Odyssey transmission failure?

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Originally Posted By: mystere
Considering the number of miles on it, the van has done well.


I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on that.

134K is not impressive. A transmission should last a bit longer than that.

Quote:
It was not designed to pull a light trailer back in that year.


From what I can see, it wasn't even designed to pull it's own weight.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Sounds like the van was never taken care of properly. Get rid of it...


But it was dealer maintained!
grin.gif
(seriously)

It has been well used, but then so have both our Expeditions (2000, 2002) and neither have had these kinds of issues. And both of them have more mileage on them than this van.

Is that a fair comparison? I don't know. But back at the time these vehicles were new, I'm sure van's and SUV's were frequently cross-shopped.


How many times did the 'dealer' replace the trans fluid.
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: mystere
Considering the number of miles on it, the van has done well.


I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on that.

134K is not impressive. A transmission should last a bit longer than that.

Quote:
It was not designed to pull a light trailer back in that year.


From what I can see, it wasn't even designed to pull it's own weight.


No kidding. 134k miles is considered "done well" HAHA, not IMO, not by a long shot.
31.gif
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Chris142
If theres metal in it then it's done. Replacing fluid wont replace damaged steel parts.

I'd get the used trans if it comes with some sort of guarantee, flush the trans cooler and lines, install the new trans and trade that pile in asap.


Yes, I explained that to them today.

However, I did a "frankenblend" of various ATF's I found kicking around my parent's other house, so it now has 3L (the drain/fill capacity) of M1 ATF/Maxlife/Canadian Tire Dex III.

Surprisingly.... The shifting improved.

So got my MIL to get 6L of Mobil Super semi-syn ATF suitable for the Honda application (the cheapest we could find at Canadian Tire). Figure I'll do two more drain/fills tomorrow to try and get the rest of the metal out of it.

I explained to her the significance of the substantial amount of metal in the fluid. That there is significant mechanical damage that has taken place inside the transmission and swapping out the fluid will hopefully let it live a little longer. But that they should be off-loading it ASAP, as it WILL fail completely.

BTW, this fluid was a SLURRY of metal and burnt fluid. It was like a grey pasty goo. There was a good 1/8th inch of metal grease-like ATF accumulation on the drain plug.

Talking to MIL2, she told me a slightly different story than my MIL. That Honda wanted 2400 for a new trans, and a used one was going to be $1400. They were told (by the Honda dealer who maintains it.... and I feel like I'm using that term loosely here) that it was going to die and to just drive it until it did. Lovely.

Anyway, the trans isn't the only issue with this van. the HVAC controls only work on HIGH, and MED-HIGH. There is rust in an alarming number of locations. The plate that the fuel door release mounts to... under the carpet? yeah it is a rust nugget. The hood release requires manual intervention to return, even after I lubed the heck out of it. I think the cable is FUBAR. The knob for the rear HVAC is split, the one vent direction slider is broken and hanging back inside the vent. It appears that you can't just grab the vent and pull the whole thing out like you can on a Ford to fix it. So I haven't bothered trying.

The cruise control buttons no longer illuminate, the sliding doors stick shut and God only knows what the CEL is on for. It also needs an alignment (badly) and brakes.

It needs to go.


It has most of those problems, because of negligence. Which you said yourself, the car was neglected.
 
135k is not terrible, it is bad but still my dodge grand caravan is on it's 4th transmission. And it's SLIPPING AGAIN.... I am at 223k but still, 4 transmissions it's time to let her go. THe dodge caravan's still have transmission issues to his day.
 
But, I agree Honda messed up their transmissions on a few of their best selling vehicles in 2001-2004. (i.e.. Odyssey, Accord,Civic)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Sounds like the van was never taken care of properly. Get rid of it...


But it was dealer maintained!
grin.gif
(seriously)

It has been well used, but then so have both our Expeditions (2000, 2002) and neither have had these kinds of issues. And both of them have more mileage on them than this van.

Is that a fair comparison? I don't know. But back at the time these vehicles were new, I'm sure van's and SUV's were frequently cross-shopped.


How many times did the 'dealer' replace the trans fluid.


I don't know. If they were supposed to, and my MIL was advised of the service, it would have been done.

I'll take a look in the glove box and see if they noted it in the maintenance schedule. Probably not though.
 
Originally Posted By: hypervish
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Chris142
If theres metal in it then it's done. Replacing fluid wont replace damaged steel parts.

I'd get the used trans if it comes with some sort of guarantee, flush the trans cooler and lines, install the new trans and trade that pile in asap.


Yes, I explained that to them today.

However, I did a "frankenblend" of various ATF's I found kicking around my parent's other house, so it now has 3L (the drain/fill capacity) of M1 ATF/Maxlife/Canadian Tire Dex III.

Surprisingly.... The shifting improved.

So got my MIL to get 6L of Mobil Super semi-syn ATF suitable for the Honda application (the cheapest we could find at Canadian Tire). Figure I'll do two more drain/fills tomorrow to try and get the rest of the metal out of it.

I explained to her the significance of the substantial amount of metal in the fluid. That there is significant mechanical damage that has taken place inside the transmission and swapping out the fluid will hopefully let it live a little longer. But that they should be off-loading it ASAP, as it WILL fail completely.

BTW, this fluid was a SLURRY of metal and burnt fluid. It was like a grey pasty goo. There was a good 1/8th inch of metal grease-like ATF accumulation on the drain plug.

Talking to MIL2, she told me a slightly different story than my MIL. That Honda wanted 2400 for a new trans, and a used one was going to be $1400. They were told (by the Honda dealer who maintains it.... and I feel like I'm using that term loosely here) that it was going to die and to just drive it until it did. Lovely.

Anyway, the trans isn't the only issue with this van. the HVAC controls only work on HIGH, and MED-HIGH. There is rust in an alarming number of locations. The plate that the fuel door release mounts to... under the carpet? yeah it is a rust nugget. The hood release requires manual intervention to return, even after I lubed the heck out of it. I think the cable is FUBAR. The knob for the rear HVAC is split, the one vent direction slider is broken and hanging back inside the vent. It appears that you can't just grab the vent and pull the whole thing out like you can on a Ford to fix it. So I haven't bothered trying.

The cruise control buttons no longer illuminate, the sliding doors stick shut and God only knows what the CEL is on for. It also needs an alignment (badly) and brakes.

It needs to go.


It has most of those problems, because of negligence. Which you said yourself, the car was neglected.


I think it was neglected by the dealer. Why it needs brakes, and alignment, why the sliding doors are sticking....etc.

However, the knob breaking, the HVAC only working on high and med-high, and the cruise control lights no longer illuminating appear to just be items that have failed due to age/wear and tear. Which is surprising given the age and mileage.

The rust, well, it is in the ultra salt belt. It never saw Krown or Rust Check and that is painfully evident in the condition of the chassis.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
134K is "done well" when these transmissions often fail before 50k.


True.

But Honda certainly didn't do well with making these transmission.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Sounds like the van was never taken care of properly. Get rid of it...


But it was dealer maintained!
grin.gif
(seriously)

It has been well used, but then so have both our Expeditions (2000, 2002) and neither have had these kinds of issues. And both of them have more mileage on them than this van.

Is that a fair comparison? I don't know. But back at the time these vehicles were new, I'm sure van's and SUV's were frequently cross-shopped.


How many times did the 'dealer' replace the trans fluid.


I don't know. If they were supposed to, and my MIL was advised of the service, it would have been done.

I'll take a look in the glove box and see if they noted it in the maintenance schedule. Probably not though.


I took a look, the dealer didn't make a note of anything in the manual.

There's a sticker under the hood indicating when the timing belt was changed.

There is a sticker on the windshield indicating when it needs an oil change.

And there are the annual safety receipts for its provincial safety.

However, there is nothing indicating what service was done and when.
 
Well, there's no question that the Odyssey '01-03' transmissions are one of the worst out there--I'm not suggesting otherwise. That said, talking about *this specific* car, 134K on the factory fill still seems pretty good to me--and I have a hard time believing that it wouldn't have gone longer with proper maintenance, regardless of how other transmissions of this generation have fared. Simply looking at that fluid should make that pretty clear.

The one thing I'm having a tough time is the 'dealer serviced' part. I mean, it's not typical of dealers to NOT recommend specific services? It's a little more typical for a consumer to say "just change the oil", don't you think?

I just did a fluid swap on a buddy's Volvo w/more miles, original fluid--and it actually didn't look bad at all. His transmission will likely last twice this long, with a couple more drain and fills. So yeah, I know there are much better transmissions out there. But I don't think it's fair to say maintenance practices played not part, regardless of who's to blame regarding the lack of maintenance.
 
We don't know if this is factory fill or not. The timing belt has been changed, so it would be safe to say that the ATF was probably changed at one point too. Minivans are just notorious for tearing up transmissions no matter who makes the van.

Take a midsize chassis, add a thousand pounds, the biggest V6 you can, and seating for 7.

Can't figure out why they don't last?!?!
 
As far as I can see, that particular van had all of the wall jobs done at the dealer. Look them up :-( Unfortunately, you have not found any receipts showing what was supposedly done and paid for either. Generally speaking, a "dealer maintained vehicle" should not come across as "neglected". Obviously, there is a massive discrepancy here.

The HAVC needs the resistor pack to be replaced. It is cheap and easy. For sticky door, Shin Tsu grease. The broken CC switch light? I have lived with it for last 6 years. I keep that button pressed in all the time.

As far as transmission going at 134K miles, significant number of them go even earlier than that :-(
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
As far as I can see, that particular van had all of the wall jobs done at the dealer. Look them up :-( Unfortunately, you have not found any receipts showing what was supposedly done and paid for either. Generally speaking, a "dealer maintained vehicle" should not come across as "neglected". Obviously, there is a massive discrepancy here.

The HAVC needs the resistor pack to be replaced. It is cheap and easy. For sticky door, Shin Tsu grease. The broken CC switch light? I have lived with it for last 6 years. I keep that button pressed in all the time.

As far as transmission going at 134K miles, significant number of them go even earlier than that :-(


I'm wondering if they just never bothered getting this stuff fixed after the transmission started to go? And because the dealer told them to "drive it until it dies" never suggested they fix them either.

The rust and stuff...... Well, that's typical of the climate here.

BTW, I put some Rust Check (didn't have any Krown) on everything and it appears to have helped significantly with the doors and the hood release now returns after sitting with the stuff soaking into it overnight.

The final drain/fill that I can do it it will be tomorrow, then we head home. Hopefully I bought her some more time with it.
 
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