[maybe]

Its been a long time since I've been here but my 2003 transmission with 82k miles started to fail on a road trip far from home. At about the 12 hour mark in stop-and-go traffic, the car shuttered in first gear with no real response to the throttle, CEL and TCS lights came on. We made it to the side of the road. After letting the car cool down, we made it without incident to a Honda dealer. They diagnosed a failing transmission but thought that I should (knock on wood) be able to make it home, with most of the traveling at highway speeds. They did change the ATF. I've driven it for 3 hours hours so far and there is an occasional slip between 1st - 3rd gears but otherwise fine.

But now I have a 15 hour road trip back. I was hoping some wise members here can offer advice on do's and don'ts for the trip back home to reduce the risk of outright failure (last thing I want is to be stranded on the highway). Thanks in advance.

 

[gregersonke]

read through this post, http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showt...15&highlight=transmission+filter&pagenumber=2

Take it to an independent Mechanic/ transmission shop and replace that filter.

If you take it to a Honda dealer they will look at you like you are on crack, and say what filter?

At that point you could give them the part number and show them the pictures and bet them a free repair that it exists.


As for things you can do to keep it from getting worse. Do another drain fill, and don't push the rpms past 3k try to keep it closer to 2k.

 

[maybe]

Thanks for the info gregersonke!

 

[02-rrp-ex-2]

Not sure if another drain helps at this point. Avoid high rpms. Accelerate slowly and let it shift early. No downshifts to pass. Just nice and easy and hope for the best. Good luck.

 

[maybe]

We didn't make it.

We took it easy the whole drive back, including frequent stops to let everything cool down but the car became unsafe to drive about 2 hours from home. Third gear was gone -- we were cruising in fourth gear then bam! it jumped down to second -- the car lurched violently and only by the awareness of the driver behind me did we avoid a major accident. We limped to a dealer in second gear where we left the car. The most awesome brother in law on the planet drove 1.5 hours to pick us up.

I guess I'll be talking to this remote dealer on Monday on our options, if any. Best near-term outcome would be to figure out a way to get it back home where we can deal with local options. In the mean time, I'll be searching this board for options -- if any veterans have any words of advice, I'm all ears at this point.

Unbelievable to have this happen with only 83k miles on it.

 

[gregersonke]

Nah, you wanted 0 stops for cool down since the transmission runs coolest as long as its moving at around 60mph. But either way, look to an idependent shop around that area. It might be worth even towing. The only thing dealers will do is get another honda one in there. I'd rather rebuild it with better parts myself but thats me.

Sorry you didn't make it back though.

 

[SuperDad]

I agree that gently getting up to fifth gear and staying there for the entire trip was the way to go. Oh well.

You don't mention what state your van is stuck in. That information might help alot.

 

[maybe]

Yeah, I kept it in 5th gear running along for as long as traffic would allow me. We were watching RPMs the whole way, making sure it didn't downshift. But once we got stuck in slow traffic, performance got worse so I then would find a spot to let it cool down. Once it was acting up, it would continue to do so until the cool down (it might have had no real efficacy, but it seemed so at the time).

What finally killed it was a series of red lights coming off the interstate.

The vehicle is currently outside of Gettysburg PA at Hanover Honda. I'm in Leesburg, Virginia (down Rt 15 from there).

My main goal right now is to get back to Leesburg so I can deal with it locally, either through Leesburg Honda or an indy shop. Or I wonder what another car dealership will give me on a trade-in

 

[andyf80]

Wow...i'm sorry to hear about the bad luck.

Have you thought about a transport rather than a tow truck?

Some of these big rig transports may have an empty spot on one of their rigs and get it back home for a reasonable price.

I had transported a car from Dallas to Long Island for $650 so a short trip should cost much less.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how it turns out.