On a road trip, transmission overheated/burnt. Need to drive home

[jana519]

2002 Honda Odyssey automatic, 250k miles.

So I'm on a 800 mile round trip from Albuquerque to Denver to visit my sister who just had her first baby in June. Not being very knowledgeable about transmissions, I did a stupid and left the cruise control on through too many Colorado hills, causing the tranny to shift up and down to maintain cruising speed. After about 350 miles, the transmission suddenly overheated or burned on the highway.

I pulled over and see a spray of transmission fluid in the engine bay. The fluid sprayed out of the transmission vent, or so I believe. Not leaking fluid anywhere. I let it cool down, then drained and refilled it. The old fluid was brown and burnt with small metal flakes in it.

I'm not sure how badly the tranny is damaged, but I'm able to drive up to 60 mph without serious proboems. I need to slowly make my way back to Albuquerque on whatever is left of the transmission that's currently in the vehicle.

My question AT garage, what do I fill the transmission with, given the burnt metal spectacle, that I can make it back home hopefully? I plan to drive extremely slow at night, in one hour increments, resting in between to baby the transmission as much as I can. Any good transmission fluid additives in addition to Mercon V ATF?

 

[PottedMeat]

2002 Honda Odyssey automatic, 250k miles.

ouch, with the infamous grenading transmission, you're lucky it lasted this long

The old fluid was brown and burnt with small metal flakes in it.
Any good transmission fluid additives in addition to Mercon V ATF?

maybe have a few bottles of honda fluid in the back, no magic elixir is gonna help, probably more important to have a plan when you do break down anywhere along the drive home.

check out odyclub 99-03 section for lots of people with similar transmission sprays

 

[jana519]

ouch, with the infamous grenading transmission, you're lucky it lasted this long

maybe have a few bottles of honda fluid in the back, no magic elixir is gonna help, probably more important to have a plan when you do break down anywhere along the drive home.

check out odyclub 99-03 section for lots of people with similar transmission sprays

Good advice, I'll check that out. Thank you.

 

[pauldun170]

You did nothing wrong using cruise control.
Honda built a crappy transmission and yours lasted longer than many others

 

[eng2d2]

Thats a tough one. Its best just buy a lot of transmission fluid. Bring with you and fill as needed. Check every hour at first and go longer on checking if transmission is good.

 

[Rifter]

Im honestly shocked it lasted that long, you did much better than most people with that trans have, Id consider yourself lucky and start looking for a new vehicle, unlikely to be worth it to rebuild the trans and keep that vehicle.

 

[jana519]

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice.

I didn't mention the transmission was supposedly rebuilt at 170k, with the previous owner having a shop invoice when I bought the van.

So I'm not more or less lucky than others. I did have a false sense of confidence that I didn't need to baby the transmission since it had less than 100k on it. I was wrong about that one I guess.

 

[HarryLui]

Was the transmission fluid change regularly?

I'd change as much fluid as you can and drive in limp home mode, as in, don't go up hill in 4th gear. Heat kills transmission fast.

 

[jana519]

Was the transmission fluid change regularly?

I'd change as much fluid as you can and drive in limp home mode, as in, don't go up hill in 4th gear. Heat kills transmission fast.

Yep, regular maintenance and everything.

What's the best way to drive up hills, transmission wise? Wait, I can probably Google it.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yep, regular maintenance and everything.

What's the best way to drive up hills, transmission wise? Wait, I can probably Google it.

The old advice was:

Up a mountain: use a lower gear. (Disable overdrive or put it in "3" on a four speed automatic transmission.)

Coasting/braking down hills: use a lower or much lower gear. (Put it in "2" and let your engine slow you down instead of riding the brake.)

I'm probably way out of date and somebody will come by telling me how wrong I am.

 

[eng2d2]

There is a recall on this transmission and suppose to resolve the issue

 

[frozentundra123456]

The old advice was:

Up a mountain: use a lower gear. (Disable overdrive or put it in "3" on a four speed automatic transmission.)

Coasting/braking down hills: use a lower or much lower gear. (Put it in "2" and let your engine slow you down instead of riding the brake.)

I'm probably way out of date and somebody will come by telling me how wrong I am.

I think that is still good advice for a traditional automatic, although using a lower gear going downhill is more to keep the brakes from overheating that to save wear on the transmission.

However, a lot of newer cars (including my Altima) have CVTs which dont really allow one to select a gear. Not sure what one would do in this case. Just drive it I guess, and hope the computer selects the right ratio. There is some kind of switch to increase engine braking (I never use it, since I dont drive in the mountains), which I would assume you would use going down long grades.

 

[killster1]

well maybe you are already home and dont need advice, but i know that draining the tranny fluid throwing in half lucas tranmission thick fluid and half ATF hope this will buy you a little more time.

 

[jana519]

Just made it back in one piece, drove home at night time when the temperature was cooler and kept shifting into D3 when driving up steep hills. I pulled over two times at rest areas to let the trans cool down for 30 minutes.

I didn't have any issues at all shifting, no gear slipping or otherwise. I'm still not even sure what was damaged. I was talking with my brother-in-law and he said it could be the transmission "bands".

 

[thilanliyan]

Coasting/braking down hills: use a lower or much lower gear. (Put it in "2" and let your engine slow you down instead of riding the brake.)

I'm not sure if engine braking is the way to go.
Doesn't that put unnecessary stress on the piston rings? Brakes are purpose-built to slow the car down, and much easier to replace than piston rings.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm not sure if engine braking is the way to go.
Doesn't that put unnecessary stress on the piston rings? Brakes are purpose-built to slow the car down, and much easier to replace than piston rings.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cu...myth-that-engine-braking-is-bad-for-your-car/

Brakes are easier to replace, sure, but if you burn out the brakes on a long downgrade, you're dead.

 

[thilanliyan]

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cu...myth-that-engine-braking-is-bad-for-your-car/

Brakes are easier to replace, sure, but if you burn out the brakes on a long downgrade, you're dead.

I stand corrected. Another link:
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-ins-and-outs-of-engine-braking/

This link also gives some reasons why NOT to use engine braking:
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/engine-braking-cause-damage/

I personally don't know how accurate those claims are though.

 

[herm0016]

I stand corrected. Another link:
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-ins-and-outs-of-engine-braking/

This link also gives some reasons why NOT to use engine braking:
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/engine-braking-cause-damage/

I personally don't know how accurate those claims are though.

both of these people are idiots. just fyi.

grains of truth but a lot of BS in these.

I'll keep engine braking while going 80 mph down miles of 6 or 8% in the Rockies, without it, by the time I hit the wall / mountain at the bottom I would be going about 120 mph after all 4 rotors melted off.

i would avoid overspeed condition and keep an eye on your trans temp though. if its 100 out, i find my trans temps climbing while using a lower gear to descend. I don't think manufactures would create automatic downshifting if it was damaging to the engine or transmission.

 

[dtgoodwin]

My 2011 Odyssey with the 5-speed automatic will automatically downshift to 4th when cruise control is enabled if the speed goes 5 MPH over the set speed. It will even drop down to 3rd (if it won't overrev the engine) for very steep grades. It is harder on the transmission as anything other than neutral torque through the transmission will add heat, but it's a balancing act. As herm0016 mentioned, in the grades we live in (I'm in Utah), using only brakes on a heavy load just won't cut it.