2003 Honda Odyssey: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Apr 20, 2016 · DC

Dash cluster lights started dimming tcl light comes on and off. Cruise control works then revs high on highway. Reversing sometines clunks hard.

Filed Feb 27, 2012 · Transmission · 139,361 miles · NJ

Vehicle had a flashing "d" light and it didn't have the same pick up. It was taken to the dealer dch kay honda who declared it was the 4th pressure switch $271.29 and the service advisor said, the transmission was fine that was july 21, 2011. September 22, 2011 the car is now sluggish and slamming into gears I took the car to dch kay honda and they said, the transmission needs to be replaced $4420.00. The van has been sitting because I can't afford to replace the transmission.

Filed Dec 6, 2011 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 126,500 miles · AL

As my wife was preparing to enter an exit ramp from the highway, the van experienced several hard shifts of the transmission which caused her to almost lose control of the vehicle. Since that instance, every time the van shifts gears, it is a very hard shift that jerks the occupants around. Van will not shift above third gear or into reverse. Mechanic has diagnosed this as a transmission failure.

Filed Jul 11, 2011 · 86,217 miles · OH

I am writing today with concerns about my 2003 honda odyssey. The vehicle was recently at the dealership for a timing belt replacement. Much to my dismay, I received a call saying that the front and side engine mounts were bad and needed to be replaced at a cost of $516.81. I must say that I have never heard of engine mounts going bad on a vehicle and needing to be replaced. We bought a honda odyssey to have as a reliable family van that we planned to keep for a while. One of the main reasons we bought a honda is because of the noted reputation for being a safe and reliable auto brand. The dealer stated that the motor mount replacement should correct another problem that we reported with the van. The transmission regularly makes a terrible clunking noise when it is shifted from park to reverse. We also reported this same clunking and some slipping in the transmission when the vehicle was under warranty and were told that it was not a problem. These problems have never gone away and we have great concerns about the viability of the transmission in our odyssey. Fortunately it has not left us stranded on the roadside and stuck with a huge repair bill yet. Our concerns seem to be validated based on the information we have read on various web sites about the problems and failures of the odyssey's transmission. We went ahead and spent the money to have the engine mounts replaced. However, this has not fixed the problem with the 'clunking' noise when shifting the vehicle from park to reverse. I would like to think that we could drive this van for several years to come and accumulate well over 100,000 miles based on the purported reliability of the honda brand. It looks like the motor mount issue as well as the transmission problems should prompt a recall for this model year due to the volume of issues.

Filed Mar 26, 2011 · Transmission · 78,800 miles · ND

Noticed hard shifting into reverse of my 2003 honda odyssey with just under 80,000 miles. A few weeks after that, persistent slipping of the transmission into neutral (causing stall) was noted and addressed by a dealer. Dealer could not reproduce slippage and I was told to bring it back when it happened again (difficult when it stops on the side of the road). Dealer quoted me approx. $4500 for transmission replacement, which is more than half what the van is worth. All transmission servicing was done according to honda service advice.

Filed Nov 7, 2010 · Transmission · 84,500 miles · AZ

Two weeks ago, my 2003 honda odyssey began to manifest a delay as it shifted from 1st to 2nd gear, and then from 2nd to 3rd gear. This delay quickly worsened and was characterized by a sudden decrease in power, a powerless lull, then a sudden revving....finally, a jarring clunk as it shifted into the next gear. An observer also smelled a strong burning odor as my car passed by. The slow and irregular acceleration and clunk are clearly a safety hazard. My local mechanic told me on november 5, 2010 that my car needs a new transmission. I am the original owner of this car. Have maintained it very well, and it only has 84,500 miles on it.

Filed Oct 19, 2009 · Transmission · 74,000 miles · GA

2003 honda odyssey with approx. 74,000 miles - purchased new in late 2002. Within three days and a total of 15 miles after noticing a slight difference in smoothness of transmission shifting, my wife's odyssey will now lockup the seatbelts while repeatedly slamming the driver and all passengers forward when driving below 20 MPH during both up-shifting and down-shifting, or attempting to hold a constant speed around 40 MPH. There were no warning lights during any of this, until the drive into the dealership. The transmission was so erratic in shifting that I'm surprised we didn't hydroplane on wet roads due to the abrupt and very harsh shifts/lockups. We were very lucky the harshest shifts occurred on straight-aways and not while rounding wet curves. Apparently, the dealership inspected and installed the "oil jet kit", per the recall, in june of 2004. I state apparently only because I do not recall the service work. In any case, after only 74,000 miles it is very obvious by the number of other odyssey transmission failures that this "oil jet kit" was only a patch to get vehicles out of their warranty period before the transmissions completely failed. Who produces vehicles with transmission failures at 74,000 miles??? The dealership states I have used 75% of the life of the transmission, so I must pay 75% of the replacement cost (approximately $3600 of my own money to replace a known manufacturing defect). I was "warned" by honda's help line that if I tell the dealership service center manager I'll never purchase another honda again, the dealership service manager would probably pull their 25% replacement cost assistance offer. Sounds like a threat and straight from corporate honda. Then, the corporate help person stated that many of the problems sound similar, but my problem "may' not the same. Call honda's help line only is you want talked down to and threatened. My odyssey is currently sitting at gerald jones honda in martinez, ga (augusta area).

Filed Dec 22, 2008 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · GA

Transmission code appeared about 80k miles; having issues with hard shifting took to local honda dealership who stated nothing wrong with vehicle. Car has been maintained and had complete failure of 2003 odyssey transmission today.

Filed Nov 6, 2007 · Transmission · 63,734 miles · PA

There had been a few clunking noises on 3-4 occasions my wife was driving the odyssey when the transmission locked up honda refused any assistance since the shop had taken the transmission apart even though the parts were clearly defective. I had the transmission repaired at the local shop at a cost of $3045.71.

Filed Dec 19, 2006 · Transmission · 35,550 miles · IN

Honda odyssey 2003 transmission failure. Had problem with transmission for almost a year while vehicle under 3 year/36 miles. Took vehicle to local honda dealer with transmission making loud clunk noise & unable to engage properly on several occasions almost year ago with vehicle odometer reading approx 30k miles only. We were asked that its normal variant for that vehicle noise clunk & warm up your car, do more often transmission oil change. Since that last visit to dealer we drove vehicle another 5 k over a year. During our recent long drive with family & 3 young kids over thanks giving weekend from missouri to indiana. Transmission starts slipping & making more noise problems. Took vehicle to honda dealer on saturday 12/16/2006 with odometer reading 35,550 miles after reading all reviews posted by honda odyssey consumers. Honda dealer called me today( 12/18/2006) that transmission may fail & need to be replaced. I believe honda motor co has jeopardize the life of our family with a imminent transmission failure during our recent trip despite the fact we brought the vehicle transmission problem to honda dealer attention in good faith not even knowing that their is recall on certain odyssey transmissions for premature failure. Will nhts investigate our complain that despite a memo to all dealer about transmission failure problem, why honda motor co waited to risk the life of our family by letting us drive an additional 5k miles.

Filed Nov 13, 2005 · Transmission · 41,628 miles · CA

I have a 2003 honda odyssey ex with 41,631 miles. The transmission started slipping between all the gears. The transmission slips at 20-30 miles with sudden braking, like accelerating and braking (stop and go type action). Very unsafe!!! Sometimes, reverse gears don't even work just like neutral. When I changed gears I could hear loud clunkng and clicking noise from the transmission. I replaced the fluids at 40,536 miles and there were fine metal particles sticking onto the bolt.