Honda’s little reliability problem
I recently lost the transmission in my ‘99 Honda Odyssey van. When looking into this problem I decided I’d document some of the information I’ve found in case it helps others. Honda has a less than stellar reliability rating on transmissions, particularly on the 1999-2002 Odysseys and I’ve heard it affects some Accords and Acura models too of similar age.
One common theory is that metal shavings come off (of the clutch plates?) and clog the screens in the transmissions causing low fluid pressure and eventually, damage. The original factory warranty was 3year/36,000 miles. Honda has tried to do the right thing and extend the warranty to 100,000 miles on 2001 and 2002 odysseys. There is also a class action lawsuit and website you can check your VIN here, which I think covers additional years (99-2002?), but only certain VIN numbers ( Honda USA, but perhaps not Honda Canada) My dealer has also told me that Honda has often will pay the all or some of the replacement costs up to 110,000 miles, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask or call Honda.
Of course, my Van has 140,000 miles, so I guess it won’t help me but perhaps it will help you. Honda has built it’s brand on it’s “legendary reliability”, and may pay a premium price with the expectation that they should run for 200,000 miles. There are many disgruntled customers who payed extra to buy a premium product only to feel misled when they find out about these widespread problems.
If you have an 99-02 Odyssey or Accord and you have more than 110,000 miles you may want to consider selling it, or at least extra maintenance or vigilance unless you plan to replace the transmission. My dealer was quoting about $2700 if that is helpful for comparison, and they claim that flushing the transmission and replacing solenoids has not helped in a majority of cases. On my van they did a stall test, smelled the fluid, and the computer was throwing code PO740 , which is a failure in the torque converter clutch circuit as said I need to replace the tranny.
Please help me update or correct any information here, or post a comment so that I can try to make this as factual as possible.