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I am thinking that it might be the clutch, clutch throw out bearing, pressure plate OR the synchros within the gears. I really have no experience with this problem but I am throwing out possible things that I hypothesize might be the culprit.

 
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I have an 01 lx coupe. On top of the SRS bullshh, the tranny on my car 5,000 miles after I got. I still had a 50/50 warranty on it though from the gentlemen who originally owned. Got a new factory transmission (1600-1800) at the time i think) and have put well over 100,000 on it but it is starting to go sadly again (already ordering soft parts and debating whether to completely or selectively rebuild. It's hard to find selective kits for it though without dealer prices.

 
Rep Power: 811

get this kit, it will prolly outlast the car. but it depends on how good the rebuild guy is. install is everything. and an external fluid filter if you do not change the fluid often (should drain and fill at least once a year or 10k miles).

http://www.tciauto.com/tc/civic-mast...kit-01-02.html

 
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2K1. Had to have clutch replaced twice, and the IBS is going out. Reverse has to be wiggled into and an odd noise on acceleration that can be felt in the shift stick.

 
Rep Power: 221

2001 auto LX here.
I've been reading through many pages of this thread and I would love to know if anyone has nailed down a solution to the problem for the auto trans.

I've seen where people use TCI rebuild kits, recommendations for after market torque converters, and no one has come back with follow-up reports.

Can this thread get condensed please.

Nathan

 
Rep Power: 811

there is really no fix other than the aftermarket rebuild kit to replace problem parts (the clutches and filter). then ofcourse you need to have an external fluid filter installed and keep up with regular fluid changes at least every 10k miles or sooner. im not sure if they even sell the rebuild kits anymore, altho they are still listed on their site. rebuilding the trans "normally" at a shop is a waste of money because it will just break again in less than a year. the worst way to go is swapping in another used auto trans. rebuilding is questionable too, even with the tci kit, because most trans shops are not qualified to do the work properly. ive had several cars get rebuilt trans at top repair shops and the car was never the same. it would last a month or two and then break down. even with a 2 yr warranty the cars were in the shop every couple months for repairs. finally ended up having to sell them. if the original trans goes, plan on junking the car or sell it before it breaks. unless you can find a really good mechanic that knows transmissions inside and out that is willing to work on it with the tci kit for at least 2 weeks. anyone that says it wont take that long doesnt know what theyre doing.

 
Rep Power: 221

Thank you for the reply GearBox.
The link to the TCI kit is dead.

 
Rep Power: 284

If you put in some hardcore searching, there was a person who rebuilt an automatic with the TCI kit himself. He reported back long after the initial rebuild and the trans was still going strong with the upgraded parts.

I don't know what I'm doing though, since I'm confident a transmission does not take two weeks to rebuild. I disagree with essentially everything Gearbox has stated, choose to believe who you like.

 
Rep Power: 811

as i said, a good mechanic will take two weeks, since he also has many other projects going on. if he has 5 trans to rebuild and yours gets done in a few days, there is a good chance he didnt spend much time with it because he wants to make more money.

anyway the tci kits seem to be taken down for good this time. you can call and ask them directly, or maybe another site has some old stock, otherwise i guess thats it. its a shame because that was the only real solution. if you have some free time, you can read some of the many complaints. many stating that after a few months to a year, the shop rebuilt trans (with generic/aftermarket parts) broke down again.

http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Compl...c+Transmission

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/C..._failure.shtml

 
Rep Power: 284

It's not hard to find a blown core for $75-100 at a junk yard or on craigslist, drop it off to be rebuilt, then having the transmission swap done in one day. Then flip your core.

 
Rep Power: 221

Total trans failure today after a 10 mile drive. I had to go to my doctor for a visit and it started to struggle about 2 miles into the trip. The torque converter would not lock up after the CEL came on and made for a very interesting drive.
If I had my OBD2 scanner with me I think I could have made the five miles to the trans shop.
The Civic is sitting in front of a local AAMCO shop awaiting a rebuild.
The shop only repairs transmissions and gave me one of the best quotes with the best warranty and has been in business since 1970. They work on the police cruisers which makes me happy since I rarely see one there.

 
Rep Power: 811

hopefully your aamco does a better job than the one here. if the trans breaks within the warranty, i would recommend getting it fixed again and then sell it. also one thing you may want to check first is the engine code. a bad tps sensor (voltage too hi or lo) can make it feel like the trans is broken when in reality you just need another auto throttle body for $50 off ebay with a working sensor on it. happened to me before.

 
Rep Power: 811

oh look what i found...i would really consider asking the shop if they can use this kit to rebuild most of it with

http://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/559100/10002/-1

if top link doesnt work

http://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/559100...oductId=752736

 
Rep Power: 221

TPS is fine. I am a mechanic but I have ZERO experience with automatic trannys. The OBDII code was P00740, IIRC, for the switch that locks up the torque converter. The fluid is burnt and the tranny will not move the car.
I'm too far in at this shop to order a TCI kit that may or may not be available.
You must remember that a product on a middleman website most likely will not be available. Especially a product that was canceled. I've seen that too many times when trying to order car parts for customers.

Good news.
The technician rebuilding the tranny is ASE Master Certified. If you have ever taken the practice tests for that certification you know the mechanic with that certificate is a VERY knowledgeable mechanic! You have to be one BADASS mechanic to get that certification. From what I have heard, he can deliver the BADASS.

He showed me some other cars clutches that were good and some that were done.
His main point was that Honda made the clutch material too thin and that was the reason the trannys fail too soon.

 
Rep Power: 811

okay i hope youre right. i took 90% of the ase tests and passed them all, was 1 week away from being fully certified but decided in the end it wasnt worth it. the questions were beyond easy tho for someone like me with no formal mechanic training. maybe the master level is more involved. there are people at best buy who are certified too so take that into consideration. i hope it all works out for you and maybe you got a good one this time. btw, did he mention what he would be doing to fix the thin clutches problem? just swap in the same old design and have it wear out early again?

 
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Id personally just get a new car but thats just me. Not worth spending anymore money on 7th gen civics cause theyre ancient and way outdated.

 
Rep Power: 221

We have no desire for a car payment.

 
Rep Power: 221

The trans was out and torn apart today.
The rebuild kit is from Transtar. Their components are VERY reliable from my experience.
I talked to the mechanic today and got some great knowledge from him.
According to him and his years of experience the Honda clutch material is the point of failure inside the trans. The aftermarket companies have solved the problem with more durable clutch material and he told me that once my trans is rebuilt it will last far longer than what Honda could do.

The clutch packs on my trans looked great. The problem was with the clutch in the torque converter.

Strainer totally clogged.


Clutches


Rebuild kit.

 
Rep Power: 811

sounds like good news. yeah that filter is a big part of the problem too. they shouldve stuck with the older design of having a large metal mesh internal filter and a servicable pan filter you can change every couple yrs. im still not sure why some trans have torque converter problems and other have clutch pack problems.

 
Rep Power: 200

Honda had a batch of converters that the TCC clutch came apart on. The research I found was not year specific though the early years (01-03) were the worst for it. The p0740 is TCC is thrown when the TCC is commanded on by the ECM and the output speed is less than expected. Granted, this was on the second time I pulled it out! I am an experienced mechanic too, let me tell you, these trans are a confusing mess... Gearbox is right though, ASE is overrated for sure. That is from a MASTER CERTIFIED TECH. This is while most all dealerships, all makers too, have their own schooling. The GM dealership I worked at had its tech pay scales based on ASEs AND GM factory training. It honestly rolls to this though...A good mechanic is born, not made! No amount of training while take a non-mechanically inclined person all the way to good tech. A badge on the shirt or a plaque on the wall means nothing... Mine threw it because one of the seals on the shaft that goes into the TC was rolled. Wasn't the convertor itself, though I did replace it while I rebuilt it. Let us know, hope you have good luck. CN got hisself burned by a "low mileage" 01. A 10 year old car with low miles usually has a bunch more problems than a 10 car with 200000 miles and taken care of! My car has 170000 on it and I would drive it to Japan if I could. It is a good car. Still runs and drives like a new one too because I am **** and I alone take care of it. I am extremely picky about who works on any of my vehicles. I was a mechanic for 15 years. I was paid well, others in the shop weren't and they cut corners regularly. I am sure the 8.00 an hour guys do that all the time, not on my cars.....

 
Rep Power: 221

We got the car back today! The Civic shifts better than it ever has!
Before the service I witness marked the trans housing with a center punch on both parts of the housing to make sure I was not getting screwed with a junkyard trans. I did not get screwed with a used trans.

The total cost was $2456.23. About $175 was tax, and $225 was for the
36 month/36,000 mile warranty. The rebuild service comes with a standard
12 month/12,000 mile warranty.
While being in the office I could see what was going on in the shop. There was a Chrysler minivan on one of the racks with a trans on the jack ready to go in. 15 minutes later the trans is installed and the tech is driving it out of the shop!!!
That was the fastest trans install I have ever seen!!!

This AAMCO has about 12 lifts. All of them were occupied today.
There were also 11 cars parked on the street awaiting service.
This shop services the local police and sheriff fleets.
If you live in NW Alabama and need trans work go to AAMCO on Seminary St.

Funny other story.
I was at the back of the shop talking to the Tech and I notice all tool noise and talking stopped. I've worked in auto shops before and there are very few things that will silence a shop.
#1. Someone has made a major ****-up.
#2. An irate customer.
#3. A hot *** woman.
I say thank you to the Tech, turn around, and there is my wife walking through the shop. Her hot *** stopped all activity in the shop!

 
Rep Power: 811

thats a pretty good price. please post back in the future to report how its holding up in the long term.

 
Rep Power: 221

I will have updates in the future. We plan to keep the car at least three more years.

Nathan

 
Rep Power: 221

I emailed Jasper Engines and Transmissions a few times last week asking about how they had solved the problems of the failures of the 2001-2005 Civic auto transmissions.
Here is the latest, and only informative, response I got.

"Nathan,
Sorry but the Honda transmissions we get are from a remanufactured that only deals with Honda transmissions & have
been doing so for many years. They aren't specific with updates that they are doing on these transmissions but I have to
say they do quality work & we have been doing business with them for many years. I wish I could tell you the updates but
at this time we do not have them but we will cover them under our 3 year 100,000 mile parts & labor warranty. If there is
anything else I can help you with, please let me know. Thanks!!!"

I was told by a Jasper field agent that all problem solving and rebuilds were done in house and were not subcontracted. Maybe he had no idea?
The technical updates on specific engines and transmissions that I had read about Ford and GM were filled with mind blowing info about how OEM engineering problems were solved at Jasper and that is the exact type of info I was expecting to read about the Civic auto trans.

Jasper quoted me $2130.00 for a reman trans plus about another $600 for shipping, crating, and whatever else.

 
Rep Power: 0

I hope this is an OK place to ask this.

I have an 2002 LX auto with 95,000 miles. The transmission is starting to slip. So far it is only when it's cold out and the car is cold, but last winter I noticed that it seemed to be getting worse in that the threshold of ambient temperature has risen so that it only has to be about 50 degrees or lower for it to slip when going from 1->2 and 2->3.

What I am wondering is, is there any way to estimate about how much time I have left?

I'm wrestling with myself to try to decide whether to keep the car and pay to fix it (local Honda dealer quoted ~$3000 to replace with remanufactured tranny, haven't checked anywhere else yet) or just sell it while it's warm out and move on.

 
Rep Power: 811

my 2002 ex started slipping at 50k miles, im now at 103k and counting. its hard to say, but if the slip only happens when cold, there is a good chance you have a long ways before a rebuild. when it slips hot, you have big problems. i switched to valvoline maxlife atf a year ago and since this fluid is thinner, it starts working faster and the slip goes away sooner. shifts are also much better and not as harsh. its worth a try.

i would not recommend fixing because it will never be the same or last very long. rebuild trans have a terrible reputation for failing in any car. most mechanics are not qualified or use the same junk parts. its a waste of money.

 
Rep Power: 0

This morning I saw the most recent trans problem thread, and then found some others, including this one. Hadn't been aware of the trans problems on the early 7 gens, and have spent the past couple hours checking this out. It always seems to come back to the bad clutches and lack of a filter that can't be routinely changed. I'm concerned because my daughter has an '03 with 145K on it, and am now wondering what the strategy should be, when and if tranny problems begin. But, the line that I highlighted above has me wondering if they began using these better clutches starting with the '03s, or maybe even the later '02s. One piece of information that may support this is that on carcomplaints.com the numbers for '03 are much lower (8%) of what was listed for 2001, after having dropped around 60% in 2002. Now, some of this may just simply be less miles on the '03 and later years, but many of these vehicles now have more than enough miles to start seeing higher numbers of complaints if the problem was still like it was in '01. I've seen GB post a number of times that he thought nothing had been changed, but I wonder if there's any way of finding out for sure?

 
Rep Power: 0

the '03 cut off mark really depends on when your daughter's civic was manufactured. i have a 2003 honda civic that was manufactured in October 2002. at 58,000 my auto-trans started to shift hard. at 63,000 it started to slip. changing the fluid got me to 70,000 at which point it started to whine and slip all of the time so i decided to take it in to get checked out. honda gave me $1,000 towards a replacement rebuilt auto-trans (if i bought it from a dealership) - out the door cost was $1,900. it came with a new 36,000/36months warranty. i noticed that the shift from gear 2-3 is much harder than my original transmission. Gearbox (a very knowledgeable member on this forum with 7th gen civics) told me that means i most likely have the revised clutch pack as the new clutch pack results in a less fluid shift - a "harder shift" as you would call it.

my civic now has a little over 128,000 miles and the hard shift from 2-3 is still there. i haven't noticed any performance issues or shifting issues besides that. at 104,000 i had to replace both front struts due to leakage ($368) and both rear drum cylinders due to leakage as well ($248). the rear cam seal and valve cover seals also were leaking ($98). these types of repairs wouldn't be necessary on the 6th generation Civic as the materials and parts used were of much higher quality. i am still kicking myself to this day for trading in my 1997 Civic for the 2003 Civic. however, in the grand scheme of things, these Civics still have a better reputation than the Ford Focus, Chevy Cavalier/Cobalt, and i prefer the Civic over the Corolla. this 10 year old car gets me 36mpg on the highway going 72mph and 38-40mpg going 60mph, and i drive 52 highway miles each day. 10 years later since this car was made, 2012 Civics/Corollas/Elantras/Focus get the same mileage. what a rip off, right? so as you can see, while Honda did value engineer significant quality out of the 7th generation Civic, they did one heck of a good job on fuel efficiency.

what is the date of manufacturer on your daughter's Civic? if it is in 2002 i would start preparing for the inevitable since it's not a matter of if, but when the transmission will fail. best advice i have is to change the fluid every 30K miles, then every paycheck set aside a little money and save up for what could be coming

 
Rep Power: 0

My 2003 civic ex 4dr sedan was built in Jan/feb 2003 in CANADA and it started slipping around 99kmi. Bought it brand new in May 17, 2003. with 4 miles. Since then had two re-builts which took me to 176,500 at which time for the first time ever changed transfluid. All previous re-builts never ever used HONDA ATF. I am still using Valvoline MaxDerc ATF at 176k mi and its doing much better. No additives ever. It still has clear title for there has been two accidents in the front area (head on collision) and car parts have been EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD. I can proudly brag about the engine on this car has been BEYOND EXCELLENT. Maintained it well with regular oil changes every 5k mi after 100k and no issues whatsoever with the engine. (No headGasket problems, overheating, until almost 160k).

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the replies and the info guys! I will ask her to read the mfg date from the door plate, and hopefully it's '03. But in any case, if the tranny just begins slipping, I will swap the fluid for maxlife, and hopefully it would then do as well as GB reports