Rep Power: 812

consider yourself lucky, mine is doing that at only 50k miles. yea they dont even bother to fix it, they replace the whole thing. not sure when they fixed the problem, maybe the 05 is better built? but if it doesnt slip with the car warm, then its not in the bad stages yet. once you start hearing a whining sound, it means the pump is getting clogged and you have a very short time before it breaks and wont drive.

 
Rep Power: 0

will definitely watch out for the whining sound. thanks

 
Rep Power: 0

Your transmission is on its way out. Honda has had problems that they are aware of regarding premature failure of these transmissions. First you will notice hard shifts between the gears, where you may feel a little jolt. This will progress to a noticeable slipping, I think mine was 1st to 2nd. When you begin to hear the whining noise, the end is near. It doesn't matter if you have changed your fluid regularly. I had reported the problem with the 2002 Civic EX under my Honda Care Warranty, however there was no error code when I reported the hard shifting. I noticed on the invoice that the dealership focused their attention on the gear shifter/selector.

Once the vehicle was just outside the 100,000 mile warranty is when the more serious symptoms occurred. I have been disappointed with our 02 Honda Civic EX, which has seemed to nickle and dime us with repairs over it's life. I really think that the current generation of Honda's vehicles are over-rated. In 30 years of owning vehicles this one has had the most repairs. I posted the following on CarComplaints.com.

Civic EX 1.7L, Automatic transmission, 108,000 miles
The transmission on the 2002 Honda Civic EX, began slipping and would not move the vehicle in any direction. It has only 108,000 miles on it. Reported hard shifting at under 100,000 miles on my Honda Care extended warranty, but I guess nothing was done, as there wasn't an error code. Now I get an OBD II code of P0730 Incorrect Gear Ratio. This car has been a maintenance nightmare. The head had to be replaced less than a year ago under the warranty, then it started using 1/2 a quart of oil per month, now it is up to 2 quarts of oil per month, with no leaks. I used to only use Mobil 1 and premium filters, now I'm using standard 10-30 just to slow down the consumption. I was told by the Honda dealership that it was because a new head was put on a vehicle with over 90,000 miles on it. There have been many other smaller problems such as having a wheel-bearing replaced at 30,000 miles. I am looking at spending approximately $1,800 to replace the transmission with a used one, just so that I can sell the Honda Civic EX. This is our first Honda, I thought they were dependable, but we will never own one again.
Kevin B.
Tollhouse, CA, USA

I did get in contact with North American Honda and received a response, however they wanted me to take my complaint to the dealership and have them access the vehicle. I didn't want to be on the hook for major repairs that they may or may not cover, as well as the idea of groveling over something I reported under warranty.

You and others with the same problems may want to post your complaints at CarComplaints.com also.

 
Rep Power: 0

Good luck dealing with North American Honda, they will tell you there are no NTSB service bulletins and have you take your vehicle to the dealer for evaluation.

Don't have your transmission replaced by the dealership, you will pay $1,500 or more than having the same work done at a reputable shop. You can pay up to $2,200 for a quality rebuilt transmission. You can go used like I did for $850.00 shipped, www.hartsautoparts.com . I think 01-05 were all the same, so I put an 04 in our 02 Civic EX (I paid for professional advice), hoping that by 04 the problem was solved?

Good Luck,

 
Rep Power: 0

I think you really need to press the issue with your dealership and call North American Honda, as the condition will only get worse and you want it covered under warranty.

I don't know if the newer 03-05 transmissions were any better. I had heard that Honda only installs rebuilt transmissions in these models, I don't think it matters if the long term problem is solved.

 
Rep Power: 0

The problem may be just 01-02 looking at info on the INTERNET, however Honda doesn't help by not admitting that there is a problem. Maybe by the end of the 02 production run Honda may have corrected the problem?

Honda should do recall, however it doesn't help those of us out there who already spent a large sum of money to replace the transmission.

 
Rep Power: 812

honda knows and will decide case by case what to do. i know some guys have gotten a free or discounted tranny after talking with american honda out of warranty

 
Rep Power: 262

here is my tranny story also feel free to pm me if u have any question or if i didnt explain corretly.

2001 Civic LX Coupe bought with 48k on the engine and tranny ( original block ).
Mod that i have done :
Basic system
15" 03 Si Alloys ( had 18's for 5 months)
Custom Megan Exhaust with Cat
DIY Blackout Headlights
DIY Dealership bought Foglight Kit
DIY Trunk Shocks ( not springs anymore )

Bought the car from a old lady for about $7k, my first car for DDing school and work. Car ran perfect. Dealership does all my maintainance. Replaced all fluids at recommended periods. At about 80k miles the tranny jolted when it was up shifting. At 85k miles 1st and 2nd gears took time to engage. At 87k random slippage especially on inclines. At 88k car would randomly slip at random gears or not engage at all. After it slipped badly once i parked it at my house for about 1 week. Called my dealership ( they didnt help at all). So i researched the web and here ( im an old member ). Figured out that it was a problem with 01 - 02 civics with auto trannys. CAlled dealership explained to them again they told me to get it there and they'll look at it. Drove it there they diagnosed it as an internal tranny failure and estimated their fixing cost at above $3k out the door. Left the car there for about 1.5 weeks trying to get in contact with American Honda/ NAH. After repeated attempts to contact them. I decided to buy a 04 - 05 non v-tec civic tranny. Got one for about $900+ shipped to my door. Picked my car up ( yes drove it home for 10miles no problems at all ). Started searching for honda tranny specialist in my area found one that quoted me $300 flat regardless or parts transfer between old and the just bought tranny. And come to find out early one morning headed out at 5 am b4 traffic got to the shop and i was ****ING SURPRISED!!!!!! 3 other 01-02 auto tranny civics parked infront of the shop....LOL -_-. Talked to the honda specialised mechanic which told me he had replaced 8 01-02 auto civic trannys over the last 4 months mine included. Stayed there during the process since im a wannabe gear head.
Ok problems found:
Filter was completed clogged ( crazy since dealership changes my tranny fluid every 6k miles aka every 2nd oil change)

Fluid pump binded.

Clutch pack is as thin as a penny or less.

Tranny fluid was clean as a whistle with minor fragments inside.

Total cost: $ 950 + misc parts and etc. = $1.4k+ total

On my second tranny it runs smooth for now i will post updates after i put 10-15k on it. For u guys that cannot or havent done anything concerning it, my advice is to get into contact with NAH explain the problem. Use the knowledge u've gained from members like myself to sort this problem out properly with NHA and your dealership. Knowledge is truly powerful for wut corporate america call us "THE LITTLE GUY". If they refuse to help try to get the regional rep for NHA give him all the info u have i.e Dealership info (where u service ur car) etc. etc.

GOOD LUCK GUYS

 
Rep Power: 0

If American Honda is anything like Honda Canada Inc, then the dealer does not want to change a transmission because, they do not get paid enough time under warranty to change it, and the parts department only gets to mark up the reamanufactured transmission Canadian $100. Honda Canada policy was to change external shift selonoids first, if problems still persisted, then dealer had to get authorization to change trans.

 
Rep Power: 0

Same problem here. I bought my civic new. Now it has 115k miles on it. It started slipping less then a year ago. When the transmission breaks can you have a manual installed instead of the auto and be covered?

 
Rep Power: 812

ha i wish lol. another weird thing my car does is it never seems to find the right gear. like when im accelerating the rpm will drop out and then start going up again its really weird. i hate this trans. it really takes effort to drive the car in a way that is normal. and trying to get on the freeway after taking the first curve im already in 4th going 25mph and need to stomp the gas to get the stupid car going again. it sucks how it tries to upshift as fast as possible.

 
Rep Power: 0

mine bugged out at about 87,000mi but was covered under my extended warranty. whew!!!!! stupid 7thgen auto trans

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey,

Came across this site recently and have been a member for a few months. I've been reading some of the great posts and info here but have not posted anything until now. I read this post with interest since the auto trans on my 2001 LX has started acting up. I also have a 2003 Tacoma so I don't drive the Civic every day and it took awhile to notice this. It's got 95K miles on it and within a period of a month or two, it slowly began down-shifting a lot more. I went ahead and changed the plugs (with NGK iridium plugs) since the power was slowly dropping off too and that helped the excessive down-shifting quite a bit. No way were the stock plugs going to last to 110K as Honda claims.

Anyway, the problem I'm having is that instead of slipping in the way many of you have experienced, after down-shifting on a hill it is very slow to shift back up into a higher gear, sometimes even running as high as 45K RPM for awhile after reaching the top of the grade. Like it gets stuck for awhile. It's more prone to do this when the cruise is on, but still does it occasionally without it. I find I have to let up on the gas pedal a lot to get it to kick up to a higher gear.

I bought the car new, keep up on maintenance myself and it's run great until recently. I'd say I drive it moderately, neither babying it nor beating the **** out of it and have always enjoyed the way the auto trans worked, until now. The fluid looks ok and the owners manual says it's good to 120K.

My question is, has anyone else had this happen and do you have any ideas what the cause might be? Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 812

thats actually normal if you believe it lol. its something called grade logic, when you are climbing, tranny has bias to lower gears and if you enter a hill it will downshift even if you dont press the gas any harder. also if you are on a downgrade and its steep enough, when you use the brakes the trans will downshift also sometimes 2 gears. its very annoying but these are "special features" of our 01+ trans.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, I understand how the grade logic works and yes, it was annoying until I got used to it, especially going down hill and touching the brakes as you say, but this is usually at highway speeds. Even after reaching the top of the hill it will not upshift as it normally did, like it's stuck in the lower gear.

Then I release the cruise and it upshifts, but when I hit the cruise again it downshifts to get up to speed and sometimes stays in a lower gear, so I have to release the cruise, let it upshift, get up to speed manually, then hit the cruise again, etc. Very annoying.

 
Rep Power: 812

well that sounds more like a cruise problem, maybe there is slack in the cruise throttle cable. i have mine really tight so as soon as i press the set button it holds the speed like less than a second later. and yea the cruise doesnt like to be more than 1mph off. if youre going up a hill, its normal for it to keep in lower gear to maintain the set speed.

 
Rep Power: 417

mine was slipping from 1st to 2nd. there IS a problem
car had 50k miles on it and warranty was expired.
took my car to this one dealer and they ended up fixing it for free.

 
Rep Power: 0

Just had a chance to check it out. The cable has almost no slack in it so that doesn't seem to be it. I'll keep checking around and let you know if I find anything. Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 0

Ok I'm sorry to bump such an old thread but I figured this would be better then starting a new one.

My transmission went out last week. From the research I've done its the same problem everybody else is having. What did you'll tell Honda when you called? I had somebody to call earlier(I've had a really busy week) and they said that my car didn't have a recall. Do I just need to call them again and talk to somebody else or what should I do? Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 812

there is a TSB out for it now but they wont do it unless you have warranty. tell corporate that you know about the second clutch pack carrier failing in the older tranny 01-02 and that you are a long time honda customer bla bla and try and get them to pay for part of the repair bill. they know the problem already, and they have paid for some members new tranny in full and some in part.

 
Rep Power: 0

Guys, check this out....next to the 2002 Ford Explorer, the 01 and 02 Civics have the most Tranny problems....

http://www.carcomplaints.com

 
Rep Power: 812

yup we all know unfortunately. 01-02 = worst problem. not sure if they fixed it in later years.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah well they said that 130k miles is too many miles on my car to pay for part of it. This will be the last honda I own. None of my family's other cars have ever had a tranny problem and 2 of the have over 200k miles.

 
Rep Power: 0

ok folks, i'm bumping an old thread. i've got a 2003 civic, 152,200 miles (99% highway..literally) and looks like i'm having a bit of the same problem. seems my transmission is starting to flare when accelerating. not much yet, about 200 rpm before catching the next gear. unfortunately, like i said above, i've got 152,200 miles on it. i really doubt honda is going to do anything for me with that much mileage on the car. what do you all think?

 
Rep Power: 812

yeah youre on your own with that many miles. but 200 rpm is not that bad and it will prolly make it to 200k at least. just dont beat on it too much and change the fluid often.

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey folks, where is the best place to buy an automatic transmission for a 2003 Civic EX? With the way this thing is starting to flare, and the amount of mileage I put on it every week (at least 500 miles), I want to be prepared for when it starts to crap out. Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 812

you may want to think of having yours rebuilt if the shop knows what theyre doing. try to find the TCI master racing overhaul kit that comes with upgraded components and have them use that. the kit is around $200 but pretty hard to find these days.

 
Rep Power: 0

For anyone that is trying to find a way to fix this problem without spending a lot of money. I just purchased a Master Overhaul Kit from a distributor of Alto parts. TCI used to make this same kit, but for some reason they quit a few years back. Go on Alto's website and look through their distributor search menu and make a few calls. These people have a full rebuild kit with Red Eagle clutches and Kolene Steels along with all the soft parts to finish the job. The price is between $130-$150, which is about half the amount for the old TCI Master Rebuild Kit. It may take a few tries and some time to search one down but I found two today. 208-523-1718 is a phone number for a transmission shop in Idaho that deals with these. Ask for Tracy