You'll see the tachometer bouncing 200-300 RPM's higher several times when there is shudder going from one gear to the next (while accelerating). You'll feel "judder" or slipping as the transmission struggles to lock. Doesn't sound like what you're experiencing.

When VCM engages on my 2017 I can definitely feel and hear it. It feels kind of like a very gentle shift prior to a faint vibration. On the highway going 70 mph it can be fairly pronounced. I hear a hum/droning noise and the van feels like its going over slightly rough/unfinished highway. As such I muzzled that sucker after stumbling upon this forum.

Anyway, you're due for a transmission drain and fill at 30k. If may not smell now but If it ever smells burnt you've waited way too long I'd do it at home rather than try to get it handled at the dealership. Get yourself a VCM muzzling device too and you'll be golden.

 

Awesome, thanks for the reply!

 

To resolve it if it's a trans fluid issue you need to do at least 3 ATF drain and fills. Buy yourself a case of fluid and you can do it all in one day. Drain, fill, drive 5-10 miles. Rinse & repeat.

 

John,

I’ve got 4 quarts of fluid on the way from Amazon, this was the best price per quart I could find. Do you have a link or tip from finding the best deal on cases?

 

Here:

Amazon.com: Honda DW-1 Automatic Transmission Fluid, 1 quart, Pack of 12: Automotive

Buy Honda DW-1 Automatic Transmission Fluid, 1 quart, Pack of 12: Transmission Fluids - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Or just go down to your local dealer and see if they will make you a good deal on a case.

 

Valvoline ATF MaxLife for $17.87 a gallon at Wallyworld is another option. One 3.8 quart swap, drove for 500 miles and did another, etc. In your case I'd follow the above advice and do a series of swaps sooner.

And oh yes, we "could" feel the VCM engage, all the time and it was driving us batty! One S-VCM later and smooth driving and we're still getting great gas mileage (certainly compared to our '02 tank!!).

 

I would stick with the oem fluid. I know many use the MaxLife but I don't. It wreaked havoc on my 4L60e about 5-6 years ago. I am a proponent of sticking with the specified fluid, especially on something so new.

 

On a recent road trip with 4 adults, 2 kids, and luggage I had the 200-400 rpm surge while accelerating. I brought the van into the dealership today and I reported having a judder while accelerating and the surging rpm under load. They said they were unable to reproduce symptoms and there were no codes stored. I asked if they could tell me if my transmission had the latest software update and they said it did. So my van is a 2017 and the previous owner had regular oil changes at their local dealer with no transmission services done. So, would my van have come from the factory after the most recent software came out? The tsb does state some vehicles my still judder and experience premature fluid deterioration even with the update, so I’m not too worried about it. I was able to buy a case of fluid at the dealer for $84 so I will be doing a 3x drain and fill sometime within the next couple of weeks.

I will update back here, thanks for all of your input! It’s awesome how many people with technical knowledge of these vehicles are active here. My precious car did not have this kind of online community.

 

My 2017 transmission did not have whatever the latest update was. My dealership was really good though. I brought my van in for the rear seat recall and pulsing while braking. Transmission was fine, no complaints. Recall, rotors resurfaced, and the transmission was updated without me asking (they were aware one was available) all done at same visit for free.

 

Man that sounds nice. Every car I’ve had, I have given the dealer a couple of chances and never once had success with a dealer. The Nissan dealer even had a fender bender in their parking lot while servicing my Maxima.

 

Headquarter Honda in Central FL for those interested. Highly recommended. I don’t know if the service I received was so great because it’s a lease but hey, I was happy either way

 

Just did a 3X drain and fill. 2017 with 32k miles. Each time I was shocked at how much better the transmission behaved! I think I’ll change my oil every 5k and do a single drain and fill every other oil change with this van.
The drain plug was on so tight that the crush washer was deformed into the drain, had never seen that before.
Again I am so thankful there is an active community for these vans!

 

Good job! Sometimes I get the feeling that people think we are exaggerating when we talk about how well these transmissions respond to fresh ATF. We're really not!

In the interest of saving a little money, you can probably go longer than 10,000 miles between drain and fills. Most of the old-timers around here go 15,000 or so miles between ATF services.

 

Good job! Sometimes I get the feeling that people think we are exaggerating when we talk about how well these transmissions respond to fresh ATF. We're really not!

In the interest of saving a little money, you can probably go longer than 10,000 miles between drain and fills. Most of the old-timers around here go 15,000 or so miles between ATF services.

On the surface, it really does sound like some odd religious fervor about changing the trans fluid... But then you change the fluid for yourself and find out! Ours was a used lease-return that was serviced correctly (fluid drain/fill at 30k, bought by us at 38.5k miles, now at 40.5k miles). I could feel the shudder on the test drive and knew what needed to happen. I've done two drain/fills now with great results.

I'll settle into 5k oil changes and 10k trans fluid changes (1x), knowing it is about 50% than necessary. Both are easy with the right setup and can be done after the kids are in bed...

-Charlie

 

15,000 miles is about 2 two oil changes when using the oil life %. Which you can, it's real. By the way, the oil change interval for these engines before the MID was 7500.

 

Okay, on the VCM/ECO, with 60,000 miles, I cannot say that I have ever felt or heard anything when ECO comes and goes. I thought I did a few times but I wasn't really watching the light so I can't confirm it was sync'd with VCM. It could have just as well been the AC cycling. So, for whatever reason its happening to your Honda, I would say if you can actually tell when its happening, you are headed for engine trouble down the road.
My personal strategy for dealing with VCM is the same as it is for my turbo vehicle; use Startron in the fuel all the time, use premium synthetic oil of the correct weight and change it at 5000 miles. Also, with the VCM, when I'm driving it I tend to drive it a little harder, trying to make sure the 'off' cylinders get plenty of exercise to keep them clean.
BTW, as for steel debris on the trans magnetic plug, it is expected at least on the first fluid change because the final drive in a FWD vehicle is also served by the trans fluid, so there will be some steel picked up by the magnet.

 

I’m sure my 5k and 10k service intervals are over kill and that’s the point. Our van makes frequent very short <5 mile trips and we live in high heat high humidity area. So I’d rather change the oil more frequently, I know the oil itself will still be healthy but it’s more likely to become contaminated. As for the transmission, the van had 30k on it when I bought it and I could feel the effect of the fluid not being changed. So I figure if I do a single df every 10k then I should have all the fluid exchanged by 30k miles.
I plan on keeping this van for 20 years and I’ll happily over maintain to avoid a failure of any sort.
Also, I figure I’ll let the maintenance minder run it’s course and do all the sub items as they pop up.