Originally Posted by BlakeB
I just don't see that you have many options. On these, the best I can tell, you don't have a traditional pan, the case has to be split.
My recommendation is to call the trans shop that rebuilt it and tell them what you've got going on, see what they say.
If you want vehicle specific information, your best bet is a Honda or Honda Accord forum.
Well the only thing i've been doing for the moment is looking at borescope options on Amazon. Unless anyone knows even better there seem to be amazingly inexpensive 5.5mm ones and notably more expensive but slightly smaller 3.9mm ones:
$20 5.5mm example
https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-KinCam-Semi-Rigid-Waterproof-Adjustable/dp/B07HR6PW3P/ there are even cheaper but seem to require 'USB on the go" from a phone to work, this one allegedly works with a laptop too.
$160 3.9mm example
https://www.amazon.com/Vividia-VQ-3910-Handheld-Borescope-Inspection/dp/B073ZHFCFL/
I dont know if both will fit down the dipstick hole, but since I probably need to fit the scope end AND something like a stiff piece of coathanger with a bit of a hook in the end of it... even if I can see it at the bottom of the hole... I might have to just get the 3.9mm one. That's not the end of the world, i'd thought years ago I wanted one anyways and they'd come down in price more than I thought. I didn't plan to get one NOW, maybe I can still return it afterwards, but it seems to be my first step. Maybe it literally is just sorta at the bottom of the dipstick hole, and i'll be able to see it, hook it, and pull it right back up.
Next step seems to be to detach that dipstick which looked easy on the transmission page someone had or linked to even tho I was scratching my head a bit trying to see where that was/still trying to verify it was the right transmission I guess. If it's not in the hole, maybe it fell into the transmission, but not into an irretrievable position... maybe it can be snatched with those grabby things, especially with the addition of the borescope and starting that many more inches down to the trans itself.
Maybe it fell through to the bottom - I can't tell if the trans is supposed to be split either. I just know a friend claimed there was a pan that could drop out maybe he means something internal... which he was also talking about the filter, they dont normally change at the dealer during a fluid change because its a PITA to get to... but which should be there anyways. And that it should be possible to do this without removing the transmission from the car - even if it might involve lots of leaking fluid and other crap.
Maybe even if it didnt fall through to the bottom, but did fall through the dipstick hole and cant be retrieved from the top, maybe opening up the transmission partially will let me fish up using the endoscope and a claw grabby thing from the bottom to find the piece of plastic, and grab it, and then bolting the transmission closed, pouring fluid back in, and seeing whether it still works after all that drama.
I called a few shops and dealers, was mostly told to bring it in and they'd have a look at it. That involves a tow, inspection cost, and even if they say yup it's too expensive to fix another tow to get right back to where I am now. With a car I might as well try to fix even if it's beyond what I originally planned, because i'm already in over my head. I can spend $200 for two ways of tow or $200 for a possibly returnable borescope to give it my own first attempt so i'm probably doing that before anything.
Originally Posted by Ducked
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
I'm sure I'm going to catch [censored] for this but...
I'd probably not worry about it.
At the risk of triggering another 3-page defensive essay, I'd have to agree.
The chances of a bit of (flexible?) PVC tubing breaking a manual transmission seem pretty minimal.
The last is probably unlikely since gearbox oil doesn't typically get into the (rather wide) PVC melting range. You might end up with some microplastic in your oil, which seems unlikely to do any harm. If that's a worry, wait a while (thousand miles?) then change it.
It's the 5 speed automatic, which everyone tells me are sensitive beasts - based on the way they seem to misshift over a little metal particles in the trans fluid being only 10k past it's normal service life. I decided I didn't want to risk that. If it was a stick shift - yes i'd consider it. But this is Honda's ultrasensitive finicky automatic which was already acting funny when I posted about it here a few days ago. :-/
Also the PVC tubing was pretty thick walled - this isn't the thinnest possible stuff. It just seems like it either a) instantly jams perhaps smaller more sensitive gears breaking something, b) gets ground up then the particle goes thru a hydraulic passage screwing up the shifting that was already screwing up, c) melts into the fluid creating an impurity in a trans that is so impurity sensitive it's just going to cause a problem.
Thank you for the attempted serious reasoning at least for why maybe there's no reason to worry. I just already got in this situation doing the expedient answer at hand - ie instead of spending $20 for an uber to pick up a replacement $5 funnel, thinking just temporarily one time using some PVC tubing should work fine, and that's now created a multihundred dollar problem at minimum. I'm trying not to double down on this.
I'm at least wanting to exhaust what I consider possibly more reasonable options before just starting and driving it. Maybe there is nothing left to lose, or maybe I can fix it right using the borescope, or slightly splitting the case to drain fluid and fish around and other things.
