If you have a 3rd gear issue you MUST read!!!

[CanyonDriver]

I finally decided to get my MTF changed today on my FG2 while i was at EZ Lube doing an oil change, and flushing my engine. My buddies work at the one by my house so they take real good care of me, and hook up the prices. When they were draining my tranny (keep in mind i havent touched the MTF since i drove it off the lot. all from factory/dealership) you will not believe what came out. GEAR OIL! Not manual transmission fluid, but gear oil. They were shocked and started asking me who had done this and I told them the dealership sold it to me that way. I had ranted on to them about my 3rd gear issue, and they said that having gear oil rather than honda genuine MTF could cause major tranny issues. At first when i began talking about the issues they said it was probably the way i drive, but once they found the gear oil they said it made sense to have those problems at 10,000 miles.

I'm going to go to my dealership when i get off of work tomorrow and demand a reimbursement for the MTF change since I used the Honda Genuine MTF, and bitch out the service manager for allowing something so harmful to my transmission to be poured into it. Who knows, maybe this is a common error, and most people havent noticed when draining out their trannys.

The problem is reoccurring soon after MTF changes from what ive heard, but maybe its because the damage has been done and nothing short of a rebuild will solve it. Give me feed back please! I'm ******* furious with honda right now, and want to see if ANYONE has encountered this.

[CanyonDriver]

bump.

[drfters13]

damn man that sucks. hope everything gets worked out

[CanyonDriver]

Originally Posted by drfters13

damn man that sucks. hope everything gets worked out

i just hope the damage done isnt more than my friend and I can handle if it starts to go completely bad. Today it didnt want to even shift into 4th gear. I noticed when i 1st bought the car that the shifting was unusually stiff and notchy, but thought it just needed to be broken in. Next car I get, all fluid swapped out at 1st oil change just to be sure

[NitrousG35]

I'd say your friendly local Honda dealer owes you a new transmission. This goes beyond malfeasance. Whoever did this is a blooming idiot. Tech screw up and dealer pays.

[CanyonDriver]

Originally Posted by NitrousG35

I'd say your friendly local Honda dealer owes you a new transmission. This goes beyond malfeasance. Whoever did this is a blooming idiot. Tech screw up and dealer pays.

Thank you . Im going to go in there tomorrow and raise hell with which ever service manager approaches me with a big fake smile first. My boys work at EZ Lube, and they filed my gear oil **** up under my client records, so they're willing to speak on my behalf if the dealership tries to pull a fast one with the warranty saying my mods caused the problem rather than the crap they put in my tranny.

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by CanyonDriver

Thank you . Im going to go in there tomorrow and raise hell with which ever service manager approaches me with a big fake smile first. My boys work at EZ Lube, and they filed my gear oil **** up under my client records, so they're willing to speak on my behalf if the dealership tries to pull a fast one with the warranty saying my mods caused the problem rather than the crap they put in my tranny.

Good. It is good to get corroborative testimony on this, especially since the guys at EZ Lube do this all the time. They had better not pull the warranty card threat out. This is irrelevant to anything done to the car. This is simply gross negligence. Having gear lube in a transmission almost certainly has damaged synchros or gears.

Please let us know how this turns out. I want to see these guys get reamed. Talk to SpecialRingpop about his dealer putting in the wrong motor oil all the time. It is getting where quality and Honda are mutually exclusive terms.

[Special Ringpop]

Haha, did I hear my name!?

Yeah, Richfield-Bloomington Honda and Van's Honda put 5W-20 oil in my car two times and one time, respectively.

Granted, it isn't NEARLY as severe negligence as what they did to your vehicle, but they should know better than to put the wrong oil in your car. 20 vs. 30 probably won't hurt the car, but it doesn't sit well with me that the dealership for the company who made my car doesn't even know what oil to use, even after I tell them and it being on the cap.

My advice would to be polite and business-like at first. Believe me, I know it is hard...TRUST ME. But you can always turn into the Hulk after the dealership starts to question you or give you shit...you can't go in as the Hulk and expect to get things done the cordial way later. First impression on a circumstance like this can mean everything.

If they aren't being receptive, then by all means, ream them.

[NitrousG35]

Believe me, when Mike tears off his shirt and his muscles blow up like balloons and his face turns a nice shade of Irish green, things happen. They are still trying to remove the remains of a service writer off the wall of a dealership that told him, "Sorry Sir, we can't replicate your third gear transmission problems".

In all seriousness, as Mike said, go in polite and cordial. Explain what happened and state the seriousness of the issue. Ask the dealer to take a look at it and ask them what they intend to do about it. If they refuse to do anything or wave the modified parts deal at you, let you Hulk side come out and start dismantling that dealership.

[Special Ringpop]

^ That made my day.

Evidently, the guy that got into a screaming match with me at Walser Honda over a year ago (the one that called me a "liar" about third gear just trying to get a free MTF swap) was fired for some things he said/did to his customers. In all seriousness, though, I do try my utmost best to be friendly and accomodating as much as I can, but I have a very hard time not losing it when I get disrespected.

I'd hate to know I had anything to do with that...not.

[videogmike]

edit: little off topic sorry but funny experience w/ stupid dealer

lol you know what happened to me?.

they finally get my car and i go in to get it. and the guy says see if there's any gas in it yet, they were supposed to fill it up, and of course no one filled it up.

so he asks if i want to drive him to a gas station and he'll buy me a tank of gas and i say sure. we drive to the gas station, he gets out starts pumping gas i'm walking around the car just looking at it. contemplating what i'd just done, the whole omg is this really mine, omg did i just buy this, OMG WHY DID I JUST BUY THIS, i have betrayed my prelude by getting a civic, etc.

anyways i look over at the pump, and i see he's putting regular in...i very promptly walk over and stop the pump. he looks at me very confused asking what the problem is. i say, "this car takes premium gas" he assures me that i'm very confused and that while you'd think this car takes premium it actually doesn't. now i was as sure as i could be i wasn't crazy so i peek in the dash, doesn't say anything, then i remember it's right inside the gas door. i point to the sticker that says *PREMIUM UNLEADED FUEL ONLY (SEE OWNERS MANUAL).

needless to say he was dumbstruck and very embarassed.

[FG2MN]

Originally Posted by videogmike

edit: little off topic sorry but funny experience w/ stupid dealer

lol you know what happened to me?.

they finally get my car and i go in to get it. and the guy says see if there's any gas in it yet, they were supposed to fill it up, and of course no one filled it up.

so he asks if i want to drive him to a gas station and he'll buy me a tank of gas and i say sure. we drive to the gas station, he gets out starts pumping gas i'm walking around the car just looking at it. contemplating what i'd just done, the whole omg is this really mine, omg did i just buy this, OMG WHY DID I JUST BUY THIS, i have betrayed my prelude by getting a civic, etc.

anyways i look over at the pump, and i see he's putting regular in...i very promptly walk over and stop the pump. he looks at me very confused asking what the problem is. i say, "this car takes premium gas" he assures me that i'm very confused and that while you'd think this car takes premium it actually doesn't. now i was as sure as i could be i wasn't crazy so i peek in the dash, doesn't say anything, then i remember it's right inside the gas door. i point to the sticker that says *PREMIUM UNLEADED FUEL ONLY (SEE OWNERS MANUAL).

needless to say he was dumbstruck and very embarassed.

[CanyonDriver]

Thanks to all of you who have responded/given input on how to handle this situation. I will be as sophisticated as possible at first, but if they absolutely insist on doing nothing I will get ugly. Things get ugly when I snap, and my demands will be met inevitably. My goal is to get a new tranny/rebuild my current one, but we'll have to see.

[_flipxcyd]

Originally Posted by NitrousG35

I'd say your friendly local Honda dealer owes you a new transmission. This goes beyond malfeasance. Whoever did this is a blooming idiot. Tech screw up and dealer pays.

You know...I have a similar story which involved my sister's 2000 Toyota 4-Runner. While stepping on the brakes, they vibrate violently. Thinking something was wrong with her brakes, she took it into Les Schwab who did her brakes last and explained to her that motor oil got into the brake lines. She thought long and hard trying to figure out how it got in there. The cost to replace the entire brake system? Estimated at about $3K! Les Schwab suggested that whoever did her last oil change, that she take it to the people who did it, and guess what? She did it at Bob Bridge Toyota... I think in Renton, WA. She explained the problem to them, and they said they weren't sure if the warranty she had purchased would cover it. Bob BRidge could have easily said my sister was negligent. But seriously, she's not mechanically-inclined. My sister feared they were going to pretty much say it was her word against theirs. Fortunately for her and without Bob Bridge admitting fault, they replaced her entire brake system (the lines, pads, etc) to a tune of about $3800 less her $50 deductible. She paid the deductible because didn't want them turning around and saying it was her fault.

I explained this to a friend of mine who also happens to be a Toyota mechanic, and this is what he says most likely happened. He said that the new Tundras (or was it the Tacomas) have a narrow space when it comes time to draining the oil (the oil drains from the top of the engine), so they use the narrow Toyota brake fluid bottles to catch the oil. What could have happened is that the Toyota technician grabbed what he thought was the brake fluid bottle (but actually contained used motor oil) to top off the brake fluid reservoir. Yikes

[CanyonDriver]

^ Damn thats messed up. You would think certified tech's would be more diligent than that. I know personally if I even get into the passenger seat of another persons car I treat it like its made of egg shells.

[furryferret7888]

wow....thats why i want to do ALL of my fluid changes...

my buddy just bought a car...went to a gasstation/oil change place here....many people do, and they drained all the oil and either did not put the oil plug back in tight enough, or just did not at all....but he drove away, got like 3-5miles away, and it locked up.....they wouldnt fix it...they said he coulda drained it as soon as he drove away....HA

[GeezerSi]

Now I wonder if my dealer saw the same thing too when they replaced my MTF with the new fluid, but didn't say anything. Would they admit it, or just lie and say nothing? Hmmm, I wonder. Of course I will never know now.

I have lost any trust in my dealer since my experience with them when I brought my Civic in for the 3rd gear issue.

[mwinters601]

Good luck, my expirience with the dealers so far with this car is sub-par at best.

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by _flipxcyd

You know...I have a similar story which involved my sister's 2000 Toyota 4-Runner. While stepping on the brakes, they vibrate violently. Thinking something was wrong with her brakes, she took it into Les Schwab who did her brakes last and explained to her that motor oil got into the brake lines. She thought long and hard trying to figure out how it got in there. The cost to replace the entire brake system? Estimated at about $3K! Les Schwab suggested that whoever did her last oil change, that she take it to the people who did it, and guess what? She did it at Bob Bridge Toyota... I think in Renton, WA. She explained the problem to them, and they said they weren't sure if the warranty she had purchased would cover it. Bob BRidge could have easily said my sister was negligent. But seriously, she's not mechanically-inclined. My sister feared they were going to pretty much say it was her word against theirs. Fortunately for her and without Bob Bridge admitting fault, they replaced her entire brake system (the lines, pads, etc) to a tune of about $3800 less her $50 deductible. She paid the deductible because didn't want them turning around and saying it was her fault.

I explained this to a friend of mine who also happens to be a Toyota mechanic, and this is what he says most likely happened. He said that the new Tundras (or was it the Tacomas) have a narrow space when it comes time to draining the oil (the oil drains from the top of the engine), so they use the narrow Toyota brake fluid bottles to catch the oil. What could have happened is that the Toyota technician grabbed what he thought was the brake fluid bottle (but actually contained used motor oil) to top off the brake fluid reservoir. Yikes

Whoa, motor oil in the the brake system? That may just have taken the proverbial cake. I am surprised the car even stopped. I suppose they put it in to prevent sludge in the brake lines. Yikes.