Odyssey Transmission

2012 Odyssey Touring Elite, brand new.  From day one (last week), it has had a shift stutter between 2nd and 3rd gears under moderate acceleration, and will occasionally stutter between 1st and 2nd also.  I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow.  The van has 200 miles on it.  I'm worried they will say that it's "normal" for this van or otherwise not fix the problem.  I'm also worried about long-term issues with the transmission if the underlying problem is not fixed.  This van is the worst shifting vehicle I've ever driven.

I also have a problem with an audible deep vibration when the van goes from ECO mode to full cylinders.  Almost like the engine is lugging in too low of an RPM.  The whole van shakes.  It feels like the engine is directly mounted to the frame or something, like the engine mounts are too "tight".

IMHO, if you have any way to back out of the transaction, do it ASAP!  The Honda auto trannies, are, again IMHO, defective even today even when driving off the lot.  If you do keep it, get an extended warranty and make sure you dump the car before the warranty expires.

lemon law.  use it and get the heck out of honda city.  buy a chrysler van for 1/2 the price, drive it for a few years, then buy what you really want....just not an odyssey.

darcy

I say take it back and demand (if necessary) a full refund. It will become a money pit. In the past I've owned and loved other Hondas but since dealing with the Odyssey we currently have and reading the scores of posts of unsatisfied Odyssey owners I would advise you to get something else. Best of luck to you.

The dealer tech rode with us and immediately felt the transmission problem.  He said we have to wait until the weekday for the regional Honda rep so they can call it in and see what they want to do about it.  I'll keep posting with updates.  We are taking it back to the dealer on Tuesday.

I just got a 2012 Touring Elite, like you, and have noticed the same problem in 1st gear (not 3rd)

Hoping to hear your update and see what they did for you. other than this, I love the van...

We loved our 2002 EXL Navi when we got it.  But now I'm out of work 2 years and can't afford to buy a replacement yet we need a reliable vehicle to take my daughter to college, take family trips, etc.  But now I'm waiting for the Honda rebuild trannie to fail - just after its warranty expires, I'm waiting for engine and other mounts to fail, I'm wondering what interior control lights will or won't work each time we take the car out at night.  I'm also amazed that after getting another badly overpriced navi update that the software still stinks and that the maps are still way behind Google's.  I'm wondering why the driver's seat doesn't go as far up and down as it once did.  I'm wondering what damage the dealer's 'tech's will do to the car when we go in for the airbag recall - each time they work on the car they leave something half done and something else broken.  I'm hoping I can find some spare cash to install a trannie cooler and filter in the hope that maybe the trannie won't fail so quickly.

If you have any way to back out of your purchase NOW, go for it.  If not, buy the extended warranty, try real hard to find an honest competent service department, and sell it way before the warranty expires.  And get used to service managers telling you that your bucking, stalling, noisy piece of junk is working quite normally.

Pbug, does the 2002 have the replaceable transmission fluid filter?  I was reading about that on the Odyssey forum, that Honda techs don't seem to know the filter exists, but I think from 2002 on, there is a filter that can be replaced for about 40 bucks.  I'm pretty sure the 2012 model has a filter, and I'm ready to replace it at around 30,000 miles if I still have this van by then.

I've been told that the 2002 did NOT have a user replacable filter (hidden or not), only the internal one.  And when it gets clogged...

Pbug, I just looked it up and there is a replaceable filter on the 2002's.  It's shown on the parts fiche here: http://www.hondapartscheap.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=part_picker&make=Honda&model=ODYSSEY&year=2002&version=5DR+EXL+%28LEATHER+NAV%29&transmission=KA5AT&component=AT+ATF+PIPE+%285AT%29

It's number 8.  You can get to it by removing the intake piping, battery and battery tray.  I've never tried it, and it's a tight fit to turn wrenches in there but suposedly can be replaced in about 30 minutes with nothing more than some wrenches.  The Honda techs at shops generally don't know about this filter for some reason, but it's clearly shown on the parts fiche, and gets easily clogged.    

That bets the question as to whether Honda dealers every replace it.  I don't remember it ever being mentioned when we had the car in for servicing.  But I'm guessing that when it clogs that it greatly accellerates the problem of insufficient clutch pressure thus causing the clutches to wear out much faster...

I still want an external Haydn cooler and an external filter, though.  But thanks for the info!

Just an updates . . . the Honda Dealer was very helpful today . . . eventually.  After adding insulation to the engine and saying that they "fixed" it, I had them ride with me again.  The tech noticed the problem, but wasn't sure it was a specific problem with our van, or something affecting all 2012 Odysseys.  We took another 2012 Odyssey out, and it had the exact same problem, maybe even worse than mine.  He called the regional Honda rep and they told him that they have had many reports of the same issue, and are working on a fix.  So hopefully a fix will be coming soon.  We'll see . . .

Just an update . . .

The Honda still have the same issues, but one thing that made the ECO mode vibration appear worse was that our interior microphone (the one associated with the active noise cancellation) was not plugged in correctly.  We found this out when our cell phones would not work with the "hands free" system in the van.  Once the microphone was plugged in correctly, and the noise cancellation was working, the ECO vibration became much less noticeable, although it's still annoying.

One more thing, I've heard people say that the ECO works when the van is stopped.  That's not true.  Honda is very aware that the ECO mode causes vibrations, so they intentionally have it turned off when the van is going 5 mph or less.  Otherwise, you'd be stopped at a light vibrating away.  They only use ECO when the van is moving, knowing that any vibration would be less noticeable compared to when the van is stopped.

I have a 2012 odyssey purchased new at dealer. Had transmission issue with the transmission slipping at around 20mph. The dealer ship did a software update and it helped. Now, 2 months later and at 5000 miles the transmission slipping is worse than ever and the dealership can't duplicate, Honda says they have never heard of this problem. I am scared to drive the vehicle.. please call honda at 1-800- 999-1009 and tell them if you are experiencing the same issues......

I'm not sure what the best way is to deal with this, but I'd go back to the dealer and insist on a meeting with a Honda rep or maybe the dealership owner.  You might also go to another (good) mechanic and let him check out the car. 

Huge problem I've found with Honda; if you don't get codes (usually after the TCS or Check Engine light goes on), as far as they are concerned, nothing is wrong, even if you go down the streat trailing fluid and thick black smoke.  You could also hook up a good code reader to see if there are any pending codes that have not caused the idiot lights to go on yet.  And they will keep telling you nothing is wrong until the warranty runs out and THEN the idiot lights go on.

We've heard scattered reports on late model Ody's having tranny problems, some when driving off the dealers lot for the first time.  No details or verification, though.