1998 Honda Accord: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Apr 1, 2017 · Transmission · 131,000 miles · NY

Transmission is failing. It is slipping between shifts, which leads to spiked rpms because of the delayed shift. The shift is also very harsh, where it jerks, shakes, and rumbles the car. Gears also grind occasionally between stop and first gear.

Filed Nov 27, 2014 · Body, Steering · 192,000 miles · OH

Heard clunking noise while turning. Figured it was a cv joint, took it to my very trusted mechanic. He confirmed the right joint was bad, and said that on the left joint, the boot was already off, and it is slinging grease everywhere. More disturbing, he also said that the front subframe is dangerously rusted out. He specifically mentioned that the "cradle", which holds up the front of the engine is almost completely rusted through. He said "you are one pot-hole away from total failure...the engine will fall to the ground. Do not drive it." I looked online and saw that there is a recall for the same make/model/year, but my car falls outside of the covered dates. My vehicle was made in dec 1997, and the recall only goes through aug 1997. Quite frankly, given that the failure mode is exactly what is covered by the recall, I believe my car should be included in the recall. While I recognize that the car is old, the frame of a 98 model accord shouldn't corrode and break in half, potentially leading to catastrophic results.

Filed Jul 18, 2013 · Body, Engine · 155,000 miles · NC

A clunking noise was noticed while driving. The vehicle was taken in for service and it was advised that the passenger's side sub frame was rusted. The private mechanic stated that the entire sub frame needed to be replaced and that the vehicle was not safe to be driven. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure.

Filed Jan 21, 2013 · Body, Suspension · 164,100 miles · MI

Clunking noise when going over bumps or turning right. Got the noise inspected by a mechanic and found out that the passenger side subframe is rusted out.

Filed Mar 15, 2012 · Suspension · 140,000 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 1998 honda accord. The contact stated that whenever a turn was made at any speed, the vehicle vibrated and a clunking noise was heard coming from the front end. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic, where the ball joints were replaced on two different occasions. The failure continued. The failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.

Filed Jul 14, 2008 · Suspension · 117,000 miles · CO

While turning left from a stop sign, across two lanes of eastbound traffic, the driver-side front suspension collapsed. Car could barely be directed to the side of the road out of the way of on-coming traffic. Assessment at repair shop was that both upper and lower ball joints had separated resulting in collapse of suspension. This also caused in a broken driver-side axle. Repair shop replaced upper and lower driver-side ball joints with after-market parts. The vehicle also had the passenger-side, upper ball joint replaced (february 2008) with honda parts. This vehicle has had consistent suspension problems, both front and rear including looseness and clunking that honda dealers and independent shops have not been able to diagnose effectively. There is a recall on 1998 honda accord lower ball joints, but allegedly this VIN number was not affected. Vehicle had 117,000 miles on it at the time of the incident.

Filed Jan 11, 2008 · Transmission · 93,000 miles · MD

I own and drive a '98 honda accord ex 4-cylinder with automatic transmission. The transmission had been having a rough shift in the 2nd gear for about 1 year when driving the car from stationary to moving. But the car was running fine on the higher gears. I was able to drive on highways till few weeks ago. Around the 15th of dec 2007 I suddenly started to have vibrations in the car and strange hitting noises came from the engine when driving on the highway. The car felt dragging on the highway (i270s) which panicked me and I have to give more gas to pull to safety. The car still rust, but I'm not using it for about a month now because of fear of getting into an accident because I have heard cases with similar transmission issues where the car down shifts to 2nd gear suddenly on a highway without any warning, which will lead to an accident with the car coming behind me. Dealer says that to fix this problem, the transmission needs to be replaced with a cost of around $3200. I referred the case to american honda, but they refused to do anything to resolve this safety issue. The current mileage on my car is around 105000 but the problem started when it had around 93000 miles. The 90000 mile service was done at the right time and the transmission oil was changed at that time using genuine honda manufactured transmission oil. I also have changed engine oil regular and done all maintenance as per the schedules provided in the '98 honda accord manual. The car had been under professional care all through the time I owned. This transmission related issue is a real safety issue which was addressed in the 2001, 2002 and 2003 honda accords by voluntary recalls by honda motor corporation. Honda had changed the transmissions on these cars to resolve this issue. But that recall needs to be extended to the 1998 model cars as well because the accord model had been completely redesigned in 1998 when, I believe, this problem had originally started.

Filed Jan 8, 2005 · Transmission · 66,200 miles · SC

At 66,000 miles the transmission began to slip and shift gears roughly. When I put the car in reverse it would "clunk". Then as I accelerated I would have to let off the gas so it could shift each gear. I took it to a midas shop for a transmission service - new filter/flush, etc. They would not do anything because it was leaking fluid. Another mechanic told me I needed two new axles and axle seals to fix the leak. By that time the check engine indicato was on so I wanted honda to look at it since I had researched the problem and found many instances of transmission failure at low miles. Honda cars of columbia, sc said I needed a new transmission. The computer diagnostic code was po740 torque converter failure. A honda accord with only 66,000 miles should not need a new transmission. I am aware that honda recalled 2000 and 2001 transmissions but not 1998,1999 or 2002 even though they are the same transmissions. Honda customer relations' good will assistance said they would not replace it since I did not purchase the car from a certified honda dealer or purchase an extended warranty. The fact that they have "good will assistance" shows that they know they have problems with their cars. They have replaced other owners transmissions, why not mine?

Filed Jul 9, 2004 · Transmission · VT

1. Vehicle was shifting very hard, clunking in to gear, and not wanting to go into gear. 2. Dealer determined failure to be the transmission 3. Will require complete replacement of the transmission.

Filed Apr 1, 2004 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · OH

I own a 1998 honda accord (automatic transmission, v6, 4dr) with a mileage of 120k miles. I bought it when 110k , prior to which it was a lease car with proper maintainance history. Over the last couple of weeks I noticed I was having a problem with delayed and hard shifting of gears especially at lower speeds . Honda dealer checked and replaced transmission fluid. This did not help and a week later the engine check light had come on. A private transmission service advisor run computer diagnostics on it and came up with a diagnosis code of p740 and po230. They could not pinpoint the exact fault. At this point the vehicle was lunging forward whenever it came to a stop and it would have a trouble changing gears (especially the second gear). Though the vehicle is in drivable condition it seems like a big safety hazard and a disaster waiting to happen. When I took the vehicle to a honda dealer who recommended that I replace the entire transmission at a cost of about $5600+labor. Given otherwise extremely good condition of my vehicle I can only attribute this problem to a manufacturing defect. When I did some research I found out that there are hundreds of 98 accord owners who have been facing similar problems with their transmission. I am expecting honda to take responsibility since many hondas experience a similar fate and the honda service who changed the oil the first time could have tried harder before more damage may be done. I am currently not using this vehicle much given the obvious safety issues.

Filed Mar 4, 2004 · Transmission · 120,103 miles · GA

Join the club, I have a 1998 accord with 120,000 and the transmission failed on the freeway. I was almost ran over by a tractor trailer. This car has had a clunky transmission since 80,000 miles and I would get the transmission serviced and it wouldn't help. I am still making payments on this car and the transmission is dead. I thought this was supposed to be a honda? I thought honda's were reliable? American honda will not help, the dealer will not help so basically I'm screwed. Used transmission replacement estimates are $1700-2500. This is terrible, why is there not a recall? Someone really needs to do something about this before someone gets killed. I almost did. Honda knows something is wrong. This is even listed on carpoint.msn.com that this car has a bad transmission. I am going to fix it and sell it and go back to toyota, I will never ever buy another honda again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Filed Feb 18, 2004 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · CA

As reported by many other consumers, my accord is experiencing hard shifting or jerking in the lower gears (slipping). When the car is warmed up, it's not as bad.