Lowering my car blew my Tranny?
#1
Lowering my car blew my Tranny?
I had an interesting time at the dealership today...
Took my 09 Fit sport m/t in for regular maintenance today. Turns out the high pitch noise my reverse gear is making is not "normal".
Honda: "Transmission needs to be replaced"
Me: "Ok, my car only has 23,000 km's on it in two years, I assume it's under warranty."
Honda: "Well... we noticed your car has been lowered."
Me: then
I immediately see red. I tell him that if the strut had blown I would understand the warranty being void but the transmission has sounded like that from day one and did not change after being lowered.
Long story short, the manager sided with me after a "friendly exchange of ideas".
FYI: the tranny fluid they pulled out was black tar at 23k. It's recommended to be changed at 48k. Go figure.
Took my 09 Fit sport m/t in for regular maintenance today. Turns out the high pitch noise my reverse gear is making is not "normal".
Honda: "Transmission needs to be replaced"
Me: "Ok, my car only has 23,000 km's on it in two years, I assume it's under warranty."
Honda: "Well... we noticed your car has been lowered."
Me: then
I immediately see red. I tell him that if the strut had blown I would understand the warranty being void but the transmission has sounded like that from day one and did not change after being lowered.
Long story short, the manager sided with me after a "friendly exchange of ideas".
FYI: the tranny fluid they pulled out was black tar at 23k. It's recommended to be changed at 48k. Go figure.
Last edited by Scaldy; 02-03-2011 at 08:47 PM.
#6
Mine makes a faint whining noise if I have it in first gear with the clutch kicked in. Soon as i take it out of first gear, with the clutch still down the noise goes away. I just figured it was a synchro making that noise.
#7
Being my first Honda, I assumed all Honda's sounded like that. It was the dealer that actually said that something wasn't right.
#9
Black atf??? I changed mine before winter with 50k on it and it was dark red, no longer pink. Do you all have MT's?
Most hondas I've owned whine a bit in reverse but I thought it was due to the way the tranny was built.
I'll be checking mine more frequently regardless since this winter has been hard on the tranny (got stuck in the snow a few times!)
Most hondas I've owned whine a bit in reverse but I thought it was due to the way the tranny was built.
I'll be checking mine more frequently regardless since this winter has been hard on the tranny (got stuck in the snow a few times!)
#12
60k miles on my '09 MT, original fluid, shifts like the day I bought it. I'll change the fluid when the maintenance minder tells me to.
As said above, color of the fluid doesn't necessarily mean anything....though it's a pretty good indicator in an automatic transmission when the fluid is supposed to be nice and pink and it's black/brown and smells burnt :-)
As said above, color of the fluid doesn't necessarily mean anything....though it's a pretty good indicator in an automatic transmission when the fluid is supposed to be nice and pink and it's black/brown and smells burnt :-)
#13
For engine oil yes as it interacts with exhaust. But a transmission is a sealed unit that doesn't interact with other gases. If I had off-color Atf I would consider that it no longer in spec and change it.
#15
My first thought was to suggest a cheaper alternative when blowing a tranny next time, but thought that was a bit much. Thank you sir for bringing this point to light.
#17
reverse gear on k, b, and d series are strait cut, that's where the normal reverse whine comes from. I've never had an l series trans apart, but I'm sure its the same. that really bites about your trans. are they paying for everything or did they make a deal on the repair with you?
#18
also, both color and smell of gear/hydraulic oil has everything to do with fluid life. if its brown/black, its needs replaced. engine oil is a different animal of course, it depends on oil type, engine maintenance, and overall health of the engine...
#19
Let me reiterate, as others have. A manual transmission whines in reverse. All of them. Seriously, is there a car with helical cut reverse gears? Probably - but I've never drive one. I hope the mechanic isn't just trying to eek a job out of this.
#20
ATF should NOT be black at 15,000 miles. I'm not a Honda service tech, but I was the engineering manager for five years at the company that does AT remanufacturing for American Honda and I've learned a thing or two about their automatics.