Topic: A different kind of Honda...

[BobR]

 Thought members here might find this interesting- a 5 speed automatic transmission out of a Honda Odyssey. I find it somewhat amusing that I know virtually nothing about how to rebuild my K4 750 engine or transmission... . Bob

[madmtnmotors]

I would love to develop the skills for rebuilding automotive automatic transmissions. I did rebuild the 5 speed manual trans in my 89' Toyota truck. Until I hone my automatic transmission skills, how would you like to rebuild the automatic transmission for my 2002 Saturn Vue?   

[RAFster122s]

I hope you took lots of photos while disassembling.
It has just a few handful of parts eh?
Do you have the knowledge of which components that need replacement?

What was its problem before you disassembled it? / Why you disassembled the tranny?

Good luck reassembling.

David

[BobR]

I would love to develop the skills for rebuilding automotive automatic transmissions. I did rebuild the 5 speed manual trans in my 89' Toyota truck. Until I hone my automatic transmission skills, how would you like to rebuild the automatic transmission for my 2002 Saturn Vue?   

  Sounds like work, lol! When I leave the shop I dont like turning wrenches unless I have to. Probably why I know so little about my CB750K4... Rather do other hobbies- photography, record music, garden, etc. That said Im actually learning a good bit about the K4 thanks to this place! Bob

[Duke McDukiedook]

Yeah man, when I was going through my wife's Acura to figure out the possible problems in her transmission I came to the "Holy #$%* this is complicated" realization when luckily my code reader came up with a transmission range switch open code. Somewhat easy fix that did not involve yanking the tranny out. Automatic transmission are crazy complicated. 

[BobR]

I hope you took lots of photos while disassembling.
It has just a few handful of parts eh?
Do you have the knowledge of which components that need replacement?

What was its problem before you disassembled it? / Why you disassembled the tranny?

Good luck reassembling.

David

 No worries- its my job. Ive done many of these units. Sometimes with a less familiar unit I will take pics. Theres no shame in reference material IMO. Anyways the torque converter went. Straight forward build- disassemble, clean, replace rubber, seals ,gaskets, clutches... Finished it before I left the shop today.  Bob

[RAFster122s]

Any idea what kind of coating they use on the gears to make them have that light bronze color?  It does clean up nicely.  What does it cost to rebuild one in parts? Two days labor? Or, 8 hours, not counting dropping the tranny and reinstalling it?  Are they hard to remove?  I have never owned a FWD vehicle. So, foreign territory for me.

Glad you got it all cleaned up and back together.  Do you do transmissions for a living or auto mechanic for living?
Auto trannies are pretty heavy too, manual tranny can be heavy.  A small iron cased '66 Volvo I owned manual tranny was quite heavy to manually lift into plavce and slide it home when changing a clutch and when changing it for bad 2nd gear synchro went bad. I was pretty strong when I did it as I could even pick up the motor and carry it with difficulty and it was over 350 pounds but, it kicked my butt to lift that tranny into place and get it up to bolt into place.

[BobR]

Any idea what kind of coating they use on the gears to make them have that light bronze color?  It does clean up nicely.  What does it cost to rebuild one in parts? Two days labor? Or, 8 hours, not counting dropping the tranny and reinstalling it?  Are they hard to remove?  I have never owned a FWD vehicle. So, foreign territory for me.

Glad you got it all cleaned up and back together.  Do you do transmissions for a living or auto mechanic for living?
Auto trannies are pretty heavy too, manual tranny can be heavy.  A small iron cased '66 Volvo I owned manual tranny was quite heavy to manually lift into plavce and slide it home when changing a clutch and when changing it for bad 2nd gear synchro went bad. I was pretty strong when I did it as I could even pick up the motor and carry it with difficulty and it was over 350 pounds but, it kicked my butt to lift that tranny into place and get it up to bolt into place.

  Ive done automatic transmissions since 78. We supplement our work with general repair work as well. That said my forte is transmissions and driveline. The color is grey being affected by lighting to look bronze. One of these can be anywhere from 8 to 12+ hours bench time -depending on the damage. Transmission jacks do most of the heavy lifting. bob

[BobR]

Yeah man, when I was going through my wife's Acura to figure out the possible problems in her transmission I came to the "Holy #$%* this is complicated" realization when luckily my code reader came up with a transmission range switch open code. Somewhat easy fix that did not involve yanking the tranny out. Automatic transmission are crazy complicated. 

Easy fix-nice!  Bob

[Gordon]

That's one of those situations where I get everything taken apart, say "that's neat", and then toss it all in a box and throw it away.

[754]

Bob, if you can work on them trannies,  you will find the cb 750 incredibly simple..
 Because it is actually, one of the easiest motors in the bike world .......I  think..

 The last Odessy I drove was a single speed Vari-Drive...

[RAFster122s]

Bob, didn't know if they nitride coated the gear sets, thus my question.

I found that synthetic transmission fluid was fabulous when your car saw cold weather.  Couldn't afford to fill the auto transmission on the '00 Ford Crown Vic with the stuff...given it takes about 13 quarts without draining the torque converter.  I used Redline MTL and it was magical how the mollases in freezing weather was like shifting  hot butter after installing it.  Installing the MTL in the manual transmission Volvos I owned was the best thing I ever did, next to running real snow tires in winter along with using synthetic oil in the engine, if only for the winter.  In sub zero before shifting was difficult until the transmission oil warmed up and seeing what 5w30 poured like in those conditions even with the anti-drainback valves in the filter it was enough to convince me using synthetics was a smart choice.  I was living in an area that saw real winters but only about 30 inches of snow a year. Luckily for us the heavy snow belt was about 50 miles north of us.
 Traveling long distances in the winter we would experience all kinds of conditions much less near our place when we saw snow.
I was sold on them after one winter.  Worth every penny.

Modern cars often use synthetics in their transmissions. It was not as common when I started using it in the late 80s.

[dave500]

automatic transmission repair is a black art!anyone capable of repairing them is a witch and shall be burned as soon as they've done with fixing mine!which is known here as a trimatic but stateside perhaps a turbo 180?

[BobR]

Bob, if you can work on them trannies,  you will find the cb 750 incredibly simple..
 Because it is actually, one of the easiest motors in the bike world .......I  think..

 The last Odessy I drove was a single speed Vari-Drive...

 Youre probably right. Two things have kept me away from delving deeper into my k4. Lack of work area(which I now have) and motivation. After 9 hours at the shop I dont feel to motivated to tear something else down. That said this place is a bad influence! Now I need to rip the rear end of my bike apart for my sprocket issue and swing arm bushings, lol. Bob

[BobR]

automatic transmission repair is a black art!anyone capable of repairing them is a witch and shall be burned as soon as they've done with fixing mine!which is known here as a trimatic but stateside perhaps a turbo 180?

180?...blast from the past! Only thing I saw those in were Chevettes and little Post office trucks! Did a lot of the PO trucks 10-15 years ago. Bob

[dave500]

they were common here behind 6 and v8 holdens bobr,mine holds up to its 308 (5.0)as factory fitted,they got a bad rep for a while here but still are the least power robbing auto and now get modded to handle a heap of torque,ive blown mine a coupla times,burst the alloy servo piston once and also the pressed in gear that holds the top gear clutches drifted out causing no top gear drive,its had the separation plate holes drilled and has a nice firmer shift than normal and will easily chirp and spin on second if I want

[BobR]

Those stamped direct drums would get pounded out and break.

[Yamahawk]

I had heard that the Honda Odyssey tranny's were prone to problems, and to avoid them because of this. Are they better once you rebuild them? I remember my 1986 Ford Aerostar (van from hell) with the A4LD tranny, they were prone to blow also, but once rebuilt with the parts Ford should have recalled... they were fine.
Charlie

[BobR]

I had heard that the Honda Odyssey tranny's were prone to problems, and to avoid them because of this. Are they better once you rebuild them? I remember my 1986 Ford Aerostar (van from hell) with the A4LD tranny, they were prone to blow also, but once rebuilt with the parts Ford should have recalled... they were fine.
Charlie

They are pretty good overall with the torque converter being the achilles heal. We address this with a "shift kit " that addresses the lube issues associated with the failure. An external cooler is a good idea but getting a customer to pay for it is another. Bear in mind I dont see the newer models till at least past warranty so I cant speak for those.