NHTSA Complaint #11579178 — 2014 HONDA CIVIC

The transmission suddenly started slipping and wasnt pulling reliably while I was on the highway in the middle of St. Louis, MO with heavy, fast traffic. There were no warning lights or signs to alert me that something was wrong before this happened. I immediately pulled off the highway, but struggled to change lanes in heavy traffic with very little pull from the transmission. I was forced to cut in front of people that were moving faster than me in order to get out of the way. Once I got off the highway, I immediately stopped to check under the hood. The fill plug for the transmission was off, and was laying next to the fill hole. I had to have it towed, and the shop told me that the vent plug on top of the transmission was clogged. They believe that this is the cause for the excessive pressure buildup which caused the plug to come out. They also said that a sensor on the bottom of my transmission started leaking oil due to the pressure. The sensor was not damaged in any way, but the oil leaking out caused damage to my transmission. The shop informed me that my transmission was low on cvt oil when they drained it, but didn't see any concerning signs in the oil. They refilled it hoping that it would fix the problem. After testing, they informed me that too much damage was caused to the transmission, and I would need a new one. Honda told me that the transmission was out of warranty both by miles (85,000) and year (2014). I had the car towed to another shop closer to home, and they put a new transmission in. I have had the new transmission for less than a week, and the fill cap has already popped off again. The vent does not look clogged this time, but I'm worried that dust or grit could have gotten in or that I may have lost a significant amount of cvt oil. I have to have it towed to the shop again to check my cvt oil level and make sure it's safe to drive.