Odyssey Transmission

Hi!  We purchased our 2004 Ody from CarMax in 2006.  It had a little over 17,000 miles on it (it was originally a rental car that CarMax purchased for resell).  When we still lived near CarMax, we took it in faithfully for servicing.  We now live a good 3 hours from the cloest CarMax, so oil changes get done by my hubby.

The Ody now has a little over 207,000 miles on it.  In the 6 years we've owned it, we only had the transmission fluid changed once (about 5 years ago, at CarMax).  I don't recall ever having the timing chain replaced, only the oil filter (every other time the oil gets changed) and I think hubby replaced the air filter once.

Reckon we've been mighty lucky until now.  Started getting the engine light to come on a couple of months ago and the TCS light comes on every once in a while.  And we've had the "D" on the gear indicator to blink a couple of times.  From reading the owner's manual, didn't think the "D" was too big of a deal (we live in the mountains).  Would take the Ody to the local parts store (part of a national chain) and they'd pull the diagnostic codes for us.  Their biggest advice was to clear out the codes & see if they happened again (which they have).

After reading all of the posts about the 2004s I have a question -- should we take it in & see if the tranny is shot or should we just get rid of this thing before it dies on us?  We travel about 35 miles over mountain roads every day (one way) to our retail shop and we really need something reliable.

By the way, our other vehicle is an old 1982 Chevy C10 pickup that needs a new motor (it's currently out of commisison).

Thanks for your advice!

Sorry to hear you are having problems.  From what I have read and my experience, anyone making it over 200,000 miles is extremely lucky!  I would assume you had to have your timing belt replaced at some point.  I would definitely be careful as it will probably leave you stranded if you don't have it fixed.  If you like the van, I would take it to a reputable transmission shop and have it fixed for around $3,500.  In my opinion it is still cheaper than replacing the van with something else.  Good luck!  :)

Well, it finally happened yesterday!  The tranny in our 2004 Ody has pretty much given up the ghost.  Hubby & his brother are out visiting transmission shops in our area to find out who can replace it without it costing a fortune.  We've been lucky, I think, since it made it to a little over 212,000 miles before dying.

One thing I've noticed on here -- in the majority of the cases, the owners had faithfully had their minivans serviced according to the owner's manual.  Only thing we've ever really done is change the oil (and then, only when the inidicator light came on to remind us).  As far as I know, we only had the transmission flushed once (and that was before it had over 100,000 miles on it).

We're not even going to bother with a dealership (too expensive, plus the nearest Honda dealer is well over 50 miles from us).  Right now, just debating on whether to get a new transmission or a rebuild.

2004 Hondo worked like a champ since I bought it from Carmax in 2006.  Then I Decided to buy a new van for road trips and keep the Odyssey for work.  Parked it as I took the new van on a road trip and when I got back drove the van for less than 5 miles when it went limp.  Got it home barely and now it doesn't even move.  Tempted to junk the thing, glad I did not buy another Honda at this point.  Too bad because I love the spaciousness of it.  But I will never buy Honda again.