Auto going sticky on 2004 Accord EX4

I know Honda has had major problems with the auto trannies failing
entirely on the six-cylinders, and was hoping things would be OK on my
little 4-banger, but no.

Even my previous 1999 Acura CL 3.0 had this problem, not catastrophic
failure, just very sticky downshifting, the torque converter sticking
shut, or something. Thought it was by design, until a transmission
flush at 30k suddenly had the tranny working like you'd expect. For
about 90 days. Now my 2004 Accord EX, at about 25k miles, is starting
to do the same bad tricks There were small hints early on, before 10k
miles, but now it's more frequent and worse. I'll have to see if the
dealer will do the flush at the next scheduled maintenance on his own
dime (unless it's scheduled, I don't have my book here and don't think
it is). Come on Honda, figure out how to make an auto transmission
that works.

Josh

 

Yeah man, that's why I now enjoy manual.

I used to enjoy to drive automatics, but its so much easier to fall
asleep behind the wheel, plus you suck a little bit more gas. Lucky,
hondas manuals don't have this problem.

I don't know if you know how to drive a manual, or health wise just
can't. But, if you can you may want to learn how to drive manuals. It's
fun, saves more gas, and you can control your own gears, so it can be
less wear and tear.

I know Accords cost more then civics, fixing wise. You may want to
trade your Accord in for a Civic, if you really want to stick with
Honda.

 

Sure, drove nothing but, until a few years ago. Swore I was going to
get this Accord with a manual, but went down to the dealer one
afternoon, turned out he didn't even have one on the lot, and said oh
well ... manual on my old 1987 Accord was outstandingly smooth!

Note that the mileage estimates on the Acura TSX, manual versus auto,
the *auto* has a better estimate by 1 mpg! Modern technology ...

.... when it works!

J.

 

It's a silly thing, but make sure they're using the proper Honda auto
trans fluid.

As for flushing...the only "flushing" recommended by Honda is a series
of 4 drain/refill iterations, interspersed with a mile or two driving in
between each one. Is that the procedure your dealer is using?

If they are, it's time to get the factory rep involved. And I'd think
that with auto transmissions, he'd be there in a flash to check it out.

 

Elmo, I haven't talked to the dealer about it yet. I recall there's
no flush as such (that is, back on my Acura), but they just change the
fluid, plus or minus the procedure you describe, I guess. I'll have
to see if the dealer plays dumb, but hey, I don't exactly see a flood
of similar reports here on the newsgroup, and I strongly assume that
this kind of problem is extremely common, people just living with it.

J.