2001 Odyssey transmission

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My daughter's Odyssey has about 135K on the clock and recently popped a torque converter engine warning light. The transmission is definitely slipping when they accelerate at the start of a steep hill. The Odyssey has been well maintained always with 5K synthetic Amsoil by my son-in-law along with all the other maintenance. It runs well and has never been in a fender bender and the interior is in good shape. This is a southern California vehicle that's never seen a snow flake and very little rain. In other words no rust, no body damage.

The advice has been to junk it, sell it for what ever you can get. What do you think?
 
Oh, by the way it was in the recall and received the 100K warranty but there was never a problem or any indication of trouble until this recent code.
 
How much is the NADA on the vehicle when running fine?
How much is the cost to repair the transmission?


Some cars get totaled just because the airbags need to be replaced.....
 
Those were infamous for transmission failures as they were part of the Honda V6 transmission plague (1998-2005). You could spend $1500 + labor to put in a factory remanufactured unit that could get maybe another 100k miles-who knows but if you get a rebuild or used transmission you'll be lucky to get another 30k out of it. Even if it was well maintained one I would still sell if for something new because those transmissions were just a game of gambling (trust me I have an uncle who put three different rebuilt transmission into the same van over the course of 3 months!)
 
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Originally Posted By: TheBeaz
(trust me I have an uncle who put three different rebuilt transmission into the same van over the course of 3 months!)


Goodness! Sounds like he needs to find a new transmission rebuilder.
 
The EX is only worth about 2K in very good condition. Sorry to say but scrap it or sell it for parts with a blown transmission its a total loss.
 
Unfortunately she should consider herself lucky it lasted that long. I sold a lot of Odysseys from that era, many of those transmissions failed just after the warranty was up, which lead to a lot of problems for me and a lot of other salesmen listening to customers carry on, and threaten us. Most of those threats came from people who didn't want an extended warranty. Something I myself would never buy. Those were the days....... I never cared much for Honda because of their transmissions.
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Originally Posted By: TheBeaz
Those were infamous for transmission failures as they were part of the Honda V6 transmission plague (1998-2005). You could spend $1500 + labor to put in a factory remanufactured unit that could get maybe another 100k miles-who knows but if you get a rebuild or used transmission you'll be lucky to get another 30k out of it. Even if it was well maintained one I would still sell if for something new because those transmissions were just a game of gambling (trust me I have an uncle who put three different rebuilt transmission into the same van over the course of 3 months!)


+1. Don't bother fixing it. Time for a new vehicle. As mentioned by others sell it for scrap or parts.
 
Check some Honda forums. There are certainly some good rebuilders in your area.
Let's say that daughter and SIL put $3K into this van and then drive it for another number of years.
Probably worth doing.
Ignore price guides. This sounds like a very clean and nice old van, so it's probably worth fixing.
The suggestion to try Lubegard Red is a good thought as would be a couple of drain and fills using inexpensive Maxlife ATF. This may or may not help but would be a cheap first effort to try before opening up the wallet.
 
I would agree 100% if the rebuilt units for these vans were not so iffy even the OE ones but your right if its a good shell otherwise they might get a few more years out of it. Personally this is one vehicle I wouldn't keep, I have several (newer model not bad tranny years) and just fixed them and sold them.
 
I talked to a well-respected transmission shop owner. He told me that he won't do them because he got burned several times. He said at the height of the problems he rebuilt several with all the care and best parts available. They still failed way too soon. In two cases he refunded all the money he charged. In three other cases, there was evidence of abuse and the customer did not come back for the required rechecks, ever. You can guess what his advice was.

Thanks for the responses. A really clean Odyssey is going somewhere to its final reward. It's really too bad because without this problem it appears that there would be a lot of life left in their really nice mini van. Everything else and I mean everything works great and has never given a moments trouble.
 
Honda lost me as a customer because of their GARBAGE A/Ts...If you look at 'Carcomplaints.com'...some of the worst vehicles (as far as complaints) are Honda....and yet the consumer magazines still fawn over them .....
 
How about, instead of rebuilding, can a transmission from the 06 and up models be fitted, even a used one?
That would be the only solution, if it's even possible, that I would entertain. Rebuilding a badly designed unit would be a no go for me.
 
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If the van was in great condition and all maintenance and repair are up to date, I would not hesitate to spend the $2500+labor for a OE reman transmission.
 
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