bad transmission - 2500 dollars

Hi,

I took my 98 civic to an authorized honda dealer. they read the code
P0730 - Incorrect gear ratio. Now they suggest replacing the
transmission for 2500 parts and labor.


Some q's:


Is there any chance honda is wrong in saying the only thing to do is
get a new transmission. There is something wrong with the car, the
check engine light came on a week ago, I had it reset, and now it's
on
again, so it's not just a fault with the computer. Also the car jumps
slightly (almost impersptably) when i step on the gas after starting
it.


The car seems to run fine otherwise. How long is it possible for it
to
keep going?


Will it just break down on the freeway one day (not safe to drive),
or
will it just gradually get worse?


Anything I can do besides replacing my tranmission? The dealer said
just baby it and don't change the transmission fluid as this is any
metal particles in it now keep it running fine, so don't change it.


I was planning on getting rid of the car in a few months anyway, as I
will not need a car for a while (going back to school). I don't want
to rip someone off by selling them a car that seems fine, but has a a
bad transmission, on the other hand i sure don't want to pay 2500 for
a new transmission. Any cheaper alternative fix I can do or other
suggestions?


Thanks.

 

-----------------------------

Now we know they are lying to you. Go buy 8 quarts of tranny fluid.
Drain-n-fill once. Drive for a few hours / days and do it again.
Report back.

'Curly'

 

Funny thing you said this, because I heard the same story
in the toyota dealership about my 1995 camry about year ago.
They told me that my tranny fluid is too dirty to change, that
particles are making it run and if they flush it will start to slip.
The car has 240 thousand miles, so they basically said it
has a death sentence and I should look for another car.
I listened to them, and kept the old fluid.

Couple of weeks ago I got my camry back to the same dealer
for a routine oil change, and the same service manager
(probably reading recomendation from a different mechanic)
told me that my transmission fluid is very dirty and it needs
to be flushed...

When I told them about older recomendation I heard that
"different mechanic is like a different doctor - gives different
advices to the same sicknesses and it is only my decision
to follow with the recomendation or not" - I was confused...

Now the jury is still out - not sure if I should flush the tranny or not.

 

Flushing is different than simply changing the fluid by drain and refill.

 

Ah... so I should NOT flush it but just simply drain it?
So it will just dilute "particles" and everything will be fine?

 

Agree with this. Dirty fluid should be changed. I certainly wouldn't
replace the transmission based on one computer code.

 

Why did you post this identical message independently to at least three
newsgroups? Each group now has no idea what has been posted in reply in the
other groups. That's not smart.

"Honda" is not wrong, the *dealer* is wrong. The dealer is not Honda.

There is a TSB out on exactly your problem. The fix involves replacing the
linear solenoid, plus replacing the ATF with the correct Honda Z1.

Ask your dealer about TSB 00-012. Not all Civics are affected, just the
ones in a certain VIN range.

 

Are you sure this filter will not create too much
of a resistance to the tranny fluid flow?
Petrol filter is design to work with more watery fluid.
Transmission fluid seems to be much dense than petrol.

 

change the fluid. drain and fill, don't flush.

 

yes.

 

dude, you're completely WASTING YOUR TIME with chea - he thinks the
milliamperage consumed by a vehicle's clock is noticeably detrimental to
vehicle performance.

 

Second that. If you listen to Chea, you will have jury rigged crap
hanging off every system on the car on the theory that, if Honda
engineers knew as much as Chea, they would have jury rigged it at the
factory.

 

What really is the difference? Scale of dilution of dirty fluid?
Flushing will kill my transmission but draining fluid will help?
I do not quite get it. Would you care to explain?

 

flushing machines typically get used on all types of vehicles, with all
types of fluids. the contamination comes from the residues left in the
machine from previous work. and believe it or not, hondas are very
sensitive to the type of fluid used - this kind of contamination can
ruin the shifting characteristics of a transmission. i know this from
personal experience.

drain and fill simply empties the old fluid, and does /not/ contaminate
with anything foreign. it works by dilution, and that is sufficient.
again, i speak from personal experience.

 

--------------------------

MURPHY'S LAW DICTATES THAT the goofs at Monkey Lube have an 80% chance
of hooking up the FLUSHING machine BACKWARDS, which evenly distributes
the contents of your HONDA internal filter throughout your tranny.
That's not a good thing. When _you_ drain-n-fill, you wipe off the
magnetic drain plug. You drive it a few hours and drain-n-fill again.
Guess what, you've removed a bunch more particles and you've got about
2/3rds of your fluid replaced. Because you've cleaned off the drain plug
magnet, it continues to captivate all remaining metal filings. Cheap
insurance / better shifting. Look into the TSB as well, but change your
ATF just the same.

'Curly'

 

Not to mention, Honda's own engineers say that a "flush" (as most people
use the term) isn't recommended. They specify a repetitive
drain/fill/drive procedure as a way to clear things out.

 

We are talking about doing "flush" at the dealership.
In my case, we were talking about my old toyota camry.
The most likely scenario will be that the machine was
used on toyotas only for years. No other fluids than toyota.
So the argument is mute.

 

We were talking about doing transmission flush at the dealer.

I have found transmission drain plug in my toyota camry.
Does 2004 honda accord I4 have similar drain plug?
That is a positive surprise since most of the cars do not
have drain plugs on transmission and you have to dick
with the sucking fluid through the dipstick tube...
Or removing transmission pan and resealing it after the wokr.

With the flush you will have almost all fluid replaced,
so it should be much better: 100% new fluid

What TSB should I look into?

 

Do they care to say WHY it is not recommended?

 

Let's avoid ad hominem arguments.