My girlfriend has a 2001 Honda Civic EX w/ auto transmission. For the past several months, we suspected the transmission was on its way out - it would sometimes have trouble engaging gears, slip, etc. Well, this morning, we dropped off the car to have the tranny fluid flushed, and our mechanic said he saw metal shavings in the fluid, and smelled burning. He re-filled the fluid, and took it on the freeway for a test drive. Well, tranny is now dead. Don't know the specifics, but it looks like we're going to need a new tranny. I don't know which model years would be compatible, but basically, we're going to need something that will work in a 2001 Civic EX, preferably with low mileage, and even some kind of warranty. Any suggestions?

 

Pick n pull. You can get transmission for cheap there all day long. No warranty. Otherwise you can have a shop rebuild or outsource a complete rebuilt one for you. I'd call around the salvage yards and repair shops. I know specialized parts planet has warranty's on their stuff.

 

vega transmissions on san jose avenue used to rebuild trannys for very cheap + labor, usually under a 1000$ but his shop burned down a few months ago. He might have relocated. We had minimal issues with him.

Other than that try the honda forums?

 

01-05 civics have very weak auto tranny. I used to have a 01 and mine blew out at 120k. My friend hooked me up with his mechanic and got the tranny replaced for $700, so if you get it done at a shop expect it to be about a grand. IIRC, all the trannies from 01-05 are interchangeable. Double check with the guys over at Honda-tech in the 01-05 civic threads.

 

I've heard the same thing re: honda trannys from 2 shops now. Who knew? I always thought hondas were pretty reliable. Guess not....

 

Acura/Honda trans are horrible if you don't get frequent changes. Worked at Acura, at least 2/3 a week...would def try a dismantler or the Honda forums though.

 

hahaa they WERE reliable, anything before 2001 was pretty reliable (had a boosted single cam 92 hatchback si before i had the 01 sooo much fun) anything after 00 everything went downhill, not too sure about the 06+ though. lots of people throw in k20 motors in those 01-05 chassis now whenever the motor goes or the tranny breaks (then again everybody in the honda scene is throwing k-series motors in everything) its a very nice motor to have in those cars, talk about real sleeper

good luck OP with the tranny issue

 

Yeah the honda accord, acura cl/tl had many transmission problems

 

Well, got some quotes from the shop where the car is currently residing (SF), and from another mechanic I've been going to for the past 10yrs. Looks like it's going to cost about $2k total for a rebuilt transmission and labor.

One guy will use a rebuilt transmission from a local SF shop, and install it, etc. for about $2300 (he says the transmission itself is about $1550). This would come with a 1yr warranty.

The other guy will actually rebuild the transmission, replacing any parts that are worn/damaged. This would cost $1950, and also comes with a 1yr warranty. This guy also said that in his opinion, we could go with a used tranny for about $1400 total (including labor). However, the used tranny would only come with a 90 day warranty, and after all this talk about how unreliable these things are, this doesn't really seem like a good option.

Do these prices seem in line with what others have paid? Honestly, we think it's a little ridiculous to put in $2k worth of parts/labor into a car that is only worth about $4k total, but given the current situation (i.e. inability to just go out and buy a new car), it's probably our only option.

 

i say if you can't find a better price at this point, i'd say sell it and buy another car OR you can keep shopping around for a better price.

from personal experience, after I got the transmission replaced (the transmission was a used rebuilt one) I drove it 2k with no problems, gave it to my sister (super aggressive driver I must add, pounds the pedal and goes WOT like crazy even though the car goes no where ) 30k later and the transmission is still perfectly fine

 

Can you elaborate on what the mechanic said?

I've heard nothing but good things for AutoRX to recondition the seals and removes metallic bits from surfaces; lots of people report transmissions on their last leg improve to driveable and get another 50K before finally loosing a bunch of teeth.

http://www.auto-rx.com/

I mean, it doesn't hurt to try at this point, right??