What's new

Automatic Gearbox

stuartr57

New Member
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Liverpool
Car
Honda Accord
Hi All,

I have just purchased a 2001 Accord 2.0i VTEC SE Auto, if I am parked on an incline and engage reverse there is no drive.

The transmission oil has recently been changed, what could be causing the fault?

Best regards

Stuart
 
Your reverse hub has split open. You'll probably find that it reverses fine on level ground correct? This is because it requires less hydraulic pressure for the gearbox to move the car on level ground, however once trying to reverse up an incline, the hydraulic pressure required is too much for the hub to deal with so oil leaks past the crack in your hub, bleeding off pressure which then releases pressure from the piston in turn releasing pressure on the clutches inside the hub, giving you the loss of drive.

The split hub is caused from people not stopping the car fully when engaging reverse, meaning the clutches in the reverse hub baulk up together and clash. Too much of this will eventually snap the alloy hub casing open which is what has happened here, which is why you are always meant to stop the car fully before going into reverse. Unfortunately, no amount of oil changes, snake oil remedies or magic potions will fix your gearbox. This is a MECHANICAL fault which requires a stripdown to fix.

As for more bad news...If you ever decided to go down the route of getting a second hand gearbox, there is a couple of issues. Firstly, each and every automatic gearbox for these accords are coded to the car. In other words, you could put in a perfectly working auto from another accord and it would not work, as it will realise it's in a different car and force itself into emergency mode the whole time. Also, you can buy a second hand gearbox but find its faulty anyway, as there's no way of testing an automatic outside of the car like you can a manual, unless you have access to 100k worth of hydraulic transmission testing machines!

So all of that means you are only left with one choice, repair the gearbox that is currently I'm the car...and this is where news will only get worse. Naturally, the gearbox will require a full strip down and even though it's just the hub and clutches at fault, there's a few other parts that you MUST change when the gearbox is stripped, so lets talk you through that.

Reverse Hub: £428
Reverse Clutch Pack: £21
Overhaul Kit (needed to reseal the gearbox once opened): £176
Filter: £30
Labour (3.5 Hours at £110 per hour): £385

Total: £1040, and that's before you even take into account the fitting of the gearbox, or the oil etc.

So to summarise, it's probably best you think about changing the car as any sort of lasting repair to your gearbox is going to cost as much as it's worth.

Best of luck with whatever route you choose to take.

www.wexfordtransmission.ie
 
The fluid won't be at fault. If it was low enough to affect hydraulic pressure in reverse, it would affect the forward ratios first as these hubs contain more fluid.

Please do not suggest pointless things if you have no idea why such a thing would not matter.
 
Hi All,

Hi All,

My worries have been confirmed, it’s good by Honda Accord!
Thank you for all your response and advice, its appreciated.

Best regards

Stuart
 
If he got a second-hand gearbox, surely it can be re-coded, it would be cheaper than fixing the present one ?

(***uming that the second-hand one is ok ...maybe even get one with a warranty)
 
No they can't be recorded. You could try swapping out the ECU and valve body, but you have to strip the gearbox down completely to do this, so you'd still have to pay Labour, overhaul kit etc.
 
Seems like a bad design to not be able to allow the change of autoboxes in a plug an diplay fashion! What a waste of cars that is going to be!
 
Honda were the first to do it Exec. Every modern car nowadays is the same way, and what with parts and Labour being so exspensive, you will start seeing a lot of dead cars as they get older.
 
A couple of years ago a neighbour had a problem with the engine in his '03 Vectra, can't remember if it was a diesel or a petrol, or what part on the engine had failed, but he said he'd been on a forum and was told that if he got a replacement part it would need re-coding at a dealer, and since the car was not running, the car would have to go to a dealer on a trailer. With the amount of work involved in getting the part out, plus the hassle of getting the replacement part re-coded, he decided to scrap the car. I think he had paid £2k for the car a year before this happened btw.
 
BlueVTEC said:
Honda were the first to do it Exec. Every modern car nowadays is the same way, and what with parts and Labour being so exspensive, you will start seeing a lot of dead cars as they get older.
Is this because of technical reasons? I can't understand why manufacturers would lock a box to one car, makes no sense unless they see it a good way of old cars being scrapped so people buy new ones. Considering how unreliable a lot of modern gearboxes are this iwll proably prematurely kill a lot of cars.
 
I think it's to make it difficult for cars to be stolen and then sold as parts
 
So it would appear that one of the ,morals of the story is:
1) Don't engage reverse unless the car is at standstill.

2) What is the correct way to use an automatic gearbox (normal driving & reverse)?

3) When you're waiting at traffic lights should you be in D(rive) or N(neutral)

4) If in N and the car rolls foward a short distance can you engage D while it is rolling slowly forward?

etc,
 
thedooor said:
So it would appear that one of the ,morals of the story is:
1) Don't engage reverse unless the car is at standstill.

2) What is the correct way to use an automatic gearbox (normal driving & reverse)?

3) When you're waiting at traffic lights should you be in D(rive) or N(neutral)

4) If in N and the car rolls foward a short distance can you engage D while it is rolling slowly forward?

etc,
1. Correct, don't engage R until at a complete stop.

2. N only needs to be used I'm emergencies really, for example if your throttle stuck open while driving, you can just push the stick into N. Other than that, it's pretty useless.

3. Either, its upto the driver. I tend to slip any autos I drive into P if I'll be at the lights a while though, saves on the leg ache! Lol

4. Yes that's fine, in fact you can go from N to D (or vice versa) at any speed and it will not harm the gearbox.

Anymore questions, feel free to ask. :)
 
Sad to see the end of such a nice car.

Honda need to put more effort in there auto boxes
 
well i was having issues with my 1999 Auto, as it started to get towards 100K mark , its booked into Honda for a fluid change on the box this coming weeks.
I did a bit of checking and found both motor and trans low on oil to the point only just showed on the sticks !!!!!!

Trans took almost 500ml to brin back up the stick and the motor 1.5ltrs !!! guessing the previous owner did very little checking !!!!! now its all good and changes are much smoother up and down.

My dad who is a car tech said he has very rarely seen a honda fail motor ot trans and hes been working on cars since i was born 44yrs ago and he still is working on them - although he hates VW's and there range of cars as the bits that fail you cant get at without removing bits that shouldnt need removing to repair the failed bit
 
Best bet would be to convert it to a manual. If my memory serves me correctly, the manual gearboxes are pretty much interchangeable between engines, so it shouldn't matter if the gearbox comes from a 1.8, 2.0 or 2.3 litre Accord.

The automatics in CG8/CG9 Accords don't seem to last nearly as well as the ones in CB3s and CB7s. That said, I've seen plenty of CG9 automatics for sale here with no mention of gearbox issues and yet up to 280 000 km on the clock. They do need regular fluid changes and they do not like a sporty driving style.
 
I have honda accord vtec se exec auto 2001 - All Main Auto gears are fine, However slightly different issue with reverse.

So Sometimes it will go into reverse fine with some fiddling other times not so good, but it does go into reverse. Previous owners had it from new and I am second owner. Car has done 160,000 and is faultless accept the reverse issue. when it does go in reverse sometimes it comes and and feels like the brakes have kicked in or summin!

Is this similar or completely different issue?
 
musictomy said:
I have honda accord vtec se exec auto 2001 - All Main Auto gears are fine, However slightly different issue with reverse.

So Sometimes it will go into reverse fine with some fiddling other times not so good, but it does go into reverse. Previous owners had it from new and I am second owner. Car has done 160,000 and is faultless accept the reverse issue. when it does go in reverse sometimes it comes and and feels like the brakes have kicked in or summin!

Is this similar or completely different issue?
Have you checked the AT oil level?

Try changing the oil and see what happens.
 
Sorry resurrect an old topic chaps, any reverse issues on the 4 cylinder 4 speed auto's, try unplugging the reverse solenoid located on the front of the transmission and 9 out 10 times it will reverse fine so replacement part or if its valve body blockage I have fitted a relay from the reverse light switch circuit to disconnect it automatically and seen cars still reversing fine 5-10 years later saving you a rebuild or swap?

Anybody interested in further details on the quick fix post a reply or send me a PM, ;)
 
Top