2003 Honda Odyssey: transmission slipping

Filed Jul 15, 2025 · Airbags, Fuel system · CA

I never had issues with my van when I bought it but On Monday got all the fluids drove to Phoenix and the transmission got hot the TCL light and ABs light turned on as well as the SRS light no check engine the floor on the driver side and passenger side was super hot. The transmission on 1st gear start hitting hard 2nd gear started slipping we pulled over right away let the car cool down but the transmission level where normal motor oil was at normal we did the oil service transmission service the dealer I bought it from has did Amazon service I don’t really drive it only to visit my kids. I looked up the recall and my van has a lot of them I’m worried of driving home to California I’m in Phoenix so I hope the dealer will fix the recall when u put the year of the 2003 honda odyssey my vin switch to a different one on your site please help

Filed Jul 16, 2019 · Transmission · 250,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda odyssey. While driving various speeds, the gears would erroneously slip causing the speed to suddenly reduce, and the vehicle would not accelerate properly. The vehicle was taken to phil hughes honda (3200 atlantic hwy, athens, ga) where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 250,000.

Filed Jun 27, 2017 · Transmission · 240,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda odyssey. While driving 70 MPH, the transmission began to slip and independently shifted into a lower gear extremely abruptly. The failure caused the vehicle to unintentionally decelerate to approximately 30 MPH and the check engine and traction control warning indicators illuminated. Also, the gear indicator blinked. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The contact spoke to the dealer (troy honda 1835 maplelawn dr, troy, mi 48084) who stated that based on the code the independent mechanic pulled, the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 240,000.

Filed Dec 5, 2015 · 140 miles · WA

Transmission started slipping badly at under 140,000 miles. I am original owner and have always used dealer as the mechanic and for recalls or services. I had higher expectations from honda cars, to go longer. The price they quoted me for repair was over 5000$ just for the transmission. The service was poor and I am very disappointed! They even charged me 115$ just to tell me my transmission is slipping (which I already knew)! The car started slipping on a monday night. It was late. I used the car to drive my son to school at 7:30 in the am ( 1.5 miles from my house) and the car would not go in gear after stopping to let my son out. I was blocking the school drive and had to have the car towed to honda. It was clearly not safe to drive. The dealer service was not great, even after going there and buying my car there all these years. I know there has been a recall related to the transmission and I feel that it was not properly resolved!

Filed Nov 24, 2015 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · MI

Vehicle went idle while in motion on a highway and have almost got rear-ended because the transmission slips. The mileage reading is 130,000 and the car was well maintained in a honda dealership.

Filed Aug 5, 2015 · Transmission · 147,000 miles · KY

My tcs light had come on a few days prior. I was going down highway at 55mph the engine light came on and drive light began to flash. My car lost all power and acceleration with no warning causing the person behind me to almost hit me. I pulled over my RPM's were going up but car failed to accelerate unless floored and then barely. No prior warning or slipping.

Filed Jul 27, 2015 · Transmission · FL

2003 honda odyssey. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle slipping into neutral while driving.

Filed Jul 13, 2015 · Transmission · 94,000 miles · IL

The vehicle was driving fine, and then the transmission started slipping. Trying to stop at the light, the ABS seemed to engage, the car had a hard time stopping and downshifting, the check engine light came on, the d light started flashing, and the tcs light stayed on. The car almost didn't stop in time, and there was 5 passengers in the minivan. Updated 10/9/15 *ln updated 11/14/2017

Filed Jun 27, 2015 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · AL

Was driving from desoto state park back home to tuscaloosa when the transmission began to slip between 2nd and 3rd and then again between 4th and 5th. Ended up having to drive home doing 40 MPH on back roads. Rebuilt the transmission to the tune of $4000. Two years and 40,000 miles later the transmission failed again...same exact issue. This is a well known problem to every mechanic I have dealt with. This issue has existed since the car hit the market. This needs to be investigated. Now I have a gigantic paperweight sitting in my driveway. The vans value is less than it will cost to fix. Pease investigate.

Filed Jan 28, 2015 · Transmission · 210,000 miles · VA

Please have one of your investigators' to look into this: take a look on the internet you will find thousands of complaints ( only a small percentage of honda owners', vans & sedans on the road who have this same problem occurring) 2003 honda transmission slipping between 2nd & 3rd gears - all the owners' complaints are identical. Unexpectedly, the vehicle loses all acceleration power, a very dangerous & serious safety defect, hazard as the driver loses control of their vehicle & acceleration. Researching on the internet, I found thousands and thousands of complaints about the exact same problem occurring in our model year 2003 and from many honda and acura sedan owners are also experiencing the same problem: all have the v-tech engine with automatic transmissions. This is a very dangerous situation for thousands of honda & acura drivers on the road -a mother's with a van full of children or really any driver trying to accelerate on a busy road from a dead stop. A driver loses control of their vehicle speed unexpectedly could cause a serious accident, even death. Honda dealers are hitting customers' for $4000.00 for a new transmission install, replacing the same malfunctioning one that was in the vehicle previously, not reimbursing owners' for the very expensive repair bill. Honda should be held accountable for this serious & dangerous safety defect which they ignored, hid, kept installing the same transmissions when it was well known to honda insiders' that they had a major problem - they were well aware of the problem occurring for years & did nothing. They need to be forced to fix the honda transmissions affected at no cost to the their customers' . Honda refused to re-manufacture, re-engineer the transmission or reimburse owners' for the expensive repair bill ($4000.). It is extremely hard to believe that the federal safety agency has not issued a safety recall yet!

Filed Jan 22, 2015 · Fuel system, Transmission · 35,000 miles · OK

Purchased 2003 honda odyssey new in 12/2002. Had issue with trouble light within weeks of purchase. Dealer said it was nothing to worry about. Transmission began to slip at 25,000 miles and got worse. Dealer replaced the transmission at 35,000 miles. The trouble light would come on from time to time and dealer would turn it off. A few days ago, the transmission would not move the vehicle and I had it towed to the dealer. Dealer says I need a new transmission. I have done no trailer towing or any other unusual uses of the vehicle. All of the 157,000 miles have been over the road or in town.

Filed Dec 16, 2014 · Body, Engine · AL

Passenger airbag light came on for a few seconds while driving at highway speed limit. Then vehicle seems like the transmission was slipping or took a few seconds to engage from a starting movement forward leaving a stop light. At idle the tachometer started to rev between 1100-2000 rpms at standing idle in park.the sliding doors get jammed stuck when attempting to open from the dash controls. I know these could cause and accident and not be able to get ny children out of the vehicle via the sliding power side doors.vehicle was purchased on 12-12-2014.