transmission problem
8.0
pretty badTypical Repair Cost:
$2,912.00
Average Mileage:
67,933 miles
Number of complaints:
12 complaints
Most common solutions:
- replace entire transmission (7 reports)
- not sure (5 reports)
Helpful Websites About 2003 Honda Accord won't shift into 3rd gear
2008Aug 30
Accord EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 67,000 miles
Okay folks, first thanks for all the great info here on AutoBeef. Without it I wouldn't have known what to do. The car first had trouble on a steep hill. The car wouldn't shift to 3rd gear and I was stuck at 25mph going up. The trouble was intermittent and I couldn't reproduce it on demand. First thing I did was call Honda Corporate and report the problem. My car only had 67k+ miles on it and just hit the 5 year mark. I couldn't prove that it was a transmission problem though. I took the car to my non-Honda mechanic. He replaced the solenoid, no help and upgraded my computer with the dealer, also no help. I started keeping a log of the problem. Where, when, what I was doing when it happened. I took the car to the dealer and the dealer was absolutely fantastic. Twice I went out with the Honda mechanic and couldn't reproduce the problem. I left the car overnight with the dealer and let folks there drive the car. Still no repro. Meanwhile the corporate rep kept calling me, but I knew without confirmation from the dealer I couldn't get anywhere with corporate. After a month of trying to get the car to fail on demand it finally happened. Tip #1 if it happens then don't turn off the car when you get to the dealer. Tip #2 if you can avoid the freeway getting to the dealer do it, even though it means driving with your hazards on. I drove home on the freeway and when I hit my hill the car acted up and I turned it around and went back to the dealer. This time I was able to show a service manager the problem and he confirmed it was the transmission. Folks, I had the best experience with this dealer. I dealt with three different people in the service department plus one of the mechanics. They never dropped the ball. There was always someone that would step up to help me if the last person I talked to was not available. Okay more tips: It helps if your car was serviced regularly, my mechanic faxed my records to the dealer to show how well I took care of my car as the original owner. The quote from the dealer was $3322. I ended up paying less than 1/3rd. When I filed my complaint with the corporate office I told them that we had two new Honda Accords. Mine, a 2003 and his a 2004. The corporate office was great too. Once my issue was confirmed they followed up to make sure the dealer was following up with me. If your dealer is lame go to another. I was not working with my original dealer! Keep good records or use a reliable mechanic that does. Be persistent and systematic. Keep track of when and where the issue happens. Being methodical can help you track the problem. Best of luck folks!
2008Jul 20
Accord EX 3.0L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 90,500 miles
Hey another complaint to add to the list, I have an 03 Honda Accord V6, It all started when my transmission started shifting roughly into 3rd gear, after one week, and while I was 2 hours from home merging onto the interstate it would not shift into 3rd, just the RPMs went way up and the tranny light came on, fluids were good! I turned the car off and tried again! got a few miles and it slipped out of 5th gear and put me on the side of the road. I finally managed to get it home after 6 hours of danger on the hwy! Took it to the dealer, who said I need a new transmission, cost 3,900, after asking about the Honda goodwill, the price is now 2600. Wow way to rip me off! I looked up my vin and see that they supposed to have fixed the recall issue in 05 on the trans, but looks like it did no good! Also my AC went from ice cold to hot in 5 sec, took to 3 dif places all priced repair at over $1,000!
2008Mar 06
Accord EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 80,000 miles
There is a recall out for a revision to the oil cooler return line to increase lubrication to the second gear. My car wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear and they are telling me I am responsible for replacing the whole transmission on my car. I only have 80K on it and just had the transmission serviced a few months ago.
2007Dec 06
Accord EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 80,000 miles
This issue has occurred 3 times in a little less than 1 month. A transmission repair shop agrees it could be a solenoid issue (or perhaps hydraulic). It is not likely electrical as more likely a warning light would flash. I will wait and see if it gets better. The mechanic said it could start working normally all the time or will appear more frequently (thus allowing him to properly diagnosis it.
My biggest concern is that if I need to accelerate quickly, I may not be able to depend on all the horses my V6 can offer. I have two children, and I do not want to find out how well I installed their carseats (very well thank you) but still have a rear-end collision because I cannot accelerate safely is unacceptable. Sometimes, you must absolutely depend on your car to perform. I will drive less aggressively with regarding pulling into traffic (allow for more room in case of failure), but sometimes you must have your car perform to avoid causing a pile-up or being unnecessarily rear-ended by someone not paying attention.
2007Oct 10
(reported on)Accord V6 V6
- Automatic transmission
- 50,000 miles
I have seen postings on this board about the 2nd to 3rd gear slip that occurs on the V6 transmission. I have had this problem with my car for some time also. It generally isn't much more than an aggrevation (except for the few times it has occurred in rush hour traffic and the worst time - during a funeral procession where I was the 4th car). Basically, I wanted to shed a little light on this problem. First of all it actually isn't a slipping problem. What is happening is that the solenoids that disengages 2nd gear and engage 3rd gear (this is an electronic transmission not vacuum)under light acceleration are not powerful enough to actuate through their full length of travel. I don't know how this arrangement is on this particular transmission, but typical electronic transmissions have 1st and 3rd on one solenoid and 2nd and 4th on another. Again I haven't seen the schematic of the actual tranny, but these are the basics for most. Sometimes the tranny makes a single bang when it shifts out of 2nd and other times the engine just over-revs with no violent bang. The best thing you can do is to manually shift the car to 2nd "D2" and drive to a place where you can engage Reverse then Drive 'D' and take off with medium acceleration (better if you can drive in reverse for a few feet stop then take back off in Drive "D"). The worst thing you can do is to continue to rev the car in this slipping state. First of all this definately won't get the car to shift correctly. This will eventually damage the tranny for reasons that are too involved to explain.
As far as the Honda dealer telling you he can't diagnose the problem without actually experiencing it, that is an absolute LIE!!! As soon as the car goes into that slipping mode the onboard diagnostics in the car's computer register a Torque converter malfunction code (not sure exactly what the verbage or code number is, but it is specific). In essence the computer sees a lot of spinning at the crank and nothing occuring at the transmission. This code cannot be interpreted by a certified mechanic any other way. Honda knows this problem exist (obviously) and should be correcting it in the remanufactured transmissions. Based on what I have read, it doen't appear that is the case. So it isn't guaranteed you will not have this problem with a replacement.
I feel your pain in dealing with dealerships (their service techs hate fixing these types of problems - they don't make as many service hours on this type of repair therefore they don't make as much money). Remember, Honda is an engine company (the best)... not an automatic transmission company (third worst behind Chrysler and Ford). The comment someone else made on buying a Honda with a manual tranny stands on its own. They have tons of experience here. All their automatics have some kind of flaw. Buy a Toyota if your looking for a good drive train.
2007May 02
(reported on)Accord EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 49,000 miles
The transmission problems with Honda is an on going problem. They are JUNK! I will not buy another Honda again. I encourage all Honda people to dump their Honda and buy anything else. Tell everyone that the transmissions are bad all the way from 1998 (for sure) up to 2003 and beyond to 2007. Honda Corp. was no help. They even admitted the problems with the transmissions. It won't shift out of first to second or shift out of second to third. That is why Honda had a recall for an oiler tube over second gear. They knew the problem existed. The transmissions are JUNK-JUNK-JUNK-JUNK-JUNK. Don't buy a HONDA!
2007Mar 03
(reported on)Accord EX 3.0 V6
- Automatic transmission
- 50,000 miles
I have had this car since nov 2002 and recently when driving the car it will not shift in 2nd or 3rd gear ( around 30 mph). The RMP up to about 7-8 and I have to pull over while driving. After I pull over and put the car in park and sit there for a while, I then proceed to drive every and thing seems fine. I almost crashed when merging on the express way because it would not shift gears around 30 mph. At first I thought it was it because was really cold here in Chicago -10 below for almost a month but now that it has warmed up to normal winter conditions it still is happening. After reading about all the same type of complaints I know there is something wrong with the transmission. I have also noticed that the shifting is not quiet like it used to be it has become rough. I'm in grad school and need to keep this car at least it's ten years old. I bought this car because Honda has a outstanding reputation . it pisses me off that there are transmission problems this early in the cars life, especially a Honda.
2006Nov 21
(reported on)Accord EX V6
- Automatic transmission
- 73,000 miles
My car is not shifting into third... why is this happening... this car is supposed to run forever without much expensive maintenance...
2006Nov 13
(reported on)Accord LX 3.0L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 45,700 miles
This happens 3 weeks after I had my 45000 major service at Honda's dealer. They suck, why can't they detect it early?
2006Oct 02
(reported on)Accord EX
- 40,000 miles
damn sh*tty ass honda accord 2003, just got dis car for not even 5 months and the transmission don't run no more. dat sh*t don't even run up to third gear it went pass third gear to 5th gear instead. thank buddha i bought extended warranty!!! brought that sh*t into the shop got it tested through the computer they said the whole transmission is gone/done with, they have to put in a whole new transmission. and dat car only had 40,000 miles on, when i got it it was 32,000 miles n it's already done with. The honda company need to get there sh*t tested and put in correctly cuz their shietty ass cars aren't working right.
2006Jul 15
(reported on)Accord
- 60,000 miles
After going to the dealer twice and being told there was nothing wrong I found this site and see I'm not alone. I haven't had it fixed because they don't see any problem. This just ticks you off when you buy what you think is just about the best thing on the road..
We have partnered with JustAnswer to offer online auto repair help and advice from expert professional automotive technicians. You describe your transmission problem or ask your question and they try to help you figure it out. The fee is typically $9 to $15, but you can offer to pay more for really tough questions. You will usually receive an answer in 10 minutes or less, and you do not have to pay anything unless you accept the answer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2008Oct 24
Accord V6
Transmission was slipping slightly going into 3rd and after a week it would slip from 3rd into neutral and it was hard to get past that point w/o going very slow. I barely made it home and had it towed to the dealer the next morning. The dealership (Goodson Honda North Houston) was excellent.
After reading this web site I decided to call Honda Customer Service. They called back on Monday and finally called again (after I had left at least 6 messages) on Thursday after the dealer had already addressed the problem and negotiated the price. This issue should have been addressed on Monday. Meanwhile, I am renting a vehicle. I'll stop rambling....bottom line is that the service manager kept me informed and ended up getting me a great deal through her manager and his manager. I ended up paying just over $1,000 (vs. $3600) they said because it was a certified pre-owned that was out of the mileage warranty but had not surpassed the length of time warranty.
Dealership was fabulous but Honda Corp did a poor job of service recovery....very surprised.
rigalo8330
Magnolia, TX, USA
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