Originally Posted by cvguy

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?

Originally Posted by jgg204

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

Originally Posted by cvguy

Here's another thought about these 7 gen tranny problems, one that I don't recall reading in these threads (might be there, but I didn't see it). My daughter went to school in TN, and now works in VA. Because of this, the great majority of her '03 miles has been highway, driving and forth to MA - many very long trips, and almost always at constant speed. Plus, like most females, she doesn't feel the need to put down a bit of rubber every other day or so (never actually did this myself, but I've heard about lots of guys who do ). So the miles on her car are a MUCH different 145K miles (transmission-wise anyway), as compared to most other vehicles. So, I'm thinking that since the primary problem is the inferior clutches that break down much too quickly, perhaps the owner's driving patterns and habits are a big factor in how long they actualy last. What I'm saying is probably true for the tranny on any vehicle, but maybe driver differences are amplified with these 7 gens because the components are so iffy to begin with. Thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by gearbox

cvguy-im sure a trans that has all highway miles would last longer, esp one with such weak clutches. the majority of the wear happens each time you shift. so the more shifts, the older the trans gets and the faster it ages. true for any car, but esp for these defective trans.

Originally Posted by gearbox

yeah like i said before, slipping when cold is not the end of the world and you could get years more life. if everything works normally when hot, you should be okay for now. all 01-05 autos have the same issues, some more than others but also you have to remember the cars are getting older and most ppl with a 10 yr old civic will not be going straight to the internet to post about their failed trans. im sure there are far greater numbers of failure than you think. even just talking to local shops here in this small town, they say they replaced literally hundreds of 7thgen auto trans.

Originally Posted by palsana

After having driven 300+ mi since my last aTF fluid change, i do still notice slipping happening!!!!. Not so prominent but its there.Still have to pull off and on the gas pedal to make it go further/accelerate.
Slipping in my opinion is never going away until replacement/rebuild.
How severe of a slipping is it? sometimes it ANNOYS me, how smooth when cold this car really starts, like there is absolutely no problem with it, but once hot and having driven 50+ mi of city driving, wow, it begins slipping and have problems accelerating/moving
I am wondering if i should do a final ATF fluid change (third & final within three/four weeks.) I do see improvement upon transfluid change, but cant say that SLIPPING HAS COMPLETELY BEEN TAKEN CARE OF ..its still slipping, will continue to slip but as long as i know, there isnt much there that can be done about it.
Heck, its already lot more miles i have for this car than i ever anticipated. Will be a good car for short commutes < 50mi .

Originally Posted by qijian

A few days ago I started noticing a "new" whining noise when I drove the car. Yesterday the tranny randomly flared revs each time it shifted (no matter if it was 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd) and after 20 mins the car just wouldn't get into gear. When I let the car sit, it would intermittently catch gear and let me drive 20-40mph mph or so and then it wouldn't gain more speed and eventually the engine will rev and only rev. If i let the car cool down again, it would do the same but after a mile or two the problem will occur again.

is this in need of a tranny rebuilt or can cleaning the strainer fix my troubles? or ??

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Is the CEL on? If so what code is it?

Originally Posted by gearbox

all you can really do without major repair is change the trans fluid and hope for some more life. new fluid can somewhat clear up the filter screen enough to increase fluid pressures. but not by much...