[hip]

Sort of contradicts the last report about superior quality...

Honda Motor Co., said Wednesday it plans to widen a previously announced recall to include 1.14 million vehicles, among its largest, covering Accord and Acura cars that have the same transmission fault that triggered a light-truck recall this year. The recall will cost Honda about $63 million, in addition to the $153 million being spent on the light-truck portion of the recall. The cars affected are 2003-2004 Honda Accords, 2000-2004 Acura TL, and 2001-2003 Acura RLs. In April, the company recalled 600,000 U.S. and Canadian Odyssey minivans, and Pilot and Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles with the same transmission. Honda placed second to Toyota in this week's J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures quality over three years of ownership. And while Toyota slipped from last year in the study, Honda improved. -Jim Burt

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7276&sid=173&n=156

 

[larchmont]

.....The cars affected are 2003-2004 Honda Accords, 2000-2004 Acura TL, and 2001-2003 Acura RLs.....

Ouch!

P.S. No TSX's anyway. :nervous:

 

[Noel]

Recalls are better than "cover-ups" like what MMC has been recently exposed of their wrongdoings for over a decade. The distrust and dishonestly truly puts that corporation to shame regardless of what they can and cannot produce. Any mass producing manufacturer is bound to have such actions. It shows the continuing improvement and quality assurance being fair and appropriately dealt with across the board.

 

[ChinchillaX]

Wow thats a lot of cars!

 

[bob shiftright]

Sort of contradicts the last report about superior quality...

I'm not at all sure how that follows. Every manufacturer screws up something in every design. Scanning the Consumer Reports "Frequency of Repair" charts for "transmission":

2003-2004 Honda Accords: solid red circle (=<2%)
2000-2004 Acura TL: one open circle, one solid red circle (5-9.3%, <2%)
2001-2003 Acura RLs: one red circle, 2 "insufficient samples" (<2%)

So whatever it is, it doesn't involve 100% of the cars, yet. Nice that they're worried about this, rather than being dragged, kicking and screaming, to a recall by the Feds!

 

[pocketkiller]

Now all those people who argued the Accord EX-L was better than the TSX can shut the hell up.

 

[dnb]

P.S. No TSX's anyway.

The recall covers ATs mated to the V6. The folks at odyclub.com have a good thread on this which includes a description of the failure modes. See http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16297, especially the 13th post (author: BreakStuff).

 

[larchmont]

The recall covers ATs mated to the V6. The folks at odyclub.com have a good thread on this which includes a description of the failure modes. See http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16297, especially the 13th post (author: BreakStuff).

Thanks much, DNB.

I think the post you mention is worth pasting:


04-021
Applies To: See VEHICLES AFFECTED
Safety Recall: Automatic Transmission Second Gear Inspection
BACKGROUND
Certain operating conditions can result in heat buildup
between the countershaft and secondary shaft second
gears in the automatic transmission. Without enough
oil flow to dissipate heat, prolonged operation under
these conditions can eventually result in decreased
material strength. In higher mileage vehicles, this can
result in gear tooth chipping or, in very rare cases, gear
breakage.
In most cases, transmission noise will indicate a
problem, however it is possible for the transmission to
become locked without warning. A locked transmission
could result in a crash.
VEHICLES AFFECTED
2002–03 Odyssey: ALL
2004 Odyssey: From VIN 5FNRL18..4B000001 thru
5FNRL18..4B051620
2003 Pilot: ALL
2004 Pilot: From VIN 2HKYF18..4H500001 thru
2HKYF18..4H546877
CUSTOMER NOTIFICATION
All owners of affected vehicles will be sent a notification
of this recall.
Not all vehicles within the VIN ranges are affected by
this recall. Before beginning work on a vehicle, verify its
eligibility by checking at least one of these items:
• The customer has a notification letter.
• The vehicle is shown on your campaign
responsibility report.
• The vehicle is shown as eligible on an iN VIN status
inquiry.
In addition to these verification items, check for a punch
mark above the 11th character of the engine
compartment VIN. A punch mark in that location
means the A/T has already been inspected and
repaired.
Some vehicles affected by this recall may be in your
new or used vehicle inventory. According to federal
law, these vehicles cannot be sold or leased until
they are repaired. To see if a vehicle is affected by this
recall, do a VIN status inquiry before selling it.
CORRECTIVE ACTION
Vehicles with 15,000 miles or less:
Install an A/T oil jet kit.
Vehicles with more than 15,000 miles:
Do a photographic, not visual, inspection of the
A/T second gear:
• Using the digital camera and camera mount in
the A/T Gear Inspection Kit, take five clear
photos of the second gear through the
countershaft speed sensor hole.
• Load the photos onto an iN workstation, then
display them on the monitor.
• Compare the gear color in the photos with the
gear colors in the A/T Gear Inspection Guide that
came with the camera.
• If you determine that the color of the gear in your
photos matches gear level number 1 on the
inspection guide, install an A/T Oil Jet Kit.
• If you determine that the color of the gear in your
photos matches any gear level other than
number 1 on the inspection guide, submit a
completed A/T order form, with your digital
photographs, to RPO Tech Line. RPO will either
cancel your A/T order and let you know you need
to install an A/T Oil Jet Kit, or process your A/T
order so you can install

 

[ChinchillaX]

The I-4s seem to be not involved with this recall which is good.

 

[dnb]

Safety Recall: Automatic Transmission Second Gear Inspection
BACKGROUND
Certain operating conditions can result in heat buildup between the countershaft and secondary shaft second gears in the automatic transmission.

Examples of "certain operating conditions" are given later in the same www.odyclub.com thread:

This is off the owners link website:

What do you mean by "certain operating conditions"?
Extended cruising in top gear with a high engine load but small throttle opening can result in limited oil flow to 2nd gear, causing localized heat build-up. These conditions should be rare. Examples may include extended towing in top gear on a very flat road with a throttle opening of 1/4 or less; or frequent driving up a road with a very consistent slope of approximately 3.5~6%, again maintaining a throttle opening around 1/4 or less.

Under most circumstances, small road undulations or throttle corrections cause the vehicle to go in and out of torque converter lock-up, varying engine rpm, and therefore increasing oil flow to the gears. Increased oil flow dissipates heat and prevents 2nd gear damage.