2004 Honda Odyssey: engine overheating

Filed Apr 30, 2018 · Transmission · 179,000 miles · CA

The federal safety agency recall 04v176000 does not include our VIN, but it should, because this is the problem that has occurred with our vehicle 3 times now. The transmission has overheated and failed. And according to 04v176000, transmission overheating is a serious hazard that can cause loss of control of the vehicle!!! The first time it happened, I was driving on a 2-lane highway. The second time it happened, my wife was driving it on hwy 80 towards reno. The 3rd time it happened, she was driving at about the same place I was, on 41 north. It always happens on a medium to long trip going up an incline. Others have reported this as well, so much that there is a site dedicated to this very problem -- odysseytransmission.com. If you visit this website you can see the definite difference in proportion of complaints for the earlier generations vs the later. It appears there is a design flaw that causes fluid flow constriction during torque converter lock, which results in overheating. In the last incident, as described by my wife, she was driving up 41, and the engine went up to around 4000 RPM. The car slowed down and she smelled transmission fluid burning. She had to wait on the side of the road for a while, and then it started to work again. She got it to a safer place and then let it cool for longer. She was able to get it to go home, which was a couple miles away, and we have not driven it since. We had this transmission rebuilt by shaws auto sales 2 times. The most recent time was less than 1 year ago. We have not done any abnormal driving, or any towing, or anything. Just normal driving. So we expected the fix to last longer than this. Sound like a reasonable expectation? We have been lucky that we didn't lose control of the vehicle. But others might not be so lucky! This VIN and others like it should be included in 04v176000.

Filed Jan 22, 2016 · 165,000 miles · TN

Transmission overheats and stops working completely. Have to change fluid about every 750 miles to keep it moving somewhat

Filed Jul 29, 2014 · Transmission · 111,200 miles · CA

As I was driving the car, the engine over revved but the wheels were not moving. I was on city streets making a turn - luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road without any incident but it could have been dangerous as the gears were not engaging. After I navigated to the side of the road, the car wouldn't move forward or backward on being put in gear. There was a smell of burning rubber - later I realized it was probably burning or overheated transmission fluid. On towing the car to the dealer, the dealer ran diagnostics and advised me that my transmission was damaged and needed replacement. For the past couple of days, the 'check engine light" and the "tcs off light" had been coming on and off occasionally. I had also noticed the vehicle not responding to accelerator pedal being pressed in a normal fashion.

Filed Jul 28, 2013 · Transmission · 105,789 miles · CA

Car seemed to suddenly slow down when approaching stop signal. Tried to pull away when light was green, but remained stationary after pressing on gas/accelerator three to four times. Finally was able creep along until I was able to steer into a bank parking lot. Honda dealer diagnosed ;problem as faulty transmission due to overheated/burntout of solenoids.

Filed Mar 5, 2013 · Transmission · 144,000 miles · TN

Second owner. Transmission replaced by honda in 2006 at 55,000 miles for noted gear overheating recall in sarasota, fl. Current mileage is less than 90,000 miles later. Transmission regular maintenance completed and a firmware update was done in 2009 at 120,000 (65,000 on new tranny) miles. Transmission now downshifts very hard (hard shift) from 3-2 when coasting downhill or if the brake is slightly applied when coasting downhill. Honda technicians stated normal operation to allow for engine braking. New firmware caused the change. Q4 2012 transmission now shifts from 1-2 in about 3 seconds, not slipping, but taking a long time to shift and prevents acceleration during this delay. Could prevent accident avoidance with long delay. Honda technician states normal operation and included in firmware to reduce damage due to recall. Note these issues are on the supposedly "fixed" transmission. Series of data suggests that the recall repair did not solve transmission failure problem, but was a band-aid in combination with firware updates to "buffer" 2nd gear manufacturing defects. I do not believe the transmission will survive to 100k miles, but has received excellent care and repairs. Safety issue is the inability to accelerate during 1-2 shift delay and unexpected engine braking during downhill coasting which could trigger rear-end accidents (note no brake lights when it occurs). I believe in honda and they should do the right thing and provide lifetime transmission replacements due to the safety concerns with their products that are well-known and documented.

Filed Oct 12, 2011 · Transmission · 126,876 miles · CA

Never had any problems with transmission in the past. I was driving on the highway at 70 MPH when, without any warning, the transmission failed. The car was undrivable and began to overheat. There was transmission fluid all over. Had the vehicle towed and had transmission rebuilt for $1500. Since the rebuild, the transmission has failed 3 additional times.

Filed Oct 18, 2010 · Transmission · 127,000 miles · PA · crash

Vehicle transmission overheated in the middle of interstate 70. State police responded to assist my wife and 4 children who were stranded in the middle lane. Vehicle struck sp vehicle.

Filed Jun 19, 2010 · Transmission · 190,000 miles · TN

Our 2004 honda odyssey a/t(transmission light came on). We had the a/t checked at the dealer and they said the fluid was fine. The transmission is overheating during normal driving conditions. The vehicle has a recall 04v176000 affecting some 1,099,796 units. Our unit has a VIN just outside of the recalled VIN numbers. I believe this needs to be updated to include other 2004 honda odyssey vans. The transmission is going to need to be replaced according to the dealership.

Filed Mar 13, 2010 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · TX

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) the tcs light and the gear selection "d" light began to blink on my honda 2004 odyssey. The transmission started to slip. In a matter of a day the transmission failed as I was on the highway. The tachometer spiked and the transmission would not engage. Then the engine light came on. I could not get the car to accelerate. It was total transmission failure. I had to coast the vehicle off of the highway. The van has 85,000 miles. When I called american honda motor corp about recall the federal safety agency 04v176000 they said I was not covered. [xxx] was not included in the recall so I had to go to my local honda dealer to have them evaluate it and then they could possibly negotiate some type of assistance from honda motor corp. I called my local honda dealership he stated since we were not the original owner of the vehicle that honda motor corp would not help. He estimated that the cost to fix the transmission would be at least $3,200. I took the van to a transmission shop. It cost me $2300 to have the transmission rebuilt and an external cooler put on. Furthermore the engine and transmission mounts had to be replaced. They said the main problem is that there is a manufacture defect that is allowing the transmissions to overheat. Once they overheat they send off flakes that get caught in the filter screens in the transmission that causes more overheating and eventually failure of transmission.

Filed Aug 18, 2008 · Engine · 48,000 miles · HI

I kept smelling antifreeze after driving the van but never could find a leak. Finally, I noticed the engine was overheating. Looking carefully, I discovered a coolant leak at head gasket area. While removing head assembly, I noticed two bolts were loose. After removing head assembly from engine block, I discovered stripped threads in one of the bolt holes to hold the head assembly down. A helicoil insert will be used to repair threads before reassembly.