NHTSA Complaint #10105994 — 1998 HONDA ACCORD

AT 66,000 MILES THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO SLIP AND SHIFT GEARS ROUGHLY. WHEN I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE IT WOULD "CLUNK". THEN AS I ACCELERATED I WOULD HAVE TO LET OFF THE GAS SO IT COULD SHIFT EACH GEAR. I TOOK IT TO A MIDAS SHOP FOR A TRANSMISSION SERVICE - NEW FILTER/FLUSH, ETC. THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE IT WAS LEAKING FLUID. ANOTHER MECHANIC TOLD ME I NEEDED TWO NEW AXLES AND AXLE SEALS TO FIX THE LEAK. BY THAT TIME THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATO WAS ON SO I WANTED HONDA TO LOOK AT IT SINCE I HAD RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND MANY INSTANCES OF TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT LOW MILES. HONDA CARS OF COLUMBIA, SC SAID I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC CODE WAS PO740 TORQUE CONVERTER FAILURE. A HONDA ACCORD WITH ONLY 66,000 MILES SHOULD NOT NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION. I AM AWARE THAT HONDA RECALLED 2000 AND 2001 TRANSMISSIONS BUT NOT 1998,1999 OR 2002 EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE THE SAME TRANSMISSIONS. HONDA CUSTOMER RELATIONS' GOOD WILL ASSISTANCE SAID THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE IT SINCE I DID NOT PURCHASE THE CAR FROM A CERTIFIED HONDA DEALER OR PURCHASE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE "GOOD WILL ASSISTANCE" SHOWS THAT THEY KNOW THEY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THEIR CARS. THEY HAVE REPLACED OTHER OWNERS TRANSMISSIONS, WHY NOT MINE?*AK