Rep Power: 812

its a new thing. i personally think its stupid. i'm glad it doesn't do it on flat roads cause its bad for the tranny to downshift like that. i think it does anywhere from 1 to 2 gears.

 
Rep Power: 289

a couple car companies have grade logic, now, but they have other names for it or no name for it at all.

 
Rep Power: 0

My tranny was doing that and now i have bigger problems. It is now slipping horribly and i can bearly get going. What could be wrong with it? I got transimission fluid in it cause sometime it loses some and makes it slip but thats not it

 
Rep Power: 812

its dead if it just revs up. a few more days and it won't work at all. Now i'm gettin worried cause 2-->3 shift is very jerky when it used to be smooth.

 
Rep Power: 289

sucks our cars were designed during the era where honda built some horrible trannies. Remember the recalls on the Accords, TLs, Preludes, Odysessy etc...

on another note: ive ridden in some early 90s auto hondas, they all run, but they all have jerky (unrefined) trannies.

 
Rep Power: 0

Update!

Well folks, my car is back after a week and a half of rebuilding my tranny, installing an oil cooler, flushing the brake system, and repairing a broken engine mount.

The damage: $2,500 and some change.

Road Test:

Awesome!! My car is like new again. THE CLUNK IS GONE!! Yes, you heard it right... NO MORE CLUNK!! This alone makes it all worth it. When slowing to a stop then speeding up again it's all smooth, no pause, no clunk, nothing.. it just shifts like butter. I am still use to slowly stepping on the gas so now I have to remember to just drive like normal and not worry about it. Danco did an awesome job on my tranny and everything else and I would recommend them to anyone.

I must take my car back in 10 days for them to check it out and make sure everything is ok but as of now it's great. The annoying "clunk" is a thing of the past.

What caused the "clunk"? Not sure. I just assume something in the tranny was not right, or going bad because it did get worse over time. When the car was new it was not present. After about six months I started to notice it a little and after each month, year, past it only became worse. I still think this should have been a recall item with so many people having this issue. So, it will be interesting to see how the tranny holds up. I wonder if the "clunk" will ever return? Who knows. Not even Danco knows why it was there because my tranny was so bad it was hard to pinpoint. Could the broken engine mount have caused this? Hard to say. (I doubt it) I just think this is a bad design of a tranny and they don't last long. That's a shame. Never again for me. I'll never own another Honda with an automatic tranny. It's not worth it.

Danco says the Honda transmissions are a pain in the a** to work on and they are not the best transmissions in the world either. (really?) How can Honda have such high ratings then? Hmmmm... This puzzles me cause I know I am not the only one who had this issue.

Oh well, live and learn as I always say. I am happy my car is back and my transmission is like new again. Now I have a tranny oil cooler so hopefully it will last until I can afford something else. I am also going to ask the tech at Danco how to properly maintain our transmissions to prevent this issue from coming back. I know one thing, an external oil cooler IS A MUST. The next thing is to ask how to maintain it. I want to know about drains and fills, flushes?, etc. I hear different stories about this so I must find out.

It all boils down to this:

If your tranny is somewhat newer and you don't notice any problems, GET AN OIL COOLER NOW! If your tranny is starting to experience the "clunk" or harsh shifts, GET IT CHECKED OUT NOW! before your tranny breaks like mine did. If your tranny really is acting bad you might as well get it replaced because it's probably shot and it's only a matter of time before you are calling a tow truck.

I'll post how to properly maintain our transmissions once I learn more.

Good Luck!

 
Rep Power: 812

Just drain and refill the fluid. Did they use honda atf? or something else? is it even the honda tranny or a different one? Well anyways, I like to be safe and do a drain/refill every 10k miles.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, they said only use Honda ATF, nothing else. I am not sure if the tranny is all Honda parts or what. I think the tech said they had to order something from Honda though but not sure what it was. I also asked about adding performance parts but he said there really isn't much out there for our cars. I don't know how valid that is but he said he wouldn't bother or waste the money.

I'll also ask about the drains and fills and how often. I want to find out if there is such as thing as a "flush" for our cars or how they clean them out.

Somehow they have to clean the filter which is inside the tranny?

 
Rep Power: 812

no never flush a tranny. it leaves pockets where there is no fluid and when you add more and start the car, some places won't be lubed. Thats an easy way to break the tranny. Thats why honda ONLY does drain and refill. I would use honda atf and change every 10k. Better new than old. Also that stuff I use in my engine oil and gas from lubecontrol says it can go in the tranny, but i wouldn't do that cause our tranny is a special case. Its like a 1 month old baby you gotta take good care of it haha.

 
Rep Power: 812

filter is inside the tranny and cannot be serviced. There is a magnet on the drain plug that catches metal. how good is that, ha

 
Rep Power: 289

Honda is known for their awesome manual trannies (although i really liked feel of the new MX-5's short throw and clutch feel. Lexus is known for their silkly smooth auto trannies. Anyways, it good that your tranny doesnt clunk anymore. Mind clunks every once in awhile. im not sure whether or not i want a Honda tech guy screwing around with my tranny even if it does clunk (i think some of the other members feel that way too) since some of us try the avoid the dealership as much as possible .

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, the Honda here in my area does not rebuild transmissions anyway. So I was out of luck. You would be better off to go to a transmission specialist. Honda would be a rip off no matter what they find or say. JMO

 
Rep Power: 0

i got the same exact fukin problem on my brand new 05 2-door VP auto. it was pissin the **** outta me. i work at a differential shop, we rebuild trannies all day long. after trying to get the jerk to happen consistently, and to also be able to avoid it consistently. since the jerking happened primarily at low and/or almost stopping speeds, i came to the conclusion that the factory tolerances in the auto trannies may just be a little too loose, and/or the fluid within the transmission is not circulated properly at a low rotational speed within the tranny itself, which is causing temporary shifts in the fluid placement --- may not be getting to corners of the gear sets where it needs to be for smoother shifting.

i'm guessing (cause the idea is pretty theoretical) that maybe a few choice oils drain fins placed within the tranny and/or tranny pan may help, or a new pan/pump design, if in fact this is the case, which it may not be entirely

 
Rep Power: 0

Whatever the case.... Design Flaw! We need recalls!

Well, too late for me but for others.

 
Rep Power: 290

welcome to the world of honda transmissions. live with it, get used to it.

 
Rep Power: 0

I wonder if the new 2006 Civic 5 Speed Automatic have the same tranny jerk problems. Anybody drive one yet?

 
Rep Power: 812

newe new one feels very sloppy and not very smooth. it feels worse than ours overall. ever driven a newer grand am? its kinda like that.

 
Rep Power: 298

that doesnt sound too promising...
still gonna wait a year to see what people say about it =)
I still love the 8th gens .. just hope Auto trannys are better and no suspension probs.

 
Rep Power: 0

Just buy a stick and no worries. Get the new Si! I would not go with any Honda automatic though.

Once the Si is available around here to test drive I'm gonna have some fun! Maybe they will let me take it out myself!!

 
Rep Power: 812

ya i hope my auto lasts cause it doesn't feel as good as it used to. seems like it needs a fluid change every 3k like oil to work properly. after that it takes forever for it to engage when shifting from reverse into drive. and if you press the gas before it engages, you get a nice jerking and clunk sound.

 
Rep Power: 0

Better plan on a new one soon. It sounds like mine was and it's basically shot. Just program a tow truck company in your phone so when you break down on the road you are prepared.

 
Rep Power: 298

I think all AUTO's do that... I doubt that's a sign of the tranny going.. Friend has the 05' sedan and has the same jerkyness feelings as us.

 
Rep Power: 0

Maybe it's just Honda's that do that. No other car I ever owned or rode it jerked like these cars do. It's crazy.

 
Rep Power: 298

yes you are right =) but not all of them break down as fast as others... it's quite scary actually... I still want the 8th gen but Honda's auto trannys scare me..

 
Rep Power: 0

The car is equipped with a GLS, thats why it jerks when you drive an auto. The GLS has to do something with the way you throttle while going uphill and downhill.

 
Rep Power: 310

My car did that for some time and it got worse.. finally it gave out on me at 91k and I had to replace it. I found a tranny off of a totalled civic for $500 w/ 41k miles. It was better than getting screwed by the dealership or a shop. I just payed someone 300 to install it

 
Rep Power: 0

Drove the new 2006 Civic with 5 speed auto. Car is really smooth and lot's of power! Thing drives like an Accord.

 
Rep Power: 0

I have the same problem with my 01 LX auto with 69k on it. I even did the Honda recommended Trans fluid flush at 60K....Still does it. BTW..I baby the shizle out of my car...My wife's 05 LX doen't do it yet..still smooth

 
Rep Power: 0

The transmission shop said we need to drain and fill the tranny fluid every oil change if possible. If not, AT LEAST every other. It's easy to do so it just boils down to the cost of the Honda OEM tranny fluid. Don't ever use anything else BTW.

So far so good. My new tranny is working fine. No thumps, clunks, slips, or errors! Now if my car only lasts long enough to recoop some expense that would be good.

Someone asked me how I got so many miles? I am an outside service technician who is forced to use my own vehicle for my job. RIP OFF!! Even if your company does pay you miliage it's not a good deal. I won't ever have another job like this again once I'm outta here. (I'm seeking a new job now) I've been through four cars in ten years doing this job and cannot possibly get ahead that way.

My advice to anyone: If you have a job where they want you to drive around the country all day then either they provide you a company car or RUN FOR THE HILLS! It's NOT worth it people. I've learned the hard way all these years. Instead of using my tax return money to buy some "toys" or take a real vacation, I use that money to constantly pay back my credit card bill which was used during the year to repair my car! EVERY YEAR! It's rediculous.

 
Rep Power: 812

you should get a trans cooler for sure or the same thing will happen. that sucks about fluid changes. i usually wait 10k which i guess is like every other oil change for me.