HELP! Stranded in Flagstaff, AZ. Car not M/C trouble HELP!

[ashman]

Hey y'all,
This isnt a GS related questions but I hope someone can help. My friend and I are in the middle of a cross country trip when South of Flagstaf his 2002 Honda Accord 4cyl auto started losing power up a hill, I looked in the mirror and saw some smoke and pulled over right away. We opened up the hood and smoke was pouring out. After it let up I saw red fluid on the left side of the engine puddled up, tranny fluid. The car ran just fine before, no grinding or hesitation and had recent check up at the dealership(50k check up.)

Anyway, their was a small leak under the car but stopped when we stopped. So the fluid sprayed out from somewhere. At first the dealer said it was shot, I figured they wanted the $$ since it was under warrenty. Now they are saying honda is going to make them do a flush first and then put some miles on it. I'm kind of lost, if it is still good then why did it spray everywhere and wont it do it again? Secondly the fluid def. had a burnt smell but was still a good pink color. We are stuck in Flagstaff for next day or two, so any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,
Ash

[Jake D]

Sounds like the transmission was slipping.  Maybe it was overfilled.  Did your buddy take it to Jiffy Lube recently by any chance?

[Stephen072774]

got no advise but man that sucks... not much worse than being stuck on the road.  Good luck and be safe.

[Jughead]

Busted Line.

[makenzie71]

about a zillion different posabillities...I can't really advise without seeing the car first hand.  I'll hit up the AZ crowd and see if anyone's willing to go poke around under your hood...

[ashman]

It wasnt slipping I dont think, the trouble started all at once then smoke. All the repairs were done by honda dealers. The dealer thinks it might of been overfilled. We spent the whole day at the dealership trying to get something done.

First the dealership ordered a new tranny, then the honda warranty people said to flush it first and drive 100 miles to test it and that my friend would have to pay for the flush. That is BS so we had the dealership call back and get it covered, well the whole day goes by and the dealership was on hold. So now a new tranny order is on hold and a whole day is wasted, I told my friend just pay for it so it will leak and we can move things along.

The service guy said the leak was coming from near the fan at the bottom of the tranny, it seems simple to me. If a seal goes bad then it goes bad. Now we are raising hell and calling Honda corporate, customer serivce, warranty any and all to get this BS resolved. Lawyers are coming up next since we are losing time and money being stuck.

-Ash

[natedawg120]

yeah thats crappy.  My wife's Dodge Stratus exploded 4 days before our wedding, and we had to rent a car while the engine was rebuilt.  Got back and it was good as new.  They should do the troubleshooting for free to diagnose the problem, that pay for a flush is just them trying to get a couple bucks out of you.  Sadly though if Honda says they have to flush it before they will replace/repair the tranny, that is considered general maintainance thus not covered under the warranty.  It shouldn't be more than 50 bucks for the flush, I would go ahead and have it done cause the quicker they start the quicker you will get back on the road.

Maybe if there is a problem after the fluch you could Buddha Loves You at Honda to refund the money cause it was waisted, but they probably would not.

[ashman]

well, they did a flush and dont see any more leaks so we are about to hit the road and head for california from flagstaff. thanks for the help everyone! hopefully the automotive drama is over.

-ash

[natedawg120]

Good luck

[ashman]

We made it to Seattle w/o any drama. I just flew back in to New Orleans, thanks again everyone!

-ash