jferristx

First: 2006 Honda Civic EX coupe, 196,600 miles. Only non-scheduled maintenance repair was an a/c evaporator leak about 750 miles ago. And as of yet, I still haven't replaced the C/V's. Regularly maintained, other than cosmetic wear and tear, in excellent shape.

After a 15 mile long 70 mph drive, I slowed to a stop light. With foot on brake, I felt a solid surge "bump". So much so, I thought I got a tap from the guy behind me. I didn't. So, pulled out on light, got a hard shift and a bit of gear hunting. Was less than half a mile from home, pulled in driveway, no noise, normal shift to park, shutoff. Check fluid. Dark, smelled a bit burnt.

So. Dropping $4K on a replacement transmission is worth it to me (really, the car is doing that well, and it's the best kind of car...paid for). BUT as I take it to a trusted mechanic, is it possible it is a repair rather than a replace? Anything I should know to be prepared?

TIA

mac25

Whatever you do make sure you take both transmissions home.

I'm sure you can sell it to someone to rebuild.

or

at least take it to a scrap yard to sell the aluminum.

jferristx

That's a given. I'm not paying full price for a new transmission, I'll return it for the core charge. Zero effort required.

jferristx

If anyone is looking at this thread, here's an update. my trusted mechanic went through codes, light, tea leaves and star charts, and determined that the 3rd gear pressure switch was bad. They replaced it, codes come up clean, car drives nicely, appears to have resolved the problem for now. It's a given that it is a transmission with 196K miles. So, we'll see how long this repair keeps it running. But a nearly 3K estimate for replacement versus a less than $400 repair...yeah, saved my Xmas.

ezone

I did not see in your first post any mention of the check engine light and flashing D light?
If I had read about either of those clues, I would have said that fault codes are the place to start.
(I may not have checked in here 3 days ago either)

Pressure switches are a common failure, usually very intermittent and random when one decides to glitch and cause a brief but sometimes noticeable problem.

jferristx

So, this was a reasonable repair. Does it give any long term indications? Like, once one of those switches fails, the tranny heads downhill even faster? Or is this a random thing, and replacement means I could expect another 50-100K out of the transmission?

I was fully ready to replace the entire thing. The cost of replacing it is a fraction of a new car.

ezone

A pressure switch needing replaced is no indication of anything other than the switch went bad.

BTW there is another pressure switch that probably hasn't been replaced yet.


I doubt anyone can predict when a trans will fail or put an expiration date on it.

Change the ATF regularly with the recommended fluid for best service life. We still recommend every 30k at the shop, or more often.