My sister is 300 miles from home right now and no Honda Dealer or trans shop that handles imports is nearby. Her MIL is on and a local repair shop read PO740, torque converter or transmission control malfunction. The guy on duty is not familiar with Hondas, but he did not think that it was shifting correctly, winding up a bit too much. The question is, should she make a 45 mile trip to a closer dealer tomorrow, Wednesday, or wait until after the trip Home on Friday.
What symptoms has the vehicle demonstrated, other than the light? Is the transmission acting oddly? Did anyone check the transmission fluid level?
Would be nice to have Honda’s approval for the drive (is this a warranty situation?) get names of people you talk to.
What kind of Honda are we talking about here??? Year, Model, and engine size would help you to get a more accurate answer.
transman
Oops, do I ever feel stupid. It is a 2001 Odyssey. There was only one engine, right? We have a post-Christmas family gathering going and my nephew was pretty distracting while I was trying to type.
The mechanic is not very familiar with Hondas. He is probably most comfortable with old-fashioned non-electronic transmissions. We are out in the boonies here by most peoples’ standard. There is a very good trans shop close by, run by a high school classmate of mine. He is plenty busy with Detroit-based brands and has never felt the need to train himself or staff on “imports”.
I only rode in it while today’s mechanic and my niece were driving. He seemed to feel it was a little abrupt shifting and wound up a little to high before shifting. That would seem to me, however, an accurate comparison between Hondas and domestics. I can say that I noticed nothing obviously wrong from the passenger seat. the MIL came on with 50 miles left in a 300 mile trip to Central NY from Maryland (at a gas stop). They put the last 50 miles on to get here and it has been driven around the village a couple of times.
Her dealer in Maryland suggested that she should get it looked at close by and so did the close-by dealer. It seems like that might be the advice to follow since the Maryland dealer would get the business if she just went ahead and drove it back.
I’d say her best bet is to take it to the nearest Honda dealer, but whether or not they can look at it tomorrow is hard to say. Call in the morning and ask them. If the fluid level is OK she can probably drive the 300 miles home.
The MIL is a warning to have the vehicle looked at, not an indicator of impending doom. If the engine revs a little higher than normal, nothing will happen. It’s a Honda, they love to rev. As long as the transmission is shifting and the vehicle is drivable I’d go for it. Someone needs to check the fluid, though.
I am not a “transman” but while I was at Honda I did plenty of replacements of Odyssey trans,something was not right.I think there is some Internet info on these problem children from Honda.Not at bad trans to R+R.
Honda “silently” extended the transmission warranty on several models of that era as a result of MANY problems with the transmissions. I would strongly suggest that you call a Honda dealer, give them the VIN, and ask if there is extended coverage on that vehicle’s transmission. As long as it has not passed the elapsed time and mileage perameters, there is a chance that this repair might be covered by warranty.
And that’s a good reason to do exactly what the Honda dealer says, to keep them from having an excuse not to honor an extended warranty.
We left for the close dealer (Vestal) at 6:30. Unfortunatley there was substantial snow overnight so we missed the first mechanic sortie. After a long wait, The good news is that Honda will cover the transmission replacement. As predicted, the TCC lockup clutch is toasting. The bad news, of course, is that it needs a new trans.
The service coordinator was trying hard to say that it was safe to drive 5 h back to MD without saying it was a sure thing. He smiled when I turned to my sis and told her that she should pile the kids in on Friday and drive. We ran into the mechanic on the way out and he seemed pretty satisfied with the 5 h on interstate that we told him.
Thanks!