Transmission Problems - How to Approach Service Department?

[Velox]

This may be an unnecessary thread, but I’d rather be over prepared than under prepared.

So I have an appointment on Thursday to have my vehicle looked at regarding my transmission problems. My car problems don’t occur every time I drive and are most obvious after it’s been sitting overnight. This worries me because I don’t want to bring it to the service center, have them test drive it for 5 minutes, and assume I’m an idiot/imagining things because the problems didn’t present themselves during their limited testing.

Problems:
1. Occasionally locked out of 1st gear. I don’t mean when I’m rolling above a certain speed, I mean when I’m completely stationary. I’m just locked out of 1st gear for a few seconds until the car decides to let me in.

2. Occasional slipping out of gear. I’ll be driving slowly (parking lot or neighborhood) and about to shift (hand on stick but no force pulling) and the gear jumps into neutral without the clutch pedal being pressed or my hand pulling on the stick. I’m not sure if it’s my pulling off the throttle or my jedi abilities moving the car out of gear, but it’s not normal.

3. Occasionally, it feels like I’m riding the clutch (about 80% engaged) and not getting full power the wheels when my left foot is fully on the dead pedal and nothing is touching the clutch pedal.

4. Occasionally, I have nasty stuttering in the low gears while the vehicle has been sitting overnight. These problems go away after driving about 10-15 minutes. I made a thread about this a while back and the problem has been minimized due to this forum’s help, but it’s still a problem about once a week and I swear it happens EVERY TIME a guest gets in my car and they end up saying something about how I should have purchased an automatic (-.-). Keep in mind, I let my car idle for about 3-4 minutes before moving and I’m currently living in Florida so these “cold morning starts” are from a 70 degree Fahrenheit garage.

So, my primary concern is going to the service department and them not being able to experience my problems. They don’t occur every time I drive so I’m worried the car will look fine when they look at it and I not only won't get the vehicle fixed, but I'll get pinned with the bill for the diagnosis appointment.

If they’re little problems, I’m okay with sucking it up and learning to deal with it. However, we bought this car because it was a brand new Honda and, because of Honda’s reputation, assumed it would be perfectly fine for at least a few years. And the 1st gear lock out problem happened when I was in traffic and my lack of mobility (stuck in neutral) almost got me into an accident.

Any advice on how to approach the big scary warranty department would be super helpful

Car: 2013 Civic EX Coupe - 5 speed

 

[webby]

Are they going to keep it overnight to test it after it's been sitting? I'd print off what you just wrote here and either leave it in the car (if you're dropping it off after hours), or give it to the tech who's going to look at the vehicle.

 

[Velox]

Are they going to keep it overnight to test it after it's been sitting? I'd print off what you just wrote here and either leave it in the car (if you're dropping it off after hours), or give it to the tech who's going to look at the vehicle.

I'm not sure if they intend to keep it overnight. I sure hope they don't have to, I wouldn't have a way to get back to them without the car, lol.
I'll definitely print that out, thanks for the idea.

 

[Spider210]

Any solution? Mine does the same things as yours except reverse gets locked out (I back out of my driveway everyday)

I also have a car starter and use it everyday for about 5min before I leave.

 

[webby]

Any solution? Mine does the same things as yours except reverse gets locked out (I back out of my driveway everyday)

I also have a car starter and use it everyday for about 5min before I leave.

auto or manual trans? If it's a manual, push in the clutch to start the car. While keeping the clutch down, put it into 4th gear and immediately put it into reverse. It should work

 

[Spider210]

13 si coupe I've been getting in the habit of putting in 3rd and then reverse and it slides right in. Just seems like a not needed extra step. I do leave my car parked in neutral (so the car will remote start)

 

[webby]

It's not something related to the 9th gen or hondas at all. I think the last 4 cars I've owned have all required me to put it in a forward gear, and then slip into reverse to avoid any issue. It's such a habit now, I don't even think about it. Look at almost any car forum and you'll see people asking why they can't get their car in reverse.

 

[andre12dbsi]

My 1st gear sometimes does what you're saying. What I do is put it in 2nd (keeping the clutch pushed in the whole time) and then 1st and it works perfect. It doesn't happen often but when it does, putting it in 2nd first then to 1st works every time.

 

[Velox]

Well that was a terrible experience. The representative said they test drove the vehicle a few times and did not notice any problems only to send me on my way.

Does anyone have advice on how to prove intermittent problems like this? I can't leave the vehicle with them for a week to have it tested every morning until the problems eventually arise, but I'm pissed that my new car with 10,000 miles on it is having clutch issues.

 

[tacthecat]

Well that was a terrible experience. The representative said they test drove the vehicle a few times and did not notice any problems only to send me on my way.

Does anyone have advice on how to prove intermittent problems like this? I can't leave the vehicle with them for a week to have it tested every morning until the problems eventually arise, but I'm pissed that my new car with 10,000 miles on it is having clutch issues.

How long have you had this intermittent set of problems over the 10,000 miles of ownership? ie Just recently or since the beginning?
Has this been reported to the dealer previously?
Sounds/acts like a clutch engagement/linkage adjustment issue but if they won't provide you a loaner while they diagnose, it may be time to bump it up to regional.
P.S. Why let car idle for minutes before driving? Best thing for drivetrain is to start and drive "gently" until drivetrain is warmed up. Other than the engine, and perhaps cat & muffler, nothing else warms while idling after a cold start.

 

[Velox]

How long have you had this intermittent set of problems over the 10,000 miles of ownership? ie Just recently or since the beginning?
Has this been reported to the dealer previously?
Sounds/acts like a clutch engagement/linkage adjustment issue but if they won't provide you a loaner while they diagnose, it may be time to bump it up to regional.
P.S. Why let car idle for minutes before driving? Best thing for drivetrain is to start and drive "gently" until drivetrain is warmed up. Other than the engine, and perhaps cat & muffler, nothing else warms while idling after a cold start.

It's been a problem for the last 2-3k miles. I didn't notice it when I first bought the car.
This is the first time I brought it up with the dealer. It hasn't been a huge deal until not being able to get into 1st gear from neutral almost got me in an accident a week ago.
I agree that it seems like a clutch linkage issue after looking into the symptoms a bit more online.
I let any car I drive idle for a few minutes before I drive in the morning. I take it slow and gentle through the neighborhood to let the drive train warm up as well.

 

[lovemyhonda]

Well that was a terrible experience. The representative said they test drove the vehicle a few times and did not notice any problems only to send me on my way.

Does anyone have advice on how to prove intermittent problems like this? I can't leave the vehicle with them for a week to have it tested every morning until the problems eventually arise, but I'm pissed that my new car with 10,000 miles on it is having clutch issues.

Did you take it anywhere else???? Is it worth to leave the car behind for them to burn clutch and fuel???

I think i'm having clutch problems...

long story short: tech drove my car or ABUSED my baby (today). after he drove it my baby smelled of BURNT CLUTCH (didnt make me happy i even asked, "what's that smell?" Just to hear him say it's the clutch)then said it seemed fine. I told them i'd be back tomorrow for someone else to abuse her.

My problem seems similar:

Can't punch it into reverse smoothly each morning. Sometimes it's hard to push it into 1st. When i'm driving, fairly hard, 1..2...3rd to LOCKED OUT of 4th. Then downshifting from 4th to 3rd i seem to get LOCKED OUT of that gear, and a few times i'm rolling idle in neutral till i can FORCE it in gear. (happened several times for me to be concerned... and rule out driver error)​

2013 Civic Si coupe 10k miles. i'm supposed to drop her off in the morning to have some powertrain guy to look at it. I know it's not normal for this to happen... i just don't want them to think it's because i'm a female driver..............................

 

[lovemyhonda]

My 1st gear sometimes does what you're saying. What I do is put it in 2nd (keeping the clutch pushed in the whole time) and then 1st and it works perfect. It doesn't happen often but when it does, putting it in 2nd first then to 1st works every time.

Do you have any problems with getting "locked-out" of a gear? Especially from 3rd to 4th or down-shifting from 4th to 3rd?? It doesn't happen all the time... just sometimes. It totally throws me off my gear-shifting rhythm, if you know what I mean.

 

[DMS24]

The thing I've always found helpful in situations where there is an intermittent issue that only you (the normal driver) are aware of, is to ask someone at the dealer to ride along with you. I had an issue with a fluttering A/C vent and it only happened when I set the controls a certain way. The service manager rode along with me and I replicated the problem with ease. The key point here, is that you know how to make the problems occur, where as the techs are only trying to find out how. One thing you could ask, is if your Civic needs to be cold, perhaps you can leave it there overnight, and drive it cold with a tech or service writer. Hopefully this could save you from getting frustrated, and your poor Civic's clutch.

 

[theman]

This may be an unnecessary thread, but I’d rather be over prepared than under prepared.

So I have an appointment on Thursday to have my vehicle looked at regarding my transmission problems. My car problems don’t occur every time I drive and are most obvious after it’s been sitting overnight. This worries me because I don’t want to bring it to the service center, have them test drive it for 5 minutes, and assume I’m an idiot/imagining things because the problems didn’t present themselves during their limited testing.

Problems:
1. Occasionally locked out of 1st gear. I don’t mean when I’m rolling above a certain speed, I mean when I’m completely stationary. I’m just locked out of 1st gear for a few seconds until the car decides to let me in.

2. Occasional slipping out of gear. I’ll be driving slowly (parking lot or neighborhood) and about to shift (hand on stick but no force pulling) and the gear jumps into neutral without the clutch pedal being pressed or my hand pulling on the stick. I’m not sure if it’s my pulling off the throttle or my jedi abilities moving the car out of gear, but it’s not normal.

3. Occasionally, it feels like I’m riding the clutch (about 80% engaged) and not getting full power the wheels when my left foot is fully on the dead pedal and nothing is touching the clutch pedal.

4. Occasionally, I have nasty stuttering in the low gears while the vehicle has been sitting overnight. These problems go away after driving about 10-15 minutes. I made a thread about this a while back and the problem has been minimized due to this forum’s help, but it’s still a problem about once a week and I swear it happens EVERY TIME a guest gets in my car and they end up saying something about how I should have purchased an automatic (-.-). Keep in mind, I let my car idle for about 3-4 minutes before moving and I’m currently living in Florida so these “cold morning starts” are from a 70 degree Fahrenheit garage.

So, my primary concern is going to the service department and them not being able to experience my problems. They don’t occur every time I drive so I’m worried the car will look fine when they look at it and I not only won't get the vehicle fixed, but I'll get pinned with the bill for the diagnosis appointment.

If they’re little problems, I’m okay with sucking it up and learning to deal with it. However, we bought this car because it was a brand new Honda and, because of Honda’s reputation, assumed it would be perfectly fine for at least a few years. And the 1st gear lock out problem happened when I was in traffic and my lack of mobility (stuck in neutral) almost got me into an accident.

Any advice on how to approach the big scary warranty department would be super helpful

Car: 2013 Civic EX Coupe - 5 speed

Did you ever find out what was wrong with your car?

 

[webby]

Did you ever find out what was wrong with your car?

They haven’t been online in like 5 yrs