'02 Civic EX Transmission issue

LavaRoush

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We bought our daughter a really nice high mileage 2002 Honda Civic EX Coupe. She has had no issues with it until recently as it was well taken care of.

Recently, we ran into an issue where the transmission would not go into gear. The shifter would move easily, but the gear would never engage. So we took it to a shop that has good reviews and didnt charge a fee for diagnosis.

The shop came back and said that it was the torque converter. Although the fluid was clean when I checked it. We agreed to pay the guy $1200.00 to fix the torque converter. Surprise surprise, he calls us and tells us that it didnt fix it and that he recommends a full transmission rebuild. Granted the car has nearly 200K miles, so it may have needed a rebuild soon anyway, we agreed. However, we went and saw him in person and got a quote in writing that said he would fix the car 100% for $2500.00 total, not a penny more.

Of course its taking way longer than he said to fix it so we finally get the guy on the phone today and he says that they have the transmission back together and in the car, but the car still wont shift into gear. Now he claims that there is an issue with the electrical harness.

I don't have a code reader, but I know the car was saying "maintenance required" when we took it in, when the transmission stopped working.

Any idea on what this could be? I have done a lot of research and the only other remedies I could find beyond completely rebuilding the transmission were that there may be an issue with the shift solenoids, or there may be an issue with the clutch filter not allowing fluid through.

We do have an agreement that he wont charge us more than $2500.00. However, I have a feeling he is going to claim that our wiring harness is bad or come up with some other excuse as to why he needs more money.

Anyone have any other ideas on whats going on with the car? So far the torque converter has been replaced and the transmission completely rebuilt. If the electrical harness for the car was bad wouldnt I see other issues with the car? The car starts and everything works fine besides the car not going into gear.

I am pulling my hair out with this car. We have paid more to repair it than we paid for the car!
 

dancam

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Generally these cars suffer from the screen not allowing fluid through. Ask him how dirty it was when he cleaned it. (Just to make sure he actually cleaned it, they may have missed that step. If he hesitates ask if he did clean it). The shift solenoid is another one, again, ask him if he replaced it or checked that it worked when he rebuilt it. Then ask him if he used honda atf in it. Using normal or cheapo atf can/will cause problems.
Do that and then go from there.
As far as your wiring harness, it is possible for there to be no other problems than that. Others please correct me if i am wrong but is it not a mechanical connection from the shifter to the transmission on these cars? Then the ecu decides electrically for 1-4th gear? So even with wiring issues it should still go in at least one gear right?
Did it go into reverse before you brought it in?
I am impressed that you did a fair bit of research before asking questions, thanks a lot for that. It doesn't happen often.
I have a feeling it was a bad rebuild more than an electrical issue but i could be wrong.
Oh and the maintenance required light is just for oil changes.


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LavaRoush

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Thanks for the response. I will definitely ask about the filter and the solenoids. I think he just doesnt know what he is doing and probably didnt check either. I believe you are correct that the car electronically shifts. The car would not go into any gear when we took it in at all. Shifter would move fine, but the car would never go into gear. We probably didnt even need a rebuild. I bet its the filter or a solenoid. I will definitely ask him about the ATF and make sure he uses Honda.
 

5SpeedEJ6

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I'm assuming this is an automatic transmission? Just thought I'd ask because it might make a difference on what kind of further responses you get.
 


LavaRoush

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Its auto. So I spoke with the mechanic and he claims that the wires that feed power to the shift solenoids arent providing power. However when I asked if he checked the new ones after replacing them he said yes. But then said that if he has to buy new ones he will. So I think he was checking the solenoids with a voltmeter and showing they didnt have power. Which according to a guide I found means they are bad, not that the wires are bad. So I told him to replace them like he said he would do. I dont think he has done half the stuff he said. I think he rebuilt the transmission as a knee jerk reaction to the solenoids going out. Again, it may have needed a rebuild soon, but that probably could have been avoided. We found this shop online with lots of good reviews but it seems as this guy doesnt have a clue how to work on Hondas and is not used to someone making him agree to a price up front.
 

dancam

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Its auto. So I spoke with the mechanic and he claims that the wires that feed power to the shift solenoids arent providing power. However when I asked if he checked the new ones after replacing them he said yes. But then said that if he has to buy new ones he will. So I think he was checking the solenoids with a voltmeter and showing they didnt have power. Which according to a guide I found means they are bad, not that the wires are bad. So I told him to replace them like he said he would do. I dont think he has done half the stuff he said. I think he rebuilt the transmission as a knee jerk reaction to the solenoids going out. Again, it may have needed a rebuild soon, but that probably could have been avoided. We found this shop online with lots of good reviews but it seems as this guy doesnt have a clue how to work on Hondas and is not used to someone making him agree to a price up front.
Yikes, i feel bad for you. Sorry i dont know more about automatics so i cant help a whole lot, i avoid them and the cars i drive have always been standards. It kinda sounds like you found a mechanic who just replaces parts rather than diagnosing things. Thats very common but it sucks when it happens. I hope he fixes it. Keep us updated and hopefully other members here have suggestions. From what you have said it sounds like you should be working on this car and not him. Seriously. Vehicle maintenance isnt hard. If you take your time and read instructions first and rent tools you can do basically everything yourself. I have put over 350k on vehicles and only take my cars to shops for wheel alignments and tire balancing. And they still screw those up...


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LavaRoush

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Unfortunately I just dont have the time to work on it. I have a very busy schedule with work and my kids. If I had the time I would have just done it myself and started off with testing everything first. I did tell him that we were not paying anymore than we initially agreed to. $2500.00 should be plenty to fix anything wrong with the transmission. Its not my fault he is just replacing stuff before doing the appropriate troubleshooting. I am sure that he will probably resell any parts that are still good off of my car too. I asked him where the original torque converter was because I wanted to look at it and he said its "gone". So I am thinking that nothing was wrong with it and he decided to sell it or do something with it. Either that or he didnt really replace the torque converter. I am going to look at everything when he is done and make sure that the parts he said he replaced were in fact replaced.

When a transmission has a full rebuild done, the clutch and everything is replaced right?
 

5SpeedEJ6

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When a transmission has a full rebuild done, the clutch and everything is replaced right?
As far as I know the clutch isn't replaced when rebuilding a transmission. Depending on what needs to be replaced for the rebuild, they usually replace syncros and such things.
 

dancam

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As far as I know the clutch isn't replaced when rebuilding a transmission. Depending on what needs to be replaced for the rebuild, they usually replace syncros and such things.
Dude, its an automatic... Sorry i dont know what is supposed to be replaced. Google 2002 or whatever civic automatic transmission rebuild kit, or look on ebay and amazon and see whats in the kits.


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HeX

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@LavaRoush, I shortened your title as "Issue with 2002 Honda Civic EX Coupe Transmission, please help at wits end" is too long & cuts off in most views before you can read the issue. Its best to keep titles informatively short so you get the most helpful attention.
 

Mr.Baker

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I'm assuming this is an automatic transmission? Just thought I'd ask because it might make a difference on what kind of further responses you get.
The manual transmisison will not have a torque converter.
 

LavaRoush

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So the mechanic told me he ordered the shift solenoids. They should be on later today. If that doesnt fix it I have no clue what to do next. I was doing some further reading and it could be the Transmission Control Module. But I cannot even find this part for sale online. Is this something I can buy? I read that you can disconnect the power and that will reset the TCM. Is there a sensor for the position of the shifter? I really don't know what else to look at if the shift solenoids dont work. So far the transmission has been rebuilt. Torque converter replaced. Now the solenoids will be replaced. He said that his transmission guy checked all of the areas that would usually get clogged and blew them out with an air hose.

The mechanic told me he paid $500.00 for the solenoids. Good thing he gave me a quote that said $2500 fixed 100% guaranteed!!! I am sure I would be getting a call every other day telling me that I need to pay another $500.0 for this, or for that. I don't feel bad because he should have done the appropriate troubleshooting on everything before he decided to do a full rebuild.
 

5SpeedEJ6

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So the mechanic told me he ordered the shift solenoids. They should be on later today. If that doesnt fix it I have no clue what to do next. I was doing some further reading and it could be the Transmission Control Module. But I cannot even find this part for sale online. Is this something I can buy? I read that you can disconnect the power and that will reset the TCM. Is there a sensor for the position of the shifter? I really don't know what else to look at if the shift solenoids dont work. So far the transmission has been rebuilt. Torque converter replaced. Now the solenoids will be replaced. He said that his transmission guy checked all of the areas that would usually get clogged and blew them out with an air hose.

The mechanic told me he paid $500.00 for the solenoids. Good thing he gave me a quote that said $2500 fixed 100% guaranteed!!! I am sure I would be getting a call every other day telling me that I need to pay another $500.0 for this, or for that. I don't feel bad because he should have done the appropriate troubleshooting on everything before he decided to do a full rebuild.
Don't feel bad for the guy not doing his job properly, or more like carefully I guess could be said. It's his job to fix your car, and it is of his best interest to diagnose the right thing so that they as a shop can also make money instead of losing money, which in this case it seems like they might be losing some.
 

LavaRoush

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So I talked to him yet again. He said that they replaced the solenoids and that the car still doesnt work right. He said that they had it up on the lift and that they put the car in park and that the front wheels still spun easily and were making a clicking sound. So they took the transmission back out and now are waiting on his "transmission guy" to come by. I guess he has some guy that does the transmission rebuilds for him that is helping him try and figure out whats going on, so unfortunately, he has to call this guy and wait for him to come by and help his techs look at it. My wife and I are seriously pissed off already. But again I confirmed that I am not paying anything extra. Not going to happen. I am hesitant to tell him about anything else because he will just go buy it and try it without doing any troubleshooting. Maybe I can find a cheap TCM on ebay or at a U Pull It lot and just take it to him just to see if thats the issue. ugh. FML.
 

lowlife9

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rebuilding a honda auto trany is not usually recommended because of its sophistication its almost always entirely replaced even by the dealer. i believe this mechanic knew what the deal was but proceeded go ahed knowing what the outcome would be be for monetary purposes.
 

dancam

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rebuilding a honda auto trany is not usually recommended because of its sophistication its almost always entirely replaced even by the dealer. i believe this mechanic knew what the deal was but proceeded go ahed knowing what the outcome would be be for monetary purposes.
What? 7th gen autos are very commonly rebuilt. I really cannot see them being any more sophisticated than any other import. What makes them so special? Regardless, it is regularly done and the rebuilds seem to last as long as the original...


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