2002 HONDA ODYSSEY Complaints

HONDA ODYSSEY TRANSMISSION FAILING AT 106,000 MILES. SHIFTS VERY HARD. SCARY TO DRIVE. NOT RELIABLE FAMILY VEHICLE ANY LONGER. IS A KNOWN DESIGN FLAW, BUT HONDA WILL NOT DO ANYTHING. MANY PEOPLE REPORT EXACT SAME ISSUE ON SAME YEAR VEHICLE. MANY HAVE HAD TRANSMISSION REPLACED 3 OR 4 TIMES. A TRANSMISSION SHOULD NOT FAIL AT 100K MILES. DEALER RECOMMENDS TO REPLACE TRANSMISSION AND COMPUTER FOR $5K. *TR

1. "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON ABOUT MORE THAN 1 YR AGO, ONE WEEK AFTER A REGULAR MAINTENANCE AT THE DEALERS. I BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE DEALER, AND THE SERVICE ADVISER DROVE IT AROUND, AND SAID HE WILL JUST RESET THE LIGHT. 2. WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY ON 5/9/2009, I ACCELERATED TRYING TO PASS A CAR, AND THE CAR JERKED VERY BADLY (THE SERVICE ADVISER CALLED IT "SLIPPED GEAR"), AND LATER, SAME SYMPTOM HAPPENED WHILE CITY DRIVING (BETWEEN 2ND GEAR AND 3RD GEAR). 3. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, AND THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN DROVE IT AROUND WITH ME, AND IDENTIFIED IT AS A "TRANSMISSION PROBLEM". MY 2002 HONDA ODYSSEY MINIVAN HAS 106017 MILES ON IT. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER, AND THERE ARE MANY MANY CUSTOMERS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST HONDA FOR ODYSSEY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PROBLEM COVERS UP TO 2001 MODEL, BUT THE PROBLEM I HAVE IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE DESCRIPTION IN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. IT WAS VERY SCARY ON THE FREEWAY WHEN IT SLIPPED GEAR.....IT FELT LIKE THE CAR WAS IN 'NEUTRAL' FOR A LITTLE WHILE UNTIL IT JERKED INTO THE GEAR. *TR

MY TRANSMISSION SLIPS IN LOW GEARS CAUSING THE CAR TO REV EXTREMELY HIGH (4,000 RPM) WITH NO POWER. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE IN THE PAST MONTH. EACH TIME I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PULL OVER TO AVOID CRASHING WITH MY CHILDREN IN THE CAR. IN AN ATTEMPT TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM MY MECHANIC HAS REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. THE FLUID WAS DISCOLORED AND CONTAINED METALLIC FRAGMENTS. THE VAN WAS SERVICED AS PART OF THE RECALL IN 2004 AT THE DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT IT IN 2002. THE OIL JET WAS INSTALLED BUT OBVIOUSLY DID NOT REMEDY THE PROBLEM. THE VAN IS AT 90,000 MILES. THIS IS (I NOW REALIZE) A WELL DOCUMENTED PROBLEM AND I WOULD EXPECT HONDA TO COVER THE COST OF A NEW TRANSMISSION. *TR

I STEP ON THE GAS PEDAL, THE RPM IS GO UP TO 4-5, BUT THE VAN IS NOT MOVING. *TR

2002 HONDA ODYSSEY WITH 72,000 MILES. REGULAR MAINTENANCE DONE, YET 1 WEEK AGO IT TRANSMISSION BEGAN SLIPPING AND MISSING SHIFTS, BETWEEN 1 AND 2, 3 AND 4. DEALER EXAMINED IT, SAID NEW TRANSMISSION NEEDED, QUOTED $3500, CLAIMING THAT INCLUDED $3500 "GOODWILL" FROM HONDA. NOW CAR IS DISABLED UNTIL I FIX IT. *TR

2002 HONDA ODYSSEY, 98K MILES. WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH, TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO SLIP OUT OF GEAR CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO LURCH VIOLENTLY BACK AND FORTH. ONCE OFF THE HIGHWAY, THE TCS LIGHT AND ENGINE MALFUNCTION LIGHT CAME ON. ALSO LOST REVERSE. HAD VEHICLE TOWED 15 MILES TO CLOSEST DEALERSHIP. THEY SAY THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS VEHICLE IS NOT SAFE. *TR

I'M AN ORIGINAL OWNER OF A HONDA ODYSSEY 2002, WITH 66K MILES ON IT AS OF 4/6/2009. THE TRANSMISSION STARTS SLIPPING AT APPROXIMATELY 30-45 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. IT WOULD SHIFT BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN NEUTRAL TO DRIVE GEAR. SOMETIMES, IT HARSHLY JERKS BETWEEN GEARS. THE CHECK-ENGINE AND TCS LIGHTS TURNED ON MOST OF THE TIME. WE DON'T FEEL SAFE USING THIS VEHICLE FOR FEAR ITS TRANSMISSION COULD STOP ANY TIME WHILE ON HIGHWAY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HONDA ODYSSEY. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 30-40 MPH ON NORMAL ROAD CONDITIONS, THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED GEAR SHIFT FAILURE AND EXCESSIVE HESITATION. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE FAILURE OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, BUT THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. IN 2004, THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V176000 (POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION). THE RECALL REMEDY WAS PERFORMED AND CONSISTED OF INSTALLING AN OIL JET KIT. THE RECALL REPAIR WAS INSUFFICIENT AND HAS NOT CORRECTED THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 91,000. UPDATED 05/27/09 *BF AT 91,000 MILES, THE VEHICLE EXHIBITED INTERMITTENT GEAR SHIFT FAILURE AND EXCESSIVE HESITATION IN LOW GEARS AROUND 30 MPH. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AT 92, 623 AND STAYED ON. DIAGNOSTICS CODES REVEALED A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND INCORRECT GEAR RATIO GEAR. UPDATED 06/01/09.*JB

2002 ODYSSEY WITH 39,000 MILES: TRANSMISSION SLIPS AND DISENGAGES BETWEEN 1ST-2ND AND 2ND-3RD GEAR SHIFTS. TOOK VAN TO DEALER TO HAVE TRANSMISSION RECALL UPDATE PERFORMED. DEALER WAS ABLE TO DUPLICATE TRANS SHIFT PROBLEM(S) EXACTLY. THEY CONTACTED AMERICAN HONDA TO SEE WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO WITH THE TRANS. DEALER PERFORMED THE OIL-JET RE-CALL WORK AND CHANGED THE TRANS FLUID, THAT'S IT. (EVIDENTIALLY, AM HONDA SAID NO TO WARRANTY REPLACEMENT). I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE DEALER THAT THE VAN WAS READY FOR PICK-UP. ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE DEALER THE TRANS SLIPPED BETWEEN 2ND-3RD GEAR. I CALLED THE DEALER TO TELL THEM THAT THE PROBLEM WAS STILL PRESENT. THEY TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO BRING THE VAN BACK AND DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM FOR THEM!!! WHAT, THEY GOT THE TRANS TO FAIL WHEN IT WAS IN THEIR HANDS AND THEN LET ME GO WITH A KNOWN TRANS PROBLEM. IT'S APPARENT THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS THAT HONDA IS DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR HONDA, NOT THE CUSTOMER AND THEIR SAFETY. AFTER ALL, THIS WAS A SAFETY RECALL. I STARTED TO SENSE THERE WAS SOME SORT OF ISSUE GOING ON WITH THE TRANSMISSIONS. SO I HIT THE WEB TO DO SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT ALL ABOUT THE TRANS FAILURES HONDA VEHICLES WERE HAVING (CIVICS, ACCORDS, ODYSSEYS, PILOTS). HONDA EXTENDED THE TRANS WARRANTY TO 7YRS 100K MI ON THE '99-'01 ODYSSEY'S RESULTING FROM A CLASS ACTION SUIT. THIS DID NOT INCLUDE THE '02-'03 ODYS. HONDA SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED THE '02-'03 ODYS, BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE "RIGHT THING TO DO". I UNDERSTAND THE TRANS PROBLEM WAS "FIXED" FOR THE NEW-BODY STYLE '04 ODYSSEY. SO BASICALLY THE '02-'03 ODY OWNERS ARE PRETTY MUCH ON THEIR OWN TO BATTLE WITH AM HONDA $$ TO GET A REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION WHICH IS KNOWN TO HAVE "HEAT BUILD-UP" PROBLEMS AND FAIL. EVEN THE RECALL NOTICE STATES THERE IS A HEAT RELATED PROBLEM. I CAN'T BELIEVE THE TRANS FAILED AT 40K MI AND I PAID FOR IT!. MONEY DOES MATTER, BUT IT'S THE POINT THAT HONDA IS NOT STANDING FAITHFULLY BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. *TR

2002 HONDA ODYSSEY HAD A RECALL FOR TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. CONSUMER STATES THAT THIS IS THE SECOND TRANSMISSION FAILURE. *NJ THE CONSUMER STATED THE TRANSMISSION SEIZED. *JB