DId Honda ever get the Odyssey tranny fixed?

The internet stories have me nervous about buying one... Did the 5spd ever get updated to be more reliable? Is the 6spd better in that regard?

From the sound of it, I don't want to own one outside of warrantee...

I think I'm almost done with minivan questions (I hope)...

Everything I've read indicates that the problems started falling off in 2004 and that 2005+ is "fixed".

Yes, by 2004 the problem was non-existent. The later 2003s are good as well. (strangely, I'm looking at the exact same years of Odyssey)

I agree with the above. We've got two Odysseys (or is it Odyssies?)-1999 and 2002 and bought them both new. The 1999 lost its first trans at 70K and Honda bought us a new one. The 2002 lost its at 40K and Honda bought us a new one. The 1999 started acting funny again at 100K and they told us it needed a new one and we'd have to pay for this time. It's basically loose on the 1-2 shift, then shifts a bit hard, otherwise normal, so we thought we'd take our chances. We're now up to 165K with this "bad" transmission and won't replace it until the van won't move. The 2002 is up to 200K and we haven't had any problems.

We've got friends and relatives with newer ones and haven't had trouble.

We're shopping for another van since ours are pretty worn and will buy an Odyssey again because we've been very happy with them despite the trans issues.

--Carl

p.s. The electric doors can be a bit of trouble in the winter, but as long as you feed them about $300 every five years, they're okay.

Had an 2003 that hit 150k with no issues (well no issues until my wife pulled out in front of a speeding civic)

Now have a 2004 with 140k that just did a texas to Minnesota to Oregon to texas 5 week odyssey

Newer ones (pre-lightning bolt design) have had a plethora of tranny recals. Mainly attributed to the torque converter, but I remember back in 2010 having the same set of Oddities come in for three separate recalls. Each new recall was to fix something the previous didn't address or a new attempt at fixing the issues. Most likely even if it's out of warranty, if the recall hasn't been performed you can still take it to a Honda dealer in Woodstock to be fixed.

Oh there was another recall involving air bubbles getting into the brake lines. I remember the tools provided with the recall were a zip tie and an o-ring. I did about 300 of those things which makes me think most of them across the country were fixed lol.

Find one with a history of maintenance. Look for cooling system, engine and transaxle oil change history, timing belts and engine mounts, and you should be pretty good.

Oh, and Aqua Velva is Blue....

My 04 (bought new on December 30th from leftover stock after the 05 refresh came out) has 164k and no problems. I added trans oil cooler after reading about issues. Superlative value.

DirtyBird222 wrote: ... can still take it to a Honda dealer in Woodstock to be fixed.

I hear they are great!

Thanks guys, I'm looking at the current body style (2011+), so sounds like I'm good. Actually, we just had a hail storm, and the dealer has some damaged 2014's. I'll consider it if the price is right and they aren't too beat up... those have the 6spd, so hopefully those are good.

Thanks!