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The transmission riddle that no Mechanic (so far) has been able to solve

5K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  zroger73 
#1 ·
Two weeks ago, out of the blue, my wife's 2016 Honda pilot, with the pushbutton transmission, would not go into park. The error message said “transmission problem apply parking brake when parked.” Otherwise, the car runs and drives as normal but because it is not in park, the electronics don’t shut off when you turn off the engine and exit the vehicle. Long story short, I took it to the Honda dealership and they tell me I need a new transmission. $6500.

I took it to an unaffiliated shop that cannot figure it out either. They cannot understand replacing a transmission that is not damaged in any way.

Again, the car runs and drives normally. WTH?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.
 
#3 ·
I took it to another transmission shop (not a Honda dealer). They couldn't figure it out, either. Apparently there aren't recommended repair instructions for this type of fault. IDK. It just seems so ridiculous to replace an entire transmission that is still functioning as normal.
 
#6 ·
I understand OP’s initial post to mean the transmission will not shift into park anymore. He can drive it, and it runs thru the gears fine. But when he stops and turns the car off it’s still in drive. It is not clear how he can start the engine if it’s not in park. If correct, would lead me to believe it’s either a problem with valve body or the electric actuator that puts the transmission into park. If that’s the case, to fix it may require the transmission to be dropped and torn apart to get to the bad part. I’m guessing labor is going to be the cost driver, but I would think it would still be less expensive to repair this transmission than to replace it with a new transmission ($2-3k vice $6k). I get the hunch the first dealer was taking the position that it would just be easier to replace the transmission…rather than find and fix the issue. So that said, still recommend OP get a second opinion from a different Honda dealer. Don’t accept you need a new transmission, find out why it is cost prohibitive to repair the old one.
 
#15 ·
so i emailed that place you where told to go (just for fun)
here is their reply

We received your inquiry below.

Unfortunately we do not handle any ZF automotive transmissions (only ZF transmissions in commercial vehicle and construction machines).

here is a company below as a possible repair/advisor source.

Peter Schmid Transmission
1309 Rollins Road
Burlingame, CA 94010

650-348-3990


Good luck,

VAN RUITER


Seattle Washington USA
+1 (206) 241-8300 | Fax: +1 (206) 244-5299
 
#16 ·
I still don't understand why Honda and other Asian manufacturers don't allow techs to overhaul transmissions. As a Factory trained Master General Motors tech, I have spent many hundreds of hours at different training centers just for this purpose....to fix transmissions. We don't just swap them out, we tear down and do a cost analysis to figure out what is the more cost efficient route for either warranty or customers.
 
#18 ·
Two weeks ago, out of the blue, my wife's 2016 Honda pilot, with the pushbutton transmission, would not go into park. The error message said “transmission problem apply parking brake when parked.” Otherwise, the car runs and drives as normal but because it is not in park, the electronics don’t shut off when you turn off the engine and exit the vehicle. Long story short, I took it to the Honda dealership and they tell me I need a new transmission. $6500.

I took it to an unaffiliated shop that cannot figure it out either. They cannot understand replacing a transmission that is not damaged in any way.

Again, the car runs and drives normally. WTH?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Why did they go with buttons for everything? Another layer of complexity. I hope you get it figured out. rRsearch a excellent quality independent local shop.
 
#20 ·
Even a traditional shifter is just an electrical switch these days, so buttons are the next logical (?) step. When I read the OP comment, my gut says, start by testing the switch.

Like OBD2 systems, it has its own fault code reports. Just wish the shop was forthcoming about the codes (if any)

Scroll down for fault codes
 
#22 ·
It has been three weeks, two dozen pleas for help, and still no one has any idea what to do to fix it. The independent shops just tell me they don't know how to fix it, but cannot imagine just replacing a transmission that works as normal. I've just been using the vehicle with the emergency brake for park and charging the battery overnight.

The only downside, other than the obvious annoyance of having to charge it every night, is that the vehicle can't be locked.
 
#28 ·
It has been three weeks, two dozen pleas for help, and still no one has any idea what to do to fix it. The independent shops just tell me they don't know how to fix it, but cannot imagine just replacing a transmission that works as normal. I've just been using the vehicle with the emergency brake for park and charging the battery overnight.

The only downside, other than the obvious annoyance of having to charge it every night, is that the vehicle can't be locked.
why dont you do like i said and install a remote switch on the battery to turn it off after you lock your doors. or just pop the hood and disconnect it.
 
#23 ·
This is the only thing that Honda's service information says about the issue:

Transmission does not shift into P position/mode

Probable cause(s)

1. Park mechanism defective

Your mention of using the parking brake implies that the vehicle does roll with the engine off which answers my question in post 11 which implies an internal mechanical problem with the park mechanism.

One curiosity: Have you disconnected the battery to see if the transmission will shift to park? It's possible that there is a problem where the park lock holding electromagnet is not de-energizing which is keeping the park lock released. If this is the case, cutting power would allow the park lock to engage.
 
#25 · (Edited)
If disconnecting the battery allows the transmission to shift to park, I would agree.

If the transmission does not shift to park with the battery disconnected, that suggests a mechanical problem. Before I went too much further, I might try to see if I could manually move the park lock between the P and N positions using a 07AAA-TZ3-A100 park lock release tool or some other method. If it's "jammed", this might "unjam" it.
 
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