NHTSA Complaint #10475460 — 1998 HONDA ACCORD

1998 HONDA ACCORD COMPLETE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT 91,150 MILES. INCIDENT BELOW RESULTED IN NEAR COLLISION WHEN MY VEHICLE PULLED OUT TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE MORE THAN APPROXIMATELY 15 MPH. OTHER VEHICLE HAD TO SLAM ON BRAKES TO AVOID SIDE COLLISION. I HAVE A 1998 HONDA ACCORD LX, 4- DOOR, 4 CYLINDER, AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. AT APPROXIMATELY 91,000 MILES, I NOTICED THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION STARTED TO "SLIP" SHIFTING FROM FIRST GEAR INTO SECOND GEAR, ESPECIALLY RIGHT AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS JUST STARTED. THIS ISSUE WOULD GET WORSE UNDER MEDIUM TO HEAVY ACCELERATION. HAVING HAD ANOTHER 1997 HONDA ACCORD LX, 2 DOOR, AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, THAT FAILED AT 66,000 MILES, I SUSPECTED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING ON THIS 1998 HONDA ACCORD LX. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO COTTMAN TRANSMISSION FOR EVALUATION, AND THE TECHNICIAN TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING UP THE VEHICLE IN THE MORNING. THE TECHNICIAN CONFIRMED THE SEVERE "SLIPPAGE" FROM FIRST INTO SECOND GEAR AND RAN DIAGNOSTIC TESTS ON ALL THE ELECTRIC COMPONENTS, INCLUDING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SOLENOIDS. UPON COMPLETION AND ADDITIONAL EXAMINATION OF THE PROBLEM, THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING, AND REQUIRED A TOTAL REBUILD. ONCE THE HONDA ACCORD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS REMOVED FROM THE HONDA ACCORD AND TAKEN APART, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE INTERNAL METAL FILTER WAS PLUGGED WITH METAL SAVINGS, THE CLUTCH BANDS WERE BURNED, AND AN INTERNAL ELECTRIC SWITCH WAS DEFECTIVE. EXPECT NO HELP AND/OR COMPENSATION FROM HONDA CORPORATION AS PURSING THAT ROUTE HAS BEEN FUTILE. IT WOULD SEEM THAT HONDA CORPORATION HAD BEEN OVER CONFIDENT IN THE SALE OF HONDAS IN THE UNITED STATES, THAT THE "QUALITY" OF THEIR PRODUCT NOW SUFFERS. *TR