Who's had a bad transmission? *UPDATED*
 

I'm trying to get a little record of people that have had any sort of internal tranny problems (not including drive shafts or toasted clutches). This thread will most-likely be submitted to Honda of America.

Be sure to state the year of your civic and if it is an automatic or manual.

I'm currently in process with Honda of America to replace my 57000 mile "grinding mill" of a transmission under the Magnuson-Moss Act of 1975 for Implied Warranties. And I'm curious to see just how common of a problem this really is.

Let's hear it.

I've had 3 gears replaced in my 2K1...it's a manual.

2001 EX Coupe. 2 gears, 2 synchros and a shift fork.

2001 Automatic.. trans rebuilt.

01 civic auto... tranny didn't go into gear, needed to be rebuilt. so its still in my back yard

I've got a 01 EX manual and i've had no trany problems, no grinds in any gears and the car has been driven really hard, I used to have a GS-R so I tend to try and make this car go faster than it will. I did change my manual trany fluid at 40,000 and now I have 58,000. Just wanted to post seeing as everyone is mentioning the 01.

2001 trans rebuilt at 30k by honda bad synros in 2nd and 3rd.

what does the act state?

I got an 01 ex 5 speed and have a messed up clacking sound. Honda says it might be a clutch disk or throw out bearing . A honda adjuster had to come look at my car and make his report. I think its something internal and waiting on word about warranty but the way they have been talking to me it seems like they are gonna try to sc@w me cause I have aftermarket parts. Well I hope they are ready for a battle because I got the federal law on my side and Im not gonna take the b.s.

I have had no work done to mine....but i do grind from 2nd - 3rd and have trouble going into reverse sometimes and it grinds.

It is a '01 EX M/T

01 honda auto. Code said bad torque converter, solenoid and pump... Replaced it with a used tranny and its not working either. The code on it says Shift Control System, still trying to find out the exact problem(possibly having old one rebuilt or this "used" which supposedly has 55k on it.

Injen

My friend has an 01 Civic LX Auto and had to have his transmission rebuilt due to slippage. Rediculous.

i've had an entire transmission replaced in my 04 civic manual because a bolt broke and completely smashed all my gears.

I have a 2002 civic ex auto. At 52,000k tranny started slipping and gave out 2 days later. Had car towed to dealer. They said code reader read "incorrect gear ratio" and it was unrepairable. They replaced tranny with what they said was a new one. The color of tranny said otherwise, it had a darker tone than my engine and looked dirtier than my broken tranny, oh well. If it breaks again they better replace it, again.

01 ex auto, was acting up after bout 60k km, then one day it was throwing a TPS sensor code, then bang, gave me incorrect gear ratio, did a ecu reset it drove for a bit then went to limp mode long enough to drive it to a tranny shop. Replaced it w/an 02 or 01 tranny, dont remember (got it from salvage) runs like new FOR NOW.... shop told me one cause of it dieing was some bad solenoids

Magnuson-Moss Act
 

In a nutshell, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (concerning Implied Warranties) states that any product that does not perform well in a reasonable amount of time (like my 57,000 mile civic transmission) is covered under a fairly unknown, unwritten, and unspoken warranty. This is even if the written warranty has already expired.

Here's a more lengthly description:
Magnuson-Moss Act

From my understanding, you may need to really fight this. You may even need a lawyer but I hear there are many that will do this for free and collect payment from the auto manufacturer. I'm pretty sure all 50 states are inclusive in this.

Now if you don't take good care of your car, looks like a pile of crap, or maybe even race it hard or beat on it, your chances of warranty may be a bit slimmer. But hey - I dunno.

All I know is that I've owned 2 other Hondas (88 Prelude & 89 Civic) and both lasted well over 200,000 miles with no major mechanical work needed. Let's hope Honda will keep the integrity of their reputation.

my 2002 civic ex mt . has had 3 motors and the transmission repaired twice 3rd and 5th and reverse went out the first time , then reverse went out again. now im riding around with no second gear... this time im getting a used one and putting it in myself

wow! i had no idea slipping trannys were so common for civics..

anywho, i have a 02 civic ex auto and my tranny is slipping right now :(

and i just had my fuel pump replaced because it crapped out on me :hithead: i found out the hard way it was broken... i drove down 1 block and it stalled on me 6 times

if u have any great advice to give me for fixing my tranny, plz pm me!!

2 blown tranny's
2001 ex coupe
61k miles
auto

tranny is making a TON of noise right now. I'm pretty sure it is the throw -out. And it also grinds and pops out of 2nd a lot. Pretty much a piece of crap.
125k Kms, 4.5 year old 2001 LX 5spd
Honda quality ain't what it used to be!

people need to understand that manufactures have no idea how long a part will last and people need to understand that some parts last the life of the car while others may fail at 10 miles after leaving the dealership. There is nothing out there that says a transmission should last 200,000 miles. there is nothing out there that says it should last 10,000 miles. It will last untill something breaks or fails. Now I understand someone complaining if they are out of warranty and the problem with there tranny may relate to a service bulliten out there, or if you are complaing if you have had 3 bad trannies, but most people are complaining because there tranny has now failed or is failing and they are out of warranty and they dont want to fork out the cost.

Well like I said, PARTS FAIL, some earlier then others. If you are so worried about forking out the cost to fix it, then go out and buy an extended warranty. Otherwise live with the fact that your tranny is failing and you may need it rebuilt or need a new one and you have to pay for it.

I think that if you are going to go to the dealership and complain that you dont feel your tranny should have failed so soon and you want them to fix it for free, you are just waisting your time. Especially if you have no warranty. thats your fault. If your car is past 100,000 miles and it fails, there isnt anything you can do. I have worked at a dealer and have seen people complain like this before. And the answer they get is "why didnt you buy an extended warranty".

but if you want to go to the dealer and try to have them fix it for free, then I am all for it. I am just warning you, be prepared to be handed down the facts that I stated above.

Everyone keeps saying honda quality isnt like it used to be or that they built bad trannies, but I disagree. I think hondas are built really well. Better then most cars out there, thus the reason why everybody and there mothers has a honda. But realize that honda doesnt see this as a problem otherwise there would be recalls and what not. As far as I know there is one service bulliten out there for the standard trannies with 2nd and 5th gear popping out. thats it. If I am wrong please correct me.

But if your tranny has failed, I feel for you as it is an expensive repair.

Honda quality isnt like it used to be. The 01 specifically is a piece of poop. I love my car, but it is falling apart. There are a handful of very major problems that a LOT of people are having. It all boils down to Honda cutting corners. Look back at the 4th+5th gens. Those were awesome machines, and I've seen many of them take daily beatings for 250k and still in better shape than my car.

you have to realize that in 2001 was the year honda changed the civic. That is basically the year when all the crap came out and honda realized what they needed to change. they found out what worked and what didnt work and in 02 they had alot of the bugs fixed. But that is something you will see with any auto maker when they change the models around. It will happen again when honda changes up the civic. Honda had the same problem when the 6thgens came out, but over the years they got better and by 98-00 is when they were at its best. Same with the 03-05. things are alot better now. There are still problems here and there, but not many.

But I dont think honda cuts corners. I bet if you started a poll on this site, you would have more people who love there civic and are happy with it then people who hate it or have had major problems.

okay i agree that the 01 and maybe 02 were the first in line after major changes, and that brings about some problems. But the overall design/quality is a little sub-par for Honda IMO. Compare with the 4th gen. It was lighter, more solidly built, faster, and really didnt have any major problems. The 7thgens have a cheaper design. Front struts, paper thin sheet metal, plastic intake manifold. And fairly poor quality on parts. I have replaced my front struts twice, replaced front bushings, replaced a dead alternator, replaced a wheel bearing. Now my transmission is toast, and my head gasket is blown. I am turbo'd, but everyone boosting with the 01 has that problem because of the paper composite head gasket. I have had friends with 7thgens repace guage clusters, sensors, throttle bodies, transmissions, struts, more struts, exhaust manifolds, alternators. I seriously know people with Cavaliers and Focus who have less problems with their cars.
I like my car, more for what I have done with it than anything. And I like Honda's. But I never would have bought this car if I knew how crappy it was going to be. I would have saved a few bucks and bought a 95 hatch or something. It probably would have outlasted my 01.

I really hope Honda catches on to why they became so poular in the first place and goes back to their roots. Building good quality cars that are fun to drive.
There is a reason people in the import scene are straying away from Honda lately, and it has a lot to do with the 7thgen.

ok..I'll go out on a limb and say I'm one of the friends you're talking about..lol

I've had my struts replaced 4 times. 3 because they broke and the 4th time because Honda felt bad and sent me a letter to get 04's when they came out along with $100 to spend at any dealership.

I've had 2 alternators and 3 A/C compressors.

I've had the IAC valve changed

3 gears in my tranny (5MT)

Seat rails swapped on the driver side

The car has NEVER idled properly

I don't know..I could go on probably...now I'm just getting mad..lol



I'm selling it next month and getting a 92-95 hatch or coupe and a bike.

Well we could argue back and forth all day, and I really dont want to do that. But I do understand where you are coming from. I on the other hand, havent experience any problems yet. I have had to replace the fuel pump and thats it. I also had to replace the oil pan because I fuked it up, but nothing major. All other stuff is normal maintanence. And I am 700 miles shy of 100,000 miles.
But I guess some of us have had more problems then others, and some havent had any problems. All I am trying to get at is I have seen too many people trying to get the dealer to replace items for free after they are out of warranty complaining that there stuff should have lasted longer when parts can fail at any time.
But I hope everything works out the best for everyone.

wow... after the 3rd set of struts I would have told them it's a lemon, take it back.

2001 lx auto. tranny replaced at 70k. front suspension replaced.
2001 civics are a piece of crap.

Not arguing, just displaying my disapointment with the big "H" :)
I't good to here you havent had any problems. I was okay with the first couple things that went wrong on my car, but now I'm past warranty and It has cost me $$. I'll be swapping in the future, so hopefully my trans. holds out till then :rofl:

01 civic lx ive had 2 transmissions, synchros have gone bad, had a rebuilt transmission that one also acted up and all the gears went completely bad and had to get a new transmission, now this transmission that i have now the third gear syncrho is almost gone and grinding dirty.....

Yeah - I wasn't looking for any arguments - just wanted to get an idea of the transmission problems out there.

If it is any consolation to y'all, my wife's parents have had several honda civics - pretty much ever since they began importing them into this country, and they say their 2001 is the worst civic they have ever owned. They have had many problems.

Pertaining to "parts failing," yes, I am aware of that parts do fail. But a car that you pay $15K-$20K (or more) for should last more than 3 years. Its about integrity - I paid for this integrity up front so that I wouldn't have these additional multi thousand dollar expenses. Otherwise I would have bought a Dodge neon or Chevy Aveo for half the price if I knew I'd have to dump $2500 into it every 3 years. So we are complaining to Honda and it seems like they might help us out.

Any more transmission problems people?

2002 EX Auto, Raplaced once by warranty now its rebuilt again but using the TCI Auto Master kit ( stage 2 )

2001 auto vic lx

The tranny take a crap at 96,000 miles. Currently the car is collecting dust, awaiting the conversion to 5speed tranny. It's costing me the same as I would have spent on rebuilding the auto tranny so why not.

Just because a car cost $15-$20K, doesnt mean it will last 10 years. It may last 8 years, it may last 1 year. Parts fail without warning. Electrical parts can go at any time.

Like I said before, manufactures dont know when parts will fail. They can tell customers that if you buy a honda it will last a minimum of 5 years, they dont know. The same thing happens when you pay $50-80K for am car, it is going to have problems too, cars arent perfect. As much as we would like them to be, they arent. Yes people buy honda because they are reliable and offer good gas mileage at a reasonable price, but as with any other car, it will have problems sooner or later.

my car took a beating untill 61k, when the tranny took a shit, but it was mostly my fault, i beat the shit out of that poor tranny..

everything on my 01 worked perfectly, but i decided not to have a d17 anymore. i have beaten my car everyday, minus the nice long warm ups. the car is running fine

Well I installed a exedy clutch with throwout bearing and act prolite flywheel and still have that noise. My mechanic said its internal tranny problem so now I have to try to get my car warrantied with the magnusson act to. Honda of america s#cks. If it wasn't for tuners and import enthuisists such as us Honda wouldn't be number 2 in US sales. Im glad this is the thanks we get. Well Im not gonna roll over without a fight so if somone from Honda of america reads this just warranty our cars and you might make #1 in US sales, but if you don't expect new honda sales and repeat customers to start falling off cause nobody gonna wanna spend all this money on a car if you guys won't back up your warrantys.

How does honda of america suck? Are you still in your warranty period? Did you purchase an extended warranty? If you answered no to either of those, then honda has every right to charge you for the repairs if they do the work. And you have no right to complain if they say they wont pay for it. YOU HAVE NO WARRANTY!!! It has nothing to do with them backing up there warranties, if you have a warranty, then they will pay for it, if you dont have a warranty, then its your responsibility to pay for the repairs.

some of you just dont understand, when you buy a car, it comes with a factory warranty. Depending on the car, most are 3 years, 36,000 miles. Within that time, whoever the car manufacture is, they will pay parts and labor for any repairs that are covered under warranty. Now after that, it is up to you to pay. Now when you purchase a car, you are given the option to purhcase an extended warranty. Usually most are added to 8-10 years, 100,000 miles. And the same applies, if something fails, the dealer or warranty company will pay for the parts and labor, after that, it is up to you.

Just because your car starts having problems you are blaming honda for being asses? Honda isnt going to loose any customers, they arent going to loose any sales just cause a few people complain that they want there car fixed for free even know they dont have any warranty. It isnt import tuners and import enthusiast that make honda number 1 in sales, its the reliablilty that honda offers to its customers. And I think they have done a damn good job at that. Now yes there are alot of people that seem to be having tranny problems and other problems, but most understand that if they arent in warranty, that they have to pay for it. And most realize these trannies can be purchased for cheap and go ahead and buy another used one. Alot of people keep saying that the new hondas are shit, but realize that there are alot of people who havent had any problems. LIke I said before, if honda had every new civic coming in with tranny problems they would do something about it.

Now I will tell you this, you can purchase extended warranties out there that go past 100,000 miles and up to 170,000 miles for cheap. I purchased one. My extended warranty runs out in 400 miles at 100,000 miles. I now have another one till 125,000 miles. They have ones out there for as little as $500 for a complete powertrain warranty. You might want to look them up if you have a chance. Now I understand that hondas are reliable, but anything can happen at any point, and thats why I purchased another warranty. Besides, I am in school and do alot of driving. And I dont have much money to be forking out for expensive parts and what not.

Actually I do have a warranty to 100,000 miles, I have 58,000 and they denied my claim because I have aftermakrket parts on my car. So now I have to call Honda of america and get them to warranty my tranny when it should have been fixed already in the first place.

thats another thing, honda wont warranty the tranny if you have aftermarket parts on there, especially aftermarket clutch parts. I see that you have a aftermarket clutch and aftermarket flywheel. Most of the times, the dealers have to prove that the aftermarket parts caused the failure, but I am pretty sure honda can come up with a few reasons why an aftermarket clutch would cause your tranny to have problems.

But good luck with that one. Its good that you do have a extended warranty, but now you just have to deal with them with aftermarket parts. One thing you can do is however, go to your local honda and see if they sell aftermarket clutch parts at the parts dept. My dealer here sells all kinds of aftermarket parts, they have intakes, headers, lowering springs, clutch kits, and the honda dealer on the other side of town sells jackson racing superchargers and greddy turbochargers for the older civics, and I think they even install them, but not sure. You can use that against honda if they still try and deny you warranty, but it is still going to be hard.

im scared, my 01 is at 37k...man, i can say that i better start saving cuz at 60-70k its goin bye bye..:(

I had a 2001 Civic Auto tranny and there was no problems at all with it until the day I sold it at 55k miles.

Until that last day the tranny shifted smoothly and without any problems.

Overall, the car never had a single problem..

I didn't replace clutch till they told me thats what it was. So then I did the clutch, flywheel, and throw out bearing because when parts fail on my car I replace them with aftermarket ones. I have suspension, exhaust, intake, and a short shift kit. The noise started way before I even put my suspension or my shortshift kit. Fortunately I have the federal warranty law(magnusson act) on my side. It states that they can only deny my warranty because aftermarket parts if the part caused the failure. I'm gonna fight it because I don't think any of these parts caused the damage.

yea, well my car is at 38K and around 35K 3rd started to grind, and i bought tranny fluid to swap out the old, but never got aroudn to it, i just started to skip 3rd or drive slower, and then i started using 3rd again all teh time and it stopped, adn now all of a sudden 2nd and 4th do it every once in awhile, i dont kno

My transmission assessment/diagnosis results are in;
Main-shaft bearings disintegrated.
The aluminum transmission and steel bearings expand / contract at different rates causing room for vibration and ultimately failure.
Honda of America is covering it 100% and paying extra for overnight freight of the new parts/transmission. (even with some after-market parts)
They might even cover labor on a 60,000 servicing!
My car has 57,900 miles on it. It's a 2002 Civic EX Manual 5spd.
They said it is because I have had the car serviced regularly mostly at Honda service centers (went to Walmart service for a few oil changes) and kept all of the records and paperwork (faxed 36 pages of records to them).

So my recommendation to all:
Service your car at Honda - at least through the warranty.
Keep meticulous records - save all paperwork (it could save you thousands)
I didn't even have to put up a fight.

To those who said, "Honda won't cover it" or "you're screwed if you don't have a warranty" or "Honda won't touch it if you have after-market parts..."
Do your homework and don't back down.

well I did my homework did all my services and they still denied me because I have aftermarket parts. I talked to a guy at hondacare and he said the magnusson warranty act didn't mean anything because any aftermarket part-even ones that had nothing to do with the tranny still void the warranty. Im so mad, tommorow I'm calling the better business burea, the state attorney general, evryone and anyone I can call and talk to because this is bullsh@t. How come they void my warranty yet honor jugadro's. does this make any sense to anyone?

Man, that is messed up. I'm pretty sure they are wrong.
Well actually, what mods do you have? If you're running a 15" turbo from a Mack truck pushing 550 hp mated to a tranny that can only handle up to 300, I highly doubt they will cover it.
The only drivetrain mod I have is a V2 intake. But again, they said having a solid, documented service history is key.

I'd call the number on Honda Owner Link and talk to a representative from Honda of America (again?).
Good luck - be persistent - go to your local dealer last. Gather your service records - they wanna see that you've been taking care of your car - save everything.

I think jugadros problem is different then yours though. He only had on a intake, but you have a aftermarket clutch, lightened flywheel, and a short shifter, which honda is going to say more then anything that is what caused the problems. Even though you know in your heart that the problems were there before any of that was put on, honda can argue to the max that those parts caused the problems. Now if you had an intake, exhaust, or lowered, I can understand you going to the max and complaining cause there would be no way those parts would have caused it, but when you have aftermarket tranny parts, it is harder. Good luck though.

At the time they denied my claim all I had was a short shifter, intake, and exhaust, and my suspension. I only just changed my clutch and flywheel because the honda adjuster said thats probaly what it was. I think they just wanted my money. Anyway last night I called honda of america and the guy I talked to took my info to give to a case worker. He said hondacare is a seperate entity and if I still had a factory warranty there would be no problem. He also said that the case worker might come to the same descison that hondacare did(I hope not) or he might side with me. I'll see what happens but I went and bought an 02 ex tranny for 150 bucks, so if they end up denying me again I'll just swap em out. I don't think I should have a problem putting it in my 01.

Need Help, anybody with an 01 0r 02 tranny problem
 

Well I have an internal tranny problem and Hondacare and Honda of america have denied my warranty thats supposed to be good to 100,000 miles. They said even a cold air intake would have voided my warranty and now I'm in contact with the consumer protection agency. I need people who have had tranny problems fixed under warranty to post here and let me know what the problem was and what mods you have. The consumer protection agency guy didn't even know about the magnusson warranty act and wants me to send him some of the posts off here. Ive heard that the 01 and 02 trannys are garbage and I just need to show this guy that there really is a problem and its not because of my mods. Im not giving up on this because I think Hondacare and Honda of America know the is a problem they just don't want to admit it. Any help will be appreciated.

i am working on my second tranny now, have several mods including intake, catback exhaust, high flow cat. converter, header.

Injen