[meteng]

I read tons of horror stories about Odyssey transmissions. I bought my 2003 new - 102k miles now. About 6 months after I bought it, I remember a recall on the transmission - something to do with improper heat treating on some gears.

My question - for anyone with the transmission horror stories - do you know if your van went through the same recall?

Kicking around the idea of getting a different vehicle, but I've had no problems with this one. Hate to spend $$$ on a new car, but worry about having to spend $3k on this one for a transmission.

?

THANKS!

Chris

 

[Buffalo4]

Basically if you brought your Ody in to be checked for that recall, they looked at certain gears in the AT and if they showed overheating, they replaced the tranny. If they did not show overheating, they installed a 'bypass' to divert more oil to the problem area.
I own (bought it used) a 2003 Ody and it had the 'bypass' fix done. I now have 130k miles on it with no problems.
I would recommend that you do the 4x drain and fill or similar to the AT if it hasn't been done recently (50K).
Also replace the AT filter which is located under the hood and not really very easy to get to and some Honda Dealers don't even know it is present.
Best of luck,
Buffalo4

 

[buildit]

My question - for anyone with the transmission horror stories - do you know if your van went through the same recall?

Yes. Did the recall. Trans failed anyway. This is usual.

Recall does not help the most common way the transmission fails. Most of the time, the third gear clutch fails and it slips in 3rd gear. The recall puts oil on 2nd gear hopefully to prevent the gear from breaking. Very different things.

Might cost less to fix the old Odyssey if it breaks than buy something else. That is if the rest of the Odyssey is not about to break. Things to expect to need repair if didn't get done yet are timing belt and tensioner at 105K miles, engine mounts at less than 100K miles, evap system, door problems. Fixing costs less than a new car. New car is not necessarily free of problems. My Odyssey had problems when new and old.