NHTSA Complaint #10005791 — 2001 HONDA PASSPORT

IN DECEMBER 2002, THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SLIP INTO FIRST GEAR FROM A COMPLETE STOP AND WHEN I WOULD HAVE TO SLOW DOWN FOR TRAFFIC AND ACCELERATE. THE TRUCK WOULD JERK INTO FIRST GEAR. ALSO, WHEN I PUT THE TRUCK INTO REVERSE, ONCE I SHIFTED THE GEAR INTO DRIVE, IT WOULD TAKE 8-10 SECONDS BEFORE THE CAR WOULD SLIP INTO FIRST GEAR. JANUARY 4, 2003, I TOOK THE CAR TO A REPAIR SHOP AND TOLD THEM THE PROBLEM I WAS HAVING AND THEY SERVICED THE TRANSMISSION, TELLING ME THAT I WAS LOW ON FLUID, BUT THAT THERE WEREN'T ANY APPARENT OR VISIBLE PROBLEMS. I DID NOT HAVE ANY FURTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE TRUCK UNTIL FEBRUARY 5TH OR 6TH, WHEN THE JERKING BEGAN AGAIN. ON FEBRUARY 10, 2002, ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK I STARTED THE TRUCK AND IT TOOK ABOUT 20 SECONDS FOR THE CAR TO SLIP INTO FIRST GEAR. THEN AS I WAS GOING 55-60 MILES AN HOUR UP AN INCLINE ON A MAJOR EXPRESSWAY, THE TRUCK WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND BEGAN TO MAKE A "MOANING" NOISE AND THE CHECK TRANSMISSION LIGHT CAME ON. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE TRANSMISSION LIGHT HAD EVER COME ON. I HAD TO QUICKLY PULL OVER ONTO THE SHOULDER TO AVOID BEING HIT BY A SEMI TRUCK THAT WAS BEHIND ME. I TURNED THE CAR OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES AND STARTED IT AGAIN AN THE TRANSMISSION LIGHT WAS OFF, BUT I COULD NOT ACCELRATE OVER 20 MILES AN HOUR. I SLOWLY DROVE TO THE NEAREST EXIT. THE NEXT DAY I TOOK THE CAR TO A TRANSMISSION REPAIR SHOP AND WAS TOLD THAT I WAS 3 QUARTS LOW ON TRANSMISSION FLUID, AND THAT THE CAUSE WAS THAT THE ACCUMALATOR IN THE TRANSMISSION WAS LEAKING. THIS CAR IS ONLY 2 YEARS OLD! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!