand Prix GT that I previously owned after it's 4th gear clutch shaft sheared at 170,000 miles. They did a great job, for a reasonable price, and guaranteed it for 12-months or 12,000 miles, whichever came first. It cost about $1,300. Of course that was a GM transmission, so the information may not even be in the same ballpark as it would for a Honda transmissions.


Your review of AAMCO is probably the first positive one i've ever heard, i've heard nothing but horror stories from that chain. I do know that it is a franchise and maybe you got lucky and got one of the good ones but in general i'd steer clear of AAMCO and try to find an independent transmission shop.
 
Yeah, I keep going back and forth on what to do.

One one hand, yeah it's got a lot of miles.

On the other, my wife bought it new (wasn't my wife at the time). I just replaced the a/c comp and cond. last summer and it blows cold. I did a timing belt swap at 200k miles. The body has no rust, the interior looks new other then the seats a little faded. The engine runs great, and it get close to 40 mpg.

I could probably do the removal and install myself, as my brother has a shop with a lift.

I need to get some pricing before I can really go much futher. But I have jury duty today, yeah.

We have another car so it's not really putting us in a bind not having it.
 
I was just reading on a carcomplaints.com about how the converters are known to go bad on these things, and before they do you'll hear a high pitch wine when the car first starts, and then goes away shortly there after.

Ours was doing just that for the last month or two, but I never could figure out what it was. Now I know, haha.
 
I'd probably fix the transmission.

My co-worker has a '97 Civic DX with 340,000 miles on it. The transmission is original, and I'm not sure if he's done any fluid changes in the transmission. He puts a timing belt on it every 100k miles, and tires about every 50k miles. It's his commuter; he lives probably 50 miles from work. Highway miles are obviously easier on a tranny than city miles.

I was impressed with how his Civic rides. Things like bushings and motor mounts are worn, so there's a lot of NVH, but the ride is pretty compliant and it's not an uncomfortable car to ride around in.
 
I would definitely try to find a good transmissions shop and get some quotes first.

It's easy to say just junk it, but unless you are planning to buy new, what used car can you really buy for the price of transmission rebuild that can be trusted? You know this car and its maintenance and I would rather drop 2k into a car I know then buy a 2k used car with unknown history even if it had fewer miles, JMO
 
that's a good life for an AT by any measure. If the car is in as good condition as you say, 2K or even 3 isn't alot if you look at it like car payments for one year.
AAMCO had a chevy of mine for 14 months!!!!! I would not go there.
 
Seems to be a common issue with the civics. My brothers transmission went out at like 85k, my girls just went out at 135k. Both times, I went to a used honda parts "junkyard" where they sell everything and bought a rebuilt transmission from them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
1991 Honda Civic Si (1.6L, D16A6) Injector recommendation
Replies
8
Views
344
kschachn
R
Jinxing myself!
Replies
8
Views
429
raaizin
J
Water In Fuel Filter - Sensor Issue?
Replies
9
Views
874
jtay2024
T
My 4L60E adventure trying to cure harsh 1-2 shift
Replies
5
Views
479
Thunderball
KrisZ
Poor Chrysler water pump life
Replies
16
Views
2K
meep
Back
Top