Bad Transmissions on 2002 Honda Oddyseys

My 2002 Oddysey transmission went out a couple of weeks ago at 66,600
miles. I would not expect that of a Honda. Has anyone else had this
problem? I was in the mountains of WV at the time and the nearest
dealership was over 100 miles away, so I had to make do with the local
mechanic sho said he was installing a new transmission but when it was in he
admitted it was rebuilt.

 

It was so common on some Odysseys (and other Honda models) in that time
frame that there were extended transmission warranties for some models &
years. Check with your dealer. Yours might be one of them.

 

A 2002, so it's a 5-speed auto tranny? I am pretty sure that your Odyssey
was subject to a tranny recall because of failures. Get a hold of a dealer
or Honda customer service. Any money you spent to fix the tranny should be
reimbursed to you by Honda.

 

You must be really new to this sort of thing. The V6 auto transmission
failures are the stuff of legend.

Did you Google for it? It's everywhere. There's a recall and a TSB
(04-021).

Raise the hood and look at the firewall near the top. See the VIN number
that's stamped into the firewall? Check the 11th digit. Is there a tiny
punch mark above the 11th character? If NOT, then your car was never
serviced under TSB 04-021.

What you need to do is call your dealer and see if your VIN number is
covered under that TSB.

 

Way too many people. See odyclub.com for details.

Honda screwed up with their auto transmissions hooked to V6 engines,
starting in 1998 and ending by the beginning of the 2005 model year.

The 02 Ody (I have one) was a new 5-speed model, but even after Honda
had big time troubles with the previous 4-speed model, Honda still
screwed up. The 02 trans had a lubricant/cooling problem for which
there was a recall. It's possible yours never got the recall repair.

It is absolutely worth a shot to head to your Honda dealer and ask the
service manager if this can be accommodated, given (a) the low miles
(mine also has 67K on the clock, which is low) and (b) the known issues
with Honda transmissions going back to 1998.

Honda spent a bunch of money to try to make up for all of this, and
still is spending money, but not every dealership grasps the concept.
If your service manager tries to tell you to go blow, ask to speak
directly with the zone rep. Or, call American Honda directly; here's a
listing of the zone office numbers:

http://www.odyclub.com/customer.html

Honda is very, very good about taking care of their customers for things
that shouldn't go wrong, even after 7 years. I have a couple great
stories about that. Regardless, don't stop until you see complete
satisfaction.

In most cases, Honda offers to supply the part if you pay the dealership
labor fee. Normally that's acceptable, but in this case--with the huge
transmission problems Honda foisted onto the public, problems they
admit--I would accept nothing less than Honda picking up the tab.

I expect that they will offer that right away.

And if you don't get satisfaction out of your first dealership service
manager, if he acts like a total dick, just head on to another one.
Some of them just don't get it, but many do.

Well, you're screwed--because Honda won't cover someone else putting in
something else.

The fact that it's a "rebuilt" transmission isn't a big deal at all,
though. ALL transmissions that are replaced in the field are
technically "rebuilt", because even if all the guts are replaced, you're
still using the old case. The only way it's not rebuilt is if it's a
brand new unit from the manufacturer, a unit that has never been
installed anywhere--and that's an expensive unit.

Rebuilt is fine.

 

I never heard of that one. I'm pretty sure my mechanic didn't do that,
because he and I did the TSB together. It was his first one, and I
helped him take the pictures. I think I still have them....

Anyway, the one sure-fire way to tell is to look for the transmission
fill plug. If it's not there, if it's full of plumbing instead, then
the TSB work was done.

 

The TSB specifically and explicitly tells the technician to record the
warranty repair by making a punch mark over the 11th VIN character. There
is even a diagram showing exactly where to make the punch mark.

That's true.

 

If his tranny was part of the recall (6 cyl models), the tranny
warranty was extended to 10 years or 100k miles.

 

I do believe the warranties on the trannies for recall vehicles was
extended to 7 years (oroginally thought it was 10, but a quick web
search shows 7) and 100k.

 

september.org:

As far as I know, '02 models are not covered under any warranty extension.

 

The extended warranty applied to those with a 4-speed automatic, but there
was no recall.

2002 was the first year the Odyssey had a 5-speed automatic, and that auto
tranny that was subject to the recall, but there was no extended warranty.

 

I must be confusing it with the Accord models with the 6 cyl.

 

Again, it depends more on the tranny than the model. It had been a problem
on Odyssey, Accord V6, and some high end Acura models.

4-speed = extended warranty

5-speed = recall

 

<<<snip>>>

My 02 had the TSB done and failed about 10,000 miles later, at 84,000+.
Replaced under the certified vehicle warranty, but I am pretty sure I
received notice of an extended warranty as well. Either way, the new
transmission is smoother and quieter than the old one ever was. The old one
had an audible gear whine.

mg