2004 Honda Accord: transmission slipping

Filed Nov 28, 2025 · Transmission · CA

The transmission in my 2004 Honda Accord V6 3.0L is experiencing a serious safety defect. The transmission overheats while driving, begins slipping, and eventually the vehicle will not move at all. When this happens, I lose the ability to accelerate or maintain speed, creating a dangerous situation for me and other drivers. I have to pull over and wait for the transmission to cool before the car will move again. This failure matches the symptoms described in Honda’s prior transmission recall 04V176000 (overheating and gear failure due to lubrication issues). I have contacted Honda about this issue, and they opened Case #16008926, but the problem is ongoing and has not been resolved. The problem is reproducible and happens repeatedly after the transmission warms up. Warning symptoms include overheating and severe slipping before total loss of movement. This is a major safety hazard because the vehicle can suddenly lose power in traffic.

Filed Oct 24, 2022 · Transmission · CA

Several months ago while driving on the freeway, the CEL came on and the engine revved high without any power to the wheels, as if the transmission automatically went into neutral. It eventually went back into gear. The car was subsequently towed back home and is not currently drivable since gears continue to slip.

Filed Dec 23, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 122,000 miles · GA

When driving on the interstate for over an hour the transmission began slipping but once I began driving on hills the transmission was no longer catching and I could no longer drive the car. The electrical issue comes from the windows not responding immediately to me pressing them down and the lock button on the remote and the lock button on the car door do not lock.

Filed Jan 30, 2019 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · CA

While pulling out into traffic transmission slipping very bad almost cause rear end collision. Now slips in all gears. All maintenance work done as required but appears transmission has failed. Car has been taken care of very well and now has 150k, but still this is a shock to have this happen to honda and I see all over the internet honda transmission issues

Filed Jan 7, 2019 · Steering · 245,000 miles · LA

When in motion, the steering wheel randomly locks when turning. While turning left or right, the steering wheel will lock and the vehicle will keep straight as if the steering wheel has not been turned at all. It has also locked when attempting to reverse from a parking spot making it difficult to back out. I had to switch back and forth from drive to reverse multiple times because the steering wheel would lock with minimal slack allowing me to barely maneuver the vehicle in the correct direction to successfully back out. The vehicle has been brought to a local mechanic who replaced the power steering belt thinking that it was slipping which could cause the issue, however the issue still continues. The vehicle was brought back again for further evaluation and I was told that there was a recall on a pin part of the steering column. This deeply concerns me because I have an infant child and my vehicle is the main source of transportation for him because my husband has a single cab truck. When the steering wheel locks randomly it puts our lives in jeopardy, especially with ongoing daily traffic and never knowing when to expect it to happen.

Filed Jan 24, 2018 · Transmission · 118,900 miles · MO

The transmission slipped into neutral while driving, luckily no accident, but left me stranded in the middle of an intersection! Could have been disastrous!

Filed Jan 16, 2017 · Transmission · 128,000 miles · TN

Transmission slipping and grinding. Took it to our trusted mechanic and he said the transmission is failing and has to be replaced. The vehicle only has 128,000 miles. There was a the federal safety agency recall #: 04v176000 for 2003/2004 hondas due to transmission failure which could lead to an accident. I contacted honda and they are not willing to help.

Filed Dec 14, 2016 · Transmission · 144,700 miles · CA

I was on my way home from work, exiting the downtown area and entering the freeway, when the transmission slipped out of gear. The transmission would not re-engage without moving the shifter down to the d3 gear first. I was able to limp the car using this method to the nearest transmission repair shop. The transmission slipped out of gear several more times on the drive to the repair facility. It was diagnosed with a faulty third clutch and a repair estimate of $3200-3400 for a rebuilt transmission. I chose a different repair shop, with an equally good reputation, and had the transmission rebuilt for $2700. It has been back to the same repair shop 3 times after the rebuild with similar symptoms. They are not able to determine the cause of the recurring slippage. Research reveals that hundreds of other honda accord owners have encountered the same issue of transmission failure. It appears to be the same parts failing in a majority of instances. The transmission will slip out of gear from a dead stop, in motion at slow speeds or moderate speeds with no detectable pattern. The transmission failing while the car is in motion creates an extremely dangerous, potentially fatal, driving situation. I don't feel safe driving this vehicle. Honda has issued a recall on this transmission already but not for this particular problem. My vehicle doesn't qualify for the recall.

Filed May 27, 2016 · Transmission · 47,000 miles · OR

Driving on I-205 and the transmission started slipping. Engine would go from normal to racing while I was driving. Got off and parked to pick up a friend and it would not go in to reverse to back out of the spot. Had to have it towed and the transmission rebuilt. For about $4500. There was only about 47000 miles on it at the time.

Filed Apr 7, 2016 · Acceleration, Transmission · 54,000 miles · NM

4 cylinder automatic transmission started slipping during acceleration from a complete stop. Transmission would cause the car to her forward when breaking and after coming to a complete stop. The transmission completely failed at just over 54,000 miles and will not upshift. The car will only go about 20 MPH, when the accelerator is engaged, it only revs up the engine and the vehicle redlines, the transmission will not shift into a higher gear.

Filed Jan 5, 2016 · Transmission · 179,000 miles · CT

This seems to be a common issue as just looking it up today another person suffered the same issue I have, down to the exact conversation with honda. We ahve had the '04 honda accord for 4ish years now. It has driven great since we bought it and tested fine with the honda dealer before purchasing. All of a sudden we started experiencing some slipping of the transmission. We immediatly had the system flushed and filled and all seemed to be good, for about a week. 3 days before christmas, my wife was getting onto a busy section of a major highway and the transmission slipped and she was unable to accelorate nearly getting run over by a tractor trailer. She was able to pull over and get home safely. I did some research and found the recall notice based off the models make and year. Searching the VIN came back as not affected by the recall, even though we are experiencing the exact problems outlined in the transmission recall notice. I called honda and spoke to a very friendly representative that simply informed me the same thing another customer was told the same day..."your VIN doesn't fall into the list of effected units. You should have a honda repair center diagnose and repair the issue." I hope that an investigation is started and this is found to be a known issue and honda works with all current owners to get this repaired before someone gets seriously injured.

Filed Sep 18, 2015 · Transmission · 166,111 miles · WI

First occurrence, tuesday august 18, 2015 driving into work, transmission slipped, rpms increased with no additional forward motion by car. Then stopped and went to back into parking stall and car would not engage into reverse, finally it did started researching possible issues and found tons of recall and complaints online, driving home the car all of a sudden stuttered and downshifted violently this time it produced a check engine light (obdc: p0741), I called honda cust service and spoke with jason, he created a case # for me and stated I would need to have it diagnosed by a honda dealer and call them back. I called back the same number but this time option 7, customer service rep read thru my case and determined that because the VIN did not indicate being part of the recall, the age of the vehicle and mileage, honda would not do anything to assist me. My transmission fluid smells burnt. I now have had to pay a transmission shop $3464.65 for a rebuilt transmission.