Every Gear Acts Like Neutral

My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
It seems like the engine is not engaging.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Peter.

 

Suggest you take it back to the very reputable mechanic....

 

Is the shift linkage really doing anything?

 

Instead of reputable mechanic, how about you find a competent mechanic?

 

I don't understand the question. Changing between R, N, D, D2, etc.
does not make any difference.

Thanks,
Peter.

 

I guess it's too bad we didn't see this before we bought it
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2001/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml

 

This tells you no more about your specific problem than you now know.

 

Bob is suggesting that the shift lever is disconnected from the
transmission.

_Is_ every gear neutral? Perhaps you are still in Park. Can you push the car
by hand with the parking brake off?

 

If it is still in the 30-day trial period, hire a tow truck and take it
back.

Jeff

 

I just tried the car out again. Park is not neutral. It acts as I
would expect "park" to act. It is the only setting that does not act
as neutral.

Thanks,
Peter.

 

How does the car act differently between park and the other gears?

The only difference between park and neutral is that there is a
mechanism that prevents the drive shafts from turning.

However, this does indicate that the shift lever is connected to the
transmission.

Jeff

 

Unfortunately it is not. We thought we were covering our bases by
taking it to a supposedly reputable mechanic during that period. They
found no problems. Perhaps the next step should be a class action
suit but I am not sure how successful that will be since it was far
from being a new car.

 

I guess that's not good. Seems like a problem with the transmission.

 

And you don't know what the problem is.

 

No mechanic can predict what is going to fail in the future. He can only
asses the condition when he sees it. Stop pissing that he didn't see the
failure was going to happen and take it to someone to diagnose the problem
and get it fixed. You aparently don have the ability to troubleshoot
yourself xo call a tow truck or maybe you can find a service shop that will
pick it up...

 

I was thinking of a suit against Honda, not the mechanic.

 

Lotsa luck with a class action suit. You're reading too many newspapers
or comic books. Learn what is wrong with the car before you start
mapping a brilliant legal strategy. The first (and likely the LAST)
question you need to answer is "What warranty, if any, did you get with
the car?" If your answer is "Uh, well, the bill of sale says "No
Warranty, express or implied. Vehicle sold "As-Is"" you are, as they
say in the legal biz: SCREWED!

With no warranty, you have little recourse against the seller. He has
no duty to repair it and you'll find it very difficult to show that he
defrauded you when you already took the opportunity to check it out with
your own mechanic beforehand.

Hell, we don't even know HOW long it's been since you bought the car,
"recently" being a relative term. Nor do we know how many miles was on
the car and is on the car now.

You haven't bothered to let us know of any symptoms which may have been
observed before the fatal "everything is neutral."

I suspect, like others, that the linkage PROBABLY is connected but from
your poor description of the circumstance, it's possible that you don't
know what you're talking about when you say PARK works normally. Does
PARK just lock the ignition and steering wheel or does it actually
engage the parking pawl in the transmission? i.e., when it's in park,
can you push the car? When the car is rolling VERY slowly (you push,
wife works the shift) and you put it in PARK is there a grabbing and
quick stop of the car? If there isn't, it's not going into PARK and the
linkage is again suspect. Even if the interlock works in PARK, I
"think" there may be a possibility that the interlock could work WITHOUT
the linkage to the transmission still being connected and/or properly
adjusted.

Bottom line: Everyone, especially yourself, needs to have more
information before you get beyond having a car that doesn't move.

 

However, I recommend that you don't go to a chain like AAMCO. AAMCO and
other chain shops have a reputation of fixing every problem with a
transmission rebuild. And, before you take it to a particular shop,
check them out at the Better Business Bureau to see if they are a better
business or not.

Jeff

 

A class action suit? LOL!

Not only are you clueless about your car, you're ignorant about how the
law works, or even what a "class action" suit is for.

Quit fucking whining, and go get the car fixed.

 

What would be the basis of your suit against Honda? That the transmission
failed in a 7 year old car?

Jesus, get a fucking clue, you ignorant stooge.