1998 HONDA ACCORD Complaints

THE VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION PRODUCED A CLICKING SOUND WHEN SHIFTING GEARS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *NM THE TRANSMISSION MADE NOISE WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK. THE VEHICLE WOULD RATTLE AS THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED. THE SERVICE DEALER STATED THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM. *SC *JB

VEHICLE STALLED, AND ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD. CONSUMER HAD STARTED THE VEHICLE ,AND DROVE IT FOR 15 MINUTES WHEN THIS OCCURRED.*AK

I WAS DRIVING BETWEEN 0 AND 5 MPH WHEN I WAS HIT FROM BEHIND. THE VEHICLE THAT HIT ME WAS A 1997 TOYOTA CAMERY. HIS APPX. SPEED WAS BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH. WHEN I EXITED MY VEHICLE I NOTICED THAT THE DRIVERS SEAT WAS COMPLETLY LAYED BACK. I DIDN'T KNOW IT AT THE TIME BUT IT APPEARS THE METAL IN THE SEAT BROKE, CAUSING THE BACK OF THE SEAT TO COLLAPSE. THE SEAT WAS IN THE TOTAL RECLINED POSITION. WHEN IT WAS DELIVERED TO COMBS COLLISION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE METAL HOLDING THE TOP OF THE SEAT TO THE BOTTOM HAD BROKEN. THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO PUSH THE SEAT BACK UP ALL THE WAY. THE PASSENGER SEAT ALSO HAD DAMAGE TO IT.

I HAVE A 1998 HONDA ACCORD LX V4. I HAVE REPEATEDLY HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMMING ON. I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED THE O2 SENSORS AND HAD THE CODE CLEARED AT LEAST 4 TIMES WITHIN THE LAST YEAR. MY MECHANIC HAS NOTED THAT HE CAN NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. I HAVE RECENTLY FOUND THIS WEBSITE, HTTP://WWW.CARTRACKERS.COM/FORUMS/LIVE/HONDA/33.HTML AND IT HAS BECOME APPARENT TO ME THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE MODELS. BECAUSE I CURRENTLY HAVE 87,000 MILES ON MY CAR HONDA HAS SAID THAT IT IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRENTY. MY CAR DOES NOT DRIVE ROUGHLY AND I HAVE DRIVEN FOR MILES WITH THE LIGHT ON. IT GENERALLY STAYS ON FOR ABOUT 1,000 MILES OR SO, THEN RESETS ITSELF FOR A FEW MORE THOUSAND MILES. AFTER WORRYING ABOUT THE LIGHT REPEATED COMMING ON AFTER IT HAD RESET ITSELF I BROUGHT IT INTO MY MECHANIC AGAIN, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT WHEN AN EMISSIONS CHECK IS RAN ON THE CAR THAT NOTHING IS WRONG. SINCE I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA, HAVING THIS LIGHT ON MEANS THAT MY CAR WILL FAIL A SMOG CHECK, EVEN THOUGH THE EMISSIONS ARE WELL UNDER THE LIMIT. BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING OF AN ODBII CODE ISSUE AND OTHER EMISSIONS RELATED PROBLEMS, I FEEL COMPELLED TO FILE A COMPLAINT. HONDA WAS FORCED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ON THEIR 95,96,AND 97 VEHICLES AND I BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THESE PROBLEMS UNTIL THEY ARE FORCED TO. THIS PROBLEM HAS CAUSED ME TO GIVE LESS IMPORTANCE TO THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, COST ME OVER $200 WITHOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM, AND HINDERS MY ABILITY TO SELL OR EVEN SMOG THE VEHICLE. RECENTLY, I WAS ADVISED TO REPLACE THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER, EVEN THOUGH THE TWO O2 SENSORS ARE NOT GIVING THE SAME OUTPUT, THUS SHOWING THAT THE CAT. IS IN FACT DOING ITS JOB. THIS WOULD COST AT LEAST $400, $1100 AT HONDA. I FEEL THAT A RECALL IS NECCESSARY ON THE EMISSIONS COMPONENTS, AND THAT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TRIED TIRELESSLY TO FIX THE PROBLEMS SHOULD BE RECOMPENSATED FOR TRYING TO FIX A SIGNIFICANT DESIGN FLAW.

MY CARS STALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. IT IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS. WHEN I SEARCHED THE RECALLS FOR 98 ACCORDS, IT CAME BACK AS SAYING THAT THERE IS A RECALL FOR THIS EXACT PROBLEM (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IGNITION SWITCH) ON OTHER 1998 HONDA ACCORDS. HOWEVER, HONDA SAYS MY VIN IS NOT PART OF THAT RECALL.

WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH TRANSMISSION DOWN SHIFTED. CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO CONTROL VEHICLE, AND DROVE VEHICLE HOME. *AK

I HAVE A 1998 ACCORD EX WITH 113,000MILES AND HAVE HAD THE SAME CHECK ENGINE LIGHT PROBLEM 2 TIMES. EACH TIME THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME I HAVE TO REPLCE CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND GAVE ME AN ESTIMATE OF ABOUT $1,000. I TOOK IT TO HAVE IT CHECK ED BY A MUFFELER SHOP AND THEY SAID NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER. THEY ALSO SAID CATALYTIC CONVERTER ON HONDA NEVER GOES BAD. NOT SURE WAHT TO DO?*AK

I OWN A 1998 HONDA ACCORD (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, V6, 4DR) WITH A MILEAGE OF 120K MILES. I BOUGHT IT WHEN 110K , PRIOR TO WHICH IT WAS A LEASE CAR WITH PROPER MAINTAINANCE HISTORY. OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS I NOTICED I WAS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH DELAYED AND HARD SHIFTING OF GEARS ESPECIALLY AT LOWER SPEEDS . HONDA DEALER CHECKED AND REPLACED TRANSMISSION FLUID. THIS DID NOT HELP AND A WEEK LATER THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT HAD COME ON. A PRIVATE TRANSMISSION SERVICE ADVISOR RUN COMPUTER DIAGNOSTICS ON IT AND CAME UP WITH A DIAGNOSIS CODE OF P740 AND PO230. THEY COULD NOT PINPOINT THE EXACT FAULT. AT THIS POINT THE VEHICLE WAS LUNGING FORWARD WHENEVER IT CAME TO A STOP AND IT WOULD HAVE A TROUBLE CHANGING GEARS (ESPECIALLY THE SECOND GEAR). THOUGH THE VEHICLE IS IN DRIVABLE CONDITION IT SEEMS LIKE A BIG SAFETY HAZARD AND A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN. WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A HONDA DEALER WHO RECOMMENDED THAT I REPLACE THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION AT A COST OF ABOUT $5600+LABOR. GIVEN OTHERWISE EXTREMELY GOOD CONDITION OF MY VEHICLE I CAN ONLY ATTRIBUTE THIS PROBLEM TO A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. WHEN I DID SOME RESEARCH I FOUND OUT THAT THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF 98 ACCORD OWNERS WHO HAVE BEEN FACING SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THEIR TRANSMISSION. I AM EXPECTING HONDA TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY SINCE MANY HONDAS EXPERIENCE A SIMILAR FATE AND THE HONDA SERVICE WHO CHANGED THE OIL THE FIRST TIME COULD HAVE TRIED HARDER BEFORE MORE DAMAGE MAY BE DONE. I AM CURRENTLY NOT USING THIS VEHICLE MUCH GIVEN THE OBVIOUS SAFETY ISSUES. *AK

WHEN STARTING THE VEHICLE IT VIBRATED, THEN ENGINE SHUT OFF. CONSUMER NOTICED THAT THIS PROBLEM ONLY OCCURRED WHEN DRIVING FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO THE CONSUMER FROM HAVING A RECALL PERFORMED, THE AIR BAG LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER STATED IT WAS NOT THEIR FAULT AND THEREFORE THE CONSUMER WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS. *JB

MRS. KIMURA OWNS A 1998 HONDA ACCORD. SHE PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT AND PARKED. AS SHE WAS EXITING THE VEHICLE THE CAR BEGAN TO ROLL. THE CAR ROLLED OVER HER AND SHE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED. *AK IT WAS LATER LEARNED THAT THE IGNITION SWITCH FAILED. SHE WAS ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY WITH THE TRANSMISION IN DRIVE . A RECALL NOTICE WAS FOUND ON THE NHTSA SITE AFTER THIS ACCIDENT DESCRIBING THE FAILURE.