It sounds like you are saying a rebuild to change the trans filter? @Nevada_545
An experienced technician can tell the difference between an axle vibration and torque converter shudder, have someone drive the vehicle to identify the problem.
Don’t tell them this only occurs in 3rd gear because you transmission should be in high gear when cruising at 45 MPH. That 3rd gear detail confused this whole thread, for this to occur in 3rd but not 4th doesn’t make sense.
1 Like
Thanks George! That’s a great explanation. Did you mean the new high gear (overdrive) has a higher rpm than the engine’s so that the same engine rpm can get even faster road speed?
I think this thread is very helpful and educational, at least to me. We figured out my problem is likely a TC issue, which I have not heard of the name before. So please don’t discourage more discussions.
I picked up the car in the evening. Because the vibration was intermittent, I have not felt much difference on the way home (one light shudder in about 4 miles). The shop guy told me that the fluid change may not fix the vibration but should be helpful to avoid it getting worse. I hope that’s true.
@Nevada_545 When I said cruising, I meant not accelerating, just keeping the current speed. I could feel there is another shift from 45mph to the top gear. But disabling O/D kept the trans in the 3rd gear (2 shifts up from idle). Is it correct to feel 4 shifts from idle to the top gear for a 1999 Honda CR-V 2WD.
I might have counted the number of gears wrong in the beginning of this thread. The vibration happens in the 4th gear (3 shifts up from idle). O/D kept it in the 3rd gear so it is not the problem gear. My observation is that the vibration happened between 40-50mph, always in the 4th gear. Maybe the vibration is not gear specific, just an coincident due to my limited knowledge.
Now turning off O/D and driving in third gear was the solution to the vibration. Earlier today turning O/D back on solved the problem. I give up.
3 Likes
Yes, that’s correct.
Hope this is my last update. The fluid change is significant! I drove more than 20 miles locally today and I didn’t feel a single shudder. So this problem may have gone away or at least been greatly reduced. This is totally unexpected (by me). I still don’t know what exactly went wrong (most likely in the torque converter area) or why the fluid change could fix it. But your suggestions worked!
Thanks to everyone who helped with diagnostics, gave suggestions and tireless explanations. I really appreciate it. To be honest, I was expecting the problem to deteriorate and then give the car up. You guys are awesome!
Thank you!
1 Like
You’re quite welcome and I’m sure the other Car Talk forum members will second that. Now you can drive your CR-V in “D” with O/D turned on as Honda intended while enjoying a significant improvement in highway fuel mileage.
Was the vibration continuous or for just a few seconds?
It was continuous. If I didn’t take my foot off the pedal, it would continue. With that kind of shudder, most people would stop pressing the gas pedal. It was just too much vibration. It felt like the car would disintegrate :-). The vibration was like when you drive near the side of a highway lane when they have the uneven strip to warn you, but louder.
What always makes me surprised is how many people are religious about two things: changing their motor oil regularly and NOT changing their transmission fluid EVER…
A friend of mine who regularly fixes cars (well beyond oil or coolant) for himself, family and friends is adamant that if he changes transmission fluid, brake fluid or coolant, something bad would happen… “I never did it and no of my cars broke down, so I will not do it”…
My father-in-law feels the exact same way. Apparently in his mind ATF never looses any lubrication properties over time the way motor oil does 
Now, his father was a mechanic for many years working on really old cars (I think he retired around the time carbs were disappearing for fuel injection) and his line of thinking might have been swayed by cars never going long enough to NEED ATF changes
That idea (don’t change ATF fluid) is reinforced by the manufacturers. Many (most?) maintenance schedules do NOT call for ever changing the AT fluid.
Not going to change unless/until the manufacturers change that policy.
i have changed atf on every car i have ever owned. just did it on my taurus. i have a shurflo pump and a 30" hose that works on almost all fill tubes. i did my vue with its aisin af33 trans which is made by toyota. i got 3.5 qts out the drain plug. supposed to be 4.5. guess 1 qt went missing. vue is sold but i have 2 qts of toyo T-IV on shelf.! pump is 10yrs old and i always flush it but i had to replace the rubber valve assy. local shop had it for $20! i left pump is shed 1 yr and i think it froze
It’s trapped in the transmission interfaces, tubing, cooler and primarily, the torque converter. The reason exchange machines are preferred, so all the fluid gets exchanged. Or do another drain and fill shortly after the first thereby progressively diluting the amount remaining…
1 Like
IMHO this is exactly what OP ought to do: repeat drain&fill in few hundreds miles and likely transmission will last longer than the rest of the car 
I’m not sure about the I-4 Honda transmission, but the V6 transmission is supposed to be drained and filled 3 times for the job to be complete. I took it for a quick drive between changes to make sure the blocked passages were cleaned out before the second and third drain cycles.
Why is that good for me? Don’t we all want all parts to fail at the same time so we can confidently give up the vehicle, LOL!
I don’t know exactly why replacing the transmission fluid helps either. But like you’ve discovered, it often does. My theory is the physical properties of the fluid must degrade from the high temperatures and pressures in use, and as the transmission innards wear, debris from the parts sheds & starts to accumulate in the fluid over time.