Problems with 2003 Honda Accord POWER TRAIN

The transmission pressure switch sensor failed and the drive indicator started flashing.this caused unexpected acceleration/deceleration to my vehicle while driving .apparently there are so many complaints on the internet about regular failures of the transmission pressure switch for the 2003 honda accord.this should have been a recall by honda. *tr

Automatic transmission failed at 130k miles and had to be rebuilt at cost to me of $2800. *tr

When leaving a parking lot, the car wouldn't shift into drive. it felt like the brake was on, but it wasn't. after driving in a stop and go situation, i discovered it would shift reluctantly if i took my foot off the accelerator. by doing that and avoiding the freeway, i was able to get the car home. i haven't driven it since. the car is a v6 and i had recently had the power steering hose replaced at a dealership because of leaking and smoke along with the ignition recall repair. neither the car nor the dealership had given any indication of a problem with the transmission. no warning lights. are on. i called honda customer service but the only information i was able to get was that a 2004 transmission recall had expired. *tr

Car frequently slipped out of 2nd gear when accelerating on the highway. honda said a new transmission was needed. this is a known defect that honda tried to band-aid in 2004. they should be forced to issue a complete transmission recall on 2003 accord v6 vehicles. there are 810 complaints on carcomplaints.com specifically for the transmission. hundreds of others have no doubt gone unreported. honda knew there was a problem as early as 2004 and hasn't done the right thing. please help us. *tr

Transmission was replaced by honda in 2007 at 115,000 miles. the honda replacement transmission failed unexpectedly and catastrophically a few days ago despite meticulous maintenance by honda dealers and top mechanics. this failure left the driver in a dangerous situation with oncoming traffic. this second transmission had 80,000 miles and does not address the original design defect. *tr

While driving the vehicle at 35mph it started slipping and jerking then suddenly slammed into second gear. would not shift out of second. *tr

My 2003 honda accord v6 original owner, transmission is switching gears into neutral while i am driving down the road. this has happened a number of times. if i pull over to the side of the road and turn car off and then back on, it goes back into the correct gear. this is very dangerous while i am on the interstate. this tends to happen when the car is warmed up (driven for more than 15 or 20 minutes). there is also a random vibration that seems to come from the transmission for some time now. i have spoken with the local honda dealer and they have quoted me a price of $4600 to fix the transmission, but claim that this is normal for this car. the 2003 honda accord has 4 recalls on it already. this is very disappointing to have purchased what i thought was going to be a quality, top of the line honda, only to have numerous problems. *tr

The transmission slipped out of gear while accelerating and merging onto a busy highway. the motor rpms went up but the vehicle was not being powered. this created a dangerous situation for my family and i. after the initial incident, the transmission has slipped out of gear on numerous other occasions. my mechanic advised that the transmission is in need of a rebuild. the vehicle currently has 59425 miles on the odometer. *tr

A couple of weeks ago my automatic transmission started acting funny at low speeds - having trouble downshifting to speed up the car (i.e. going about 25 and then trying to speed up - it would just feel like it was in neutral and the car would rev but not speed up).the biggest issue then was that, at high speeds, the car would violently shift into 1st gear - thus causing the car to suddenly and severely slow down. this happened several times on the highway, and each time i barely avoided an accident - luckily no one was right behind me either time it happened. after doing some research, it looks like '03 honda accords with the v6 have major transmission issues - and it appears many other people have had this same issue.... but i was never made aware of it. my current car is an accident waiting to happen. i called honda and they will not do anything about. *tr

Transmission fail. when warm transmission won't stay in gear and slips.d rebuilt had to have it towed to a shop and rebuilt. *tr

I bought my honda from the dealership 06/23/12, 1 owner completely serviced through the dealership then traded in at same dealership. when bought it had 101,793 miles, timing belt was done at 90k and power steering pump. not even month later i had to replace throttle body. i've always felt something wrong with the transmission after bought car. on 11/10/2012 out of no where when i was getting off the freeway my car started to down shift really hard, was jerking while driving and then was stuck in first gear, luckily i was less than a mile from my house so i drove home then parked it and no indicator lights on. the next morning (today) called a friend who works on hondas and he looked at it and said the transmission fluid was very dirty and practically gone. drove around the block twice and transmission was working fine. then later drove about 8 miles and started hard down shifting and was stuck in first gear. then parked and tried to put my car in reverse and it not move acted like was in neutral. put it in park, turned it off then started it again and put it into reverse, reverse now worked. after that i had my friend look under the hood at the transmission fluid and it was practically empty again. so i went to the store got more transmission fluid and put some in and tried to drive back home. everything seemed fine for about another 8 miles then it started to hard down shift all over again. after another 3 miles the car completely freaked out check engine light finally came on along with the abs, tsc, and the light showing i was in drive started flashing. so i pulled over and put the car in park and everything was still doing the same thing, including the light indicating i was in drive even thought i was in park and the park gear light was on. so i turned off my car, sat for a min then restarted. driving slow needed to stop and brakes started to go out. *tr

Vehicle downshifted in low gear at highway speed almost causing a crash. took to transmission shop and they said transmission needs replacement. transmission shop hooked up to diagnostic and read the following codes: po747 a/t clutch pressure control solenoid valve a stuck on and po752 shift solenoid valve a stuck on . transmission shop states this is a very common problem. *tr

After about 45 minute ride out of my city on a major highway, my car violently downshifted from 65 mph to 0 and would not move out of first gear thereafter. this has happened everyday afterwards that i drive my car at least 20 minutes. it seems as if once a mechanism inside the transmission heats up or gets hot, this happens. i always service my vehicle as required, i am worried. this is a major transmission failure. i have read where over 200 other honda owners have had this issue in the past but no recall has been issued. please advise. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. while driving approximately 25 mph, the transmission began to slip gears and then failed to respond. the vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road where the engine was turned off. the vehicle was able to resume in operation after waiting for one hour. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who advised the contact that the transmission would need to be replaced due to internal damage. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 99,892. the manufacturer would not assist the consumer with replacing the transmission, because she was not the original owner. updated 03/21/13

I am the first owner of 2003 accord, ex. my car has 113,000 miles on it. its a well maintained car i kept for years. i must say that this car is excellent, however, there are signs that some parts are not functioning really well lately. for the past few months, i noticed my tcs sign on the dashboard comes on and off together with the triangle sign in orange. it started coming on after i turned off the ignition to my first destination and after just like 10-15 minutes and start my engine again, it will come on after driving for next 5-10 minutes. also, just two weeks ago i noticed that the gear gets stuck on "park" mode and i have to press the handle before it gets released. i am not sure if the gear has something to do with the tcs and triangle showing on the dashboard. also, i noticed my car has an issue with brakes when driving while raining. i have to step on the brakes a few times when its slippery to be able to come to a full stop. it's so scary that i almost hit the car in front of me a few times. i am lodging my complain so the manufacturer would take a look on this issue as i found all the complaints on tcs issue on 2003 honda accord ex online when i was trying to look for a solution on the same issue for my car. *tr

Cannot drive the car over 40 miles/hour. took to honda service center in anaheim, ca, and they told me i needed to change the transmission. car cannot shift into 3rd gear. it is very dangerous to drive and i might get stranded anywhere. *tr

Driving at approximately 68 mph on interstate 5 when car felt like the brakes had been applied, hard. luckily there was not a lot of traffic behind me because it was a very quick deacceleration to 30mph and a very dangerous situation. i was able to limp along the freeway with my flashers on at 35mph, top speed, until i could get off of the freeway. when i was putting the car on the trailer dolly we realized that i had no reverse gear. the next morning, the car reengaged with reverse while taking the car off of the car trailer. the car was brought to a transmission shop that diagnosed that the transmission had failed at 106,000miles. we had taken the car into the honda dealer for the 2004 transmission recall repair. i had no previous warning that there was any problems with the transmission until this failure. *tr

Coming to a stop sign, slowed car down to a stop. pushed the accelerator and the transmission did not go into gear, felt like it was in neutral, but the shifter was set to "d". i had to put the shifter into "2" to get it to move. if it was a yield sign instead of a stop, and i had slowed down and the car did not accelerate, i could have easily been hit. car also has problems shifting from 2nd gear into 3rd gear. the rpms jump between shifts. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. the contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle suddenly down shifted and vehicle speed decreased. the vehicle was later towed to an independent mechanic. after diagnosis, the contact was informed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. the failure and current mileages were approximately 120,000. the vin was unavailable.

Transmission stopped working will entering on-ramp onto a major freeway (i-45 n) and i had to push the car off on to the median during rush hour traffic. horrible incident and could have been ugly if it happened on the freeway! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. the vehicle was included and repaired under nhtsa campaign id number: 04v176000 (power train: automatic transmission). after the repair the vehicle was parked with the key out of the ignition when the contact noticed the vehicle began to roll backwards independently. the contact entered the vehicle, applied the emergency brake, and inserted the key in the ignition in order to stop the vehicle. the contact stated that the gear was in reverse. also, the contact mentioned that she was able to remove the key without the vehicle being in park. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 75,000.

When driving the car will not shift from second to third gears. while driving, the car while suddenly downshift to a lower gear with no warning. no check engine light is on. honda states this is not covered under warranty but this should be since it is a major component of the car and this is something that honda was aware of when the car was released. *tr

The car acted like it was 'missing' gears, but this went away. i started to enter the freeway ramp and increase speed and the car did it several times again (missing gears', revving but not moving forward like it should) and was almost hit by several cars trying to get me to move. i was unable to get the car to move, so i immediately used gps to locate a service station. i was able to drive the to the repair shop, but the car symptoms continued to get worse, which was a significant safety hazard! no check engine lights came on at all! i was able to make it to the driveway of the repair shop, but they had to push the car into the bay to review it. the repair place determined that the transmission has an internal problem, which is very common with 2003 honda accords. i only had 89,900 miles on the car. i have owned several hondas and have never had problems such as this. however, honda knows that this is an ongoing, safety hazard but has done nothing to address these ongoing issues (outside of the class action lawsuit requirements). i will be looking at new cars and hondas will not be on my list! i am asking the us department of transportation to please thoroughly review the history of transmission issues with these cars and require appropriate consumer protection by honda. *tr

Key fell apart in hand when placed into ignition and made vehicle unable to start engine. gear shift button which needed to be depressed to shift fell out and made vehicle unable to be shifted into gear. *tr

While driving on busy street the car violently shifted into first gear at about 25 miles per hour, luckily there were no other cars behind me at the time, had there been this issue could have caused an accident. after this incident the car had intermittent issues with the transmission slipping out of gear. i took it to the honda dealership and was told the transmission was failing, causing the issues. after researching, i found that this was a common problem with 2003 accords. *tr

Driving up to the high desert at 70 mph the transmission dropped out of 5th to 1st and back to gear 4 times tell only second and first gears only work. there was no warning of a problem tell this time. i could of been in a sever accident, if i would of lost control of the car at this speed or someone was to close to me an hit me from going 70mpg to 10mpg in less in a second. this car only has 89k on it and should not be having a problem like this . this is a major safety problem when a car just locks up at freeway speeds . honda should do something about this. there are a lot of online forums with just this problem if i would of known about this i would not of picked this car. i drive a lot of mountain roads and freeways. if this would of happen on a mountain road going up are even down i may not be her right now to send this complaint. i would be part of the mountain side. this need immediate attention, just like with ford having tier problems,toyota having there problem with safety on the vehicles this one that need attention. *tr

Vehicle transmission shifted from ~3rd-4th gear while driving at a constant 40 miles per hour in traffic to 1st gear causing very rapid de acceleration (sufficient to cause items on rear deck to fly forward, seat belts to lock, and driver to hit steering wheel) and causing other drivers to brake to avoid collision. dry pavement prevented loss of control. action by trailing drivers (spacing and braking) prevented collision. following incident, transmission remained locked in first gear. transmission first locked into first gear (as above) on august 18, 2012. on august 21, 2012 the dealer returned the vehicle after asserted the transmission had not failed and required only flushing and changing transmission fluid (transmission fluid had been flushed and changed in 2010 as scheduled maintenance less than 12,000 miles of this failure). dealer charged more than $250 for this service and stated vehicle was fully repaired. second dangerous failure occurred within 5 miles. honda dealer refused to refund the cost of work resulting from faulty diagnosis which placed a dangerous functioning transmission back into use. transmission recalled in 2004 and modified by dealer pursuant to transmission lubrication problems. honda dealer provided all state inspections and periodic maintenance. honda north america refused to replace defective and dangerously functioning transmission. the dealer has agreed to replace the transmission with a re-manufactured transmission for $2500. the owner believes this failure is related to the previous recall. vehicle has only been used for light duty, has never been used for towing, and all scheduled maintenance has been performed by dealer. the mode of failure was very dangerous. a recall should be considered and transmissions with this mode of failure replaced by manufacturer. investigation is requested.

The transmission started slipping and the transmission/transmission fluid started overheating and boiling. the car started smoking and we had to pull over. when towed to a mechanic they said the transmission was bad and was slipping. *tr

Returning from richmond car downshifted by it self into 2nd gear at a speed of about 65 mph causing the car to dive violently as if applying the brakes hard. it did this about 5 or 6 times then locked in 2nd gear . i moved to the right lane and drove the car at a speed of 45 mph stuck in 2nd gear to my local honda dealer. thank goodness there was not a lot traffic on the road when this happened or i might have been hit from behind. *tr

I was traveling at 60 mph on us 30 when my honda accord suddenly jerked and slipped into low gear. i was nearly rearended and was definitely in shock. i continued homeward and it did the same thing 3 more times. i had slowed my speed to 40 mph but the engine sounded like i was going too fast for the gear i was in so slowed down even more....put my flashers on and crept home. since it is after hours i must wait until tomorrow to contact the dealership. however i have found that many people have had the same problem with honda accords. *tr

I was driving in a side street for like 35 to 40mph. and then all of a sudden my car shift to lower gear violently hen when i'm about to park i shifted it to reverse but my car will not move. for like a year only i replaced my transmission fluid and check it everything looks fine. and i talked to one of the dealer close to my place they told me its not covered with warranty anymore. plus i'm unemployed base from some of the forum that i read they said that it will cost about $2500 to $3500 new transmission. how can i afford that.. please someone help me or give me some advice to deal with it. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. the contact stated that the transmission jerked and hesitated while driving at various speeds. the contact also stated that the transmission would downshift sporadically. in addition, the transmission would engage from fourth to third gear and from third to second gear without warning. the vehicle had not been inspected. the contact stated that in 2004 the vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs under nhtsa recall campaign id number: 04v176000 (power train: automatic transmission). the dealer replaced the oil jet kit on the vehicle, but did not repair the transmission. the failure and the current mileages were 142,000.

Only 125k miles on the car. i noticed the transmission slipping when going into/out of second gear. i took it for a drive later to see if i could replicate the problem and could not. two days later, while getting off of the interstate and turning onto the surface streets, the transmission suddenly start jolting and downshifting even though i was pressing on the gas. it continued to do so all the way to the dealer. i could not get it to go past second gear. was told that i need a new transmission at a cost of $4,000. have since seen that this make and model is having all kinds of problems. there are websites addressing the problems and apparently a facebook page. i also learned after the fact that there had been a recall in 2004 related to the second gear but they patched it with some cheesy kit and apparently prayed that the s -t would hit the fan after everyone's warranty expired -- which it has. the nhtsa needs to recall these vehicles and require honda to make good on them. *tr

I bought the vehicle used had 80,000 miles on it i hardly ever used the vehicle it suddenly happened was driving and all the sudden it down shifted vigorously with no indication on dash ,like check engine light ,i was driving with my children ,almost got rear ended by another vehicle then it went into neutral it didn't go anywhere turned it off waited turned it back on drove for a little and again the same thing i have been researching this online and its known this is a problem and no one has done anything honda said they put a oil jet injector but that did not fix the situation from my understanding and its a v6 i cannot pay for a new transmission ,i'm also paying for the vehicle and cannot drive it please help. *tr

The transmission had a major transmission failure of some kind as the car was just driving along the highway. it was as if someone had hit the brakes hard. the car went from 60 to 40 in just a second or two it seemed like... a violent slowdown. now the transmission has no reverse, and forward driving is clunky, hard shifts and unpredictable. *tr

Going to work yesterday car suddenly jerks as if down shifting or something, rpms go crazy as if i have my foot on gas while in neutral, jerks along until nothing happens no gears at all. pull over kill it then wait restart and get another half mile along and have to keep doing it all over again all the way to work. husband gets it home the same way. dealer closed today(4th of july) or at least i got no answer when calling. started surfing the web with this issue and have been horrified with all i have read about my car. someone needs to do something, still owe a yr on it, cant afford to fix it...hoping the dealer will do something when we go see them tomorrow. thought i had the best car ever when i got it in 08, have had no other problems, and was told by honda when i got it what a good deal i was getting because the previous owner had just traded it back and they had all service history with them etc... yet no mention about any of this, and they had to have known by then that this model was having issues with transmission failure. *js

No issues prior to the drive into work 7/3/12, where i experienced extreme downshifting. on the way home, driving 35 to 40 mph, the car slipped out of gear and the engine's rpms skyrocketed. while maneuvering to the right to get out of traffic, transmission re-engaged and downshifted violently. from a stopped position it would move forward briefly, then slip out of gear. finally, it wouldn't engage in any position (reverse, drive, 1st, 2nd, etc). the only way to get moving was to turn it off and restart. i got it to the dealer by restarting 3 or 4 times. extremely dangerous in rush hour to lose all power, especially at intersections. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. the contact stated that while driving approximately 65 to 70 mph, the vehicle violently down shifted. the contact was able to coast to the side of the road. after restarting, the vehicle was unable to go over 25 mph. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. after diagnosis, they advised him that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000. the current mileage was approximately 154,000. *tr updaated 6/4/13 *cn the consumer stated the vehicle violently downshifted the high gear to lowest. this caused the vehicle to decelerate from 65-70 mph to 20-25mph, making the vehicle to buck and swerve from left and right. updated 06/14/2013 *js

Automatic transmission problems. *tr

The car after being driven to work by my wife would hesitate going into gear. after speaking to the honda dealership,and honda america we were told it to far out of warranty to be covered. we have owned several honda cars and now we are told they will not cover any of the costs involved. i thought honda was better than this. *tr

Noticed when accelerating gently, car more quickly accelerated than usual to the next gear. then the rpms shot up very high and very slowly and dropped suddenly when car achieved 35 mph, causing car and me to lurch and sling me backward into the seat. the next day, at 117,699 miles, i drove vehicle to my dealership, economy honda on chapman rd, in chattanooga tn. they drove it, and agreed it was the transmission. they had replaced my first transmission in september 2008 under extended warranty at 67,618 miles because it did the same thing. later i found out the first one was recalled anyway in 2004. american honda communicated with economy honda for a deal: me to pay $2650.08 instead of $3886.50 to replace this current transmission, which has not even made it to its first fluid change (not until about 17,000 more miles). this is a two-fold issue. the first being that this can quickly and unexpectedly turn into a deadly issue, and the second being that a large corporation is being abusive to its consumers. many people do not have the option of repairing, trading in, or leasing a new vehicle. how many people are locked in with honda, and have pushed their vehicles to the limit even though this transmission issue is going on because they can not afford to make their vehicle safe? if i drive my honda, is someone going to rear-end me on the highway and kill me and my children because my transmission is failing and my car won't maintain proper speed because of a faulty job that honda did on my second transmission? honda told me it was safe enough to drive home until they figured out how much to charge me, so it will be just fine, i'm sure. *tr

Transmission failed on accord 2003 v6, violent shifts, slippage from 2nd to 3rd. i have not reached complete failure but stopped driving car after reading that failure can lead to sudden deceleration and possible accidents. *tr

Driving up a slight hill. car started jerking and revving up. car would not move. had to coast to side of road and pull off. problem was a complete transmission failure. very low mileage and trans mission had all scheduled maintenance. could of been major safety issue since traffic was heavy and car all of a sudden slowed down and caused a stopping of traffic. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 honda accord. the contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the transmission failed. the contact stated that the vehicle's speed dropped from 70 mph to 25 mph very quickly on its own. the contact shifted the vehicle into neutral and coasted to the side of the road. the vehicle was then towed to an auto repair center. the repair center stated that there were metal shreds everywhere around the transmission and the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that she should notify nhtsa and file a complaint. the failure mileage was 130,000. the vin was unavailable.

While merging onto i75 off of square lake rd north of detroit, transmission momentarily failed then engaged with a jolt in a low gear making this normally routine maneuver quite treacherous. luckily there was no accident or injury. shortly thereafter transmission underwent complete rebuild at my cost. i have since discovered that this malady is quite common with this model and year at approximately this mileage. *tr

It will not shift into second gear,and now it is not wanting to shift in to third,when the car is cold,it seems to have a vacuum leak. *js

When driving both on street and highway the vehicle suddenly shift gears on its own. the rpms will go up and the car violently slows down. for some time after the vehicle will not shift up and will not go above 25 mph. *tr

Subsequent to getting a rebuilt transmission on june 6, 2012, with 82,905 miles on the car, i found out that transmission problems are extremely prevalent in 2003 honda accords. in fact, there was a recall in 2004. i bought the car 1/30/2006 from thousand oaks (ca) honda. i talked to honda customer service (800-999-1009) today and my case is being referred to a case manager. we will see what happens . . . *tr

Driving 65mph on a highway then the car suddenly downshifted and came down to 40mph. *js

Seven days ago, the car suddenly began shifting very hard at mid-levels speeds (between 30 and 50 mph). after four incidents in two days, i took to the dealership, but they were unable to recreate the problem. over the next several days, the problem continued intermittently, shaking violently, but now also at very low speeds. today, the rpms randomly spiked while driving, then violent shook at a modest (40 mph) and constant speed, then the car would not shift properly (e.g., at 40 mph, the rpms were about 4100; pushing to 50 mph only raised the rpms to 5000). i stopped for gas on my way to the dealership, and upon re-starting the car, the "check engine" light, the tcs (traction control system) and the green light next to "d" were all lit up. i made it to the dealership, where they diagnosed the problem as a bad transmission that needed to be replaced (cost quoted was $4281 plus tax). *tr