Accord 2002 Transmission Problems

I need some help!

I have a 2002 Honda Accord. I have had no problems with my Accord and have done all of the regular maintenance from the beginning. However, about a month ago I took my car in for regular maintenance to get the timing belt, other belts, and water pump maintenanced. I'm around 127,000 miles, so it was time. Up to that point, my car drove perfectly.

I plan to take my car back to the dealership, but I want to be knowledgable about what's going on. Am I being taken for a ride?

Here's the exact timeline:

Prior to 1/9/08: Car drove perfectly!

1/9/08 (126,576 miles): Took car to dealership for regular maintenance to have timing belt, water pump, drive belts, balancer belt, balancer shaft seal, and coolant replaced. Also, cleaned throttle plate and body as throttle had been sticking. Slipping transmission problem started on the next cold start when going from 1st to 2nd gear. However, didn't really know what the problem might be and thought it might be a fluke. I called some other mechanics and they couldn't imagine a transmission problem developing that quickly, as those types of problems usually developed over a long period of time.

1/22/08 (127,526 miles): Took car back to dealership. Told them how the car was acting on a cold start. They stated the fluid was dark and low. And that I needed to change the fluid and might have bigger issues with my transmission. However, they also stated they where unable to replicate the problem while my car was there all day long. The dealership told me it must have been coincidence that it started the same day they did the other service.

1/25/08 (127,698 miles): Took my car back to the dealership for the transmission fluid flush. Chose to use them because they were the only ones that used the Honda fluid and I did not want to create any other problems by using one of the other kinds. Got car back but still had problems feeling the transmission slip on cold starts.

2/1/08 to 2/8/08: Was out of town. Didn't drive car.

2/9/08: Noticed leak that was almost a foot in diameter. Orignally thought it was an oil leak but when I took it to be checked by the people who do my oil changes, I found out it was a transmission fluid leak and that it had leaked almost half the fluid out. I did not have a fluid leak until I had the transmission flush on the 25th.

Help? Is this a little quick for such major transmission problems to develop? This started only a month ago and has went this far. The one thing that really bothers me is that my problems from above start each time I go to the dealership. But I can't pinpoint how this might be happening, since originally they did no work on the transmission.

Something I was just wondering...

Could cleaning the throttle have any connection to causing a transmission problem? Perhaps, some kind of disconnect?

Something I was just wondering...

Could cleaning the throttle have any connection to causing a transmission problem? Perhaps, some kind of disconnect?

Tranny uses throttle position sensor (in the throttle body) to modulate upshifts to match throttle demand....usually idle speed will be incorrect and CEL will come on if the TPS is malfunctioning or unplugged however...

Tranny flushes usually make the problem worse in a malfunctioning tranny...it's OK for scheduled maintenance but too much trauma for a unit that is having problems...I don't reccomend it if already not working right...

Leakage may be from one of the transcooler disconnects they removed to hook up the flush machine...otherwise something finally failed that might have been bleeding pressure internally and causing your symptom..

PS just realized you said throttle had been sticking....high rpm?

That is a symptom of a bad TPS, as I said above...you may want to explore that possibility...the leak may be a red herring, caused by a mistake during the flush...

The CEL will only come on if the computer sees the readings from the TPS as out of range...but sometimes the reading will drop or spike within parameters and just makes it think you are doing something strange with the throttle, and shifts get messed up...

Thanks for your suggestions.

As for my throttle sticking, when they did the original work on Jan. 9, they cleaned off a carbon buildup on the throttle. The throttle no longer stuck after that. That problem was fixed. But instead, I got another one...the slipping transmission.

Well, I took my car to the dealership this morning because of the leak. They said the leak was around the axles and that the seals for the barriens were weak. The dealership said the verdict was that I needed a new transmission.

Can someone tell me what the general process is of a failing transmission? And how long it usually takes a transmission to get to this point?

Transmissions can fail in so many ways, there is no way to say what's typical...

I've seen units struggle along for years, slowly getting worse, and I've seen them work perfect right up to a point when it was like they were put in neutral while driving, gone that fast, and never moved again...

I'd get a second from a tranny shop...dealerships don't like to repair, preferring to replace whole units when possible...liability thing, it's faster, less chance for a comeback repair...but costs you more...

Thanks for your help. I guess persistance pays off. I was able to push the dealership this morning to at least try to do something. The advisor that I was dealing with got with his service manager and they called Honda. With Honda, they are going to pay half of parts and labor for a new transmission as a goodwill gesture. So, I will only owe about $1,000 to $1,100. So I jumped on that. And there's a good warranty, too. Again, thanks for your help.

Excellent deal...glad you leaned on them a bit.