Every Gear Acts Like Neutral

On Jan 27, 5:13 pm, PeterOut wrote:
> My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> Peter.

I guess it's too bad we didn't see this before we bought it
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2001/transmission/transmissio...ailure.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:13:39 -0800 (PST), PeterOut
wrote:

>My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
>to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
>day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
>working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
>Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
>It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
>Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>Peter.

Is the shift linkage really doing anything?
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 7:47 pm, "Charles" wrote:
> PeterOut wrote:
> > On Jan 27, 5:23 pm, Bob wrote:
> >> Is the shift linkage really doing anything?
>
> > I don't understand the question. Changing between R, N, D, D2, etc.
> > does not make any difference.
>
> Bob is suggesting that the shift lever is disconnected from the
> transmission.
>
> _Is_ every gear neutral? Perhaps you are still in Park. Can you push the car
> by hand with the parking brake off?
>
> --
> Chuck

I just tried the car out again. Park is not neutral. It acts as I
would expect "park" to act. It is the only setting that does not act
as neutral.

Thanks,
Peter.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

Suggest you take it back to the very reputable mechanic....


PeterOut wrote:
> My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> Peter.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 8:08 pm, Jeff wrote:
> PeterOut wrote:
> > My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> > to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> > day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> > working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> > Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> > It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> > Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> > Peter.
>
> If it is still in the 30-day trial period, hire a tow truck and take it
> back.
>
> Jeff

Unfortunately it is not. We thought we were covering our bases by
taking it to a supposedly reputable mechanic during that period. They
found no problems. Perhaps the next step should be a class action
suit but I am not sure how successful that will be since it was far
from being a new car.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 8:24 pm, Jeff wrote:
> PeterOut wrote:
> > On Jan 27, 7:47 pm, "Charles" wrote:
> >> PeterOut wrote:
> >>> On Jan 27, 5:23 pm, Bob wrote:
> >>>> Is the shift linkage really doing anything?
> >>> I don't understand the question. Changing between R, N, D, D2, etc.
> >>> does not make any difference.
> >> Bob is suggesting that the shift lever is disconnected from the
> >> transmission.
>
> >> _Is_ every gear neutral? Perhaps you are still in Park. Can you push the car
> >> by hand with the parking brake off?
>
> >> --
> >> Chuck
>
> > I just tried the car out again. Park is not neutral. It acts as I
> > would expect "park" to act. It is the only setting that does not act
> > as neutral.
>
> > Thanks,
> > Peter.
>
> How does the car act differently between park and the other gears?
>
> The only difference between park and neutral is that there is a
> mechanism that prevents the drive shafts from turning.
>
> However, this does indicate that the shift lever is connected to the
> transmission.
>
> Jeff

I guess that's not good. Seems like a problem with the transmission.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:13:39 -0800, PeterOut wrote:

> My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> to a supposedly very reputable mechanic

Instead of reputable mechanic, how about you find a competent mechanic?
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 9:01 pm, "Woody" wrote:
> No mechanic can predict what is going to fail in the future. He can only
> asses the condition when he sees it. Stop pissing that he didn't see the
> failure was going to happen and take it to someone to diagnose the problem
> and get it fixed. You aparently don have the ability to troubleshoot
> yourself xo call a tow truck or maybe you can find a service shop that will
> pick it up...
>
> "PeterOut" wrote in message
>
>
>
> > On Jan 27, 8:08 pm, Jeff wrote:
> >> PeterOut wrote:
> >> > My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> >> > to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> >> > day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> >> > working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> >> > Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> >> > It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> >> > Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> >> > Peter.
>
> >> If it is still in the 30-day trial period, hire a tow truck and take it
> >> back.
>
> >> Jeff
>
> > Unfortunately it is not. We thought we were covering our bases by
> > taking it to a supposedly reputable mechanic during that period. They
> > found no problems. Perhaps the next step should be a class action
> > suit but I am not sure how successful that will be since it was far
> > from being a new car.

I was thinking of a suit against Honda, not the mechanic.
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On Jan 27, 9:11 pm, Say What? wrote:
> PeterOut wrote:
> >> If it is still in the 30-day trial period, hire a tow truck and take it
> >> back.
>
> >> Jeff
>
> > Unfortunately it is not. We thought we were covering our bases by
> > taking it to a supposedly reputable mechanic during that period. They
> > found no problems. Perhaps the next step should be a class action
> > suit but I am not sure how successful that will be since it was far
> > from being a new car.
>
> Lotsa luck with a class action suit. You're reading too many newspapers
> or comic books. Learn what is wrong with the car before you start
> mapping a brilliant legal strategy. The first (and likely the LAST)
> question you need to answer is "What warranty, if any, did you get with
> the car?" If your answer is "Uh, well, the bill of sale says "No
> Warranty, express or implied. Vehicle sold "As-Is"" you are, as they
> say in the legal biz: SCREWED!
>
> With no warranty, you have little recourse against the seller. He has
> no duty to repair it and you'll find it very difficult to show that he
> defrauded you when you already took the opportunity to check it out with
> your own mechanic beforehand.
>
> Hell, we don't even know HOW long it's been since you bought the car,
> "recently" being a relative term. Nor do we know how many miles was on
> the car and is on the car now.
>
> You haven't bothered to let us know of any symptoms which may have been
> observed before the fatal "everything is neutral."
>
> I suspect, like others, that the linkage PROBABLY is connected but from
> your poor description of the circumstance, it's possible that you don't
> know what you're talking about when you say PARK works normally. Does
> PARK just lock the ignition and steering wheel or does it actually
> engage the parking pawl in the transmission? i.e., when it's in park,
> can you push the car? When the car is rolling VERY slowly (you push,
> wife works the shift) and you put it in PARK is there a grabbing and
> quick stop of the car? If there isn't, it's not going into PARK and the
> linkage is again suspect. Even if the interlock works in PARK, I
> "think" there may be a possibility that the interlock could work WITHOUT
> the linkage to the transmission still being connected and/or properly
> adjusted.
>
> Bottom line: Everyone, especially yourself, needs to have more
> information before you get beyond having a car that doesn't move.

Thank you for your reply. We bought just over a month ago. It had
92839 miles when we bought it and we have since put about 500 miles on
it, 275 since it was checked by a mechanic. When my wife drove it
yesterday, it was slow getting into gear and then it revved up a bit
when it was in gear. When my son drove it today, it gradually got
progressively worse but somehow he managed to get home in it.
However, when I tried it the gears did not appear to engage at all.
The only gear that did not act like neutral was Park. The car was on
a slight downward incline and rolled with every setting expect park.
When I put it into park, it stopped rolling. My son and I can each
bench-press 200 pounds but we were not able to push it up the slight
incline when it was in Park with the brake off.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 9:19 pm, Jeff wrote:
> Woody wrote:
> > No mechanic can predict what is going to fail in the future. He can only
> > asses the condition when he sees it. Stop pissing that he didn't see the
> > failure was going to happen and take it to someone to diagnose the problem
> > and get it fixed. You aparently don have the ability to troubleshoot
> > yourself xo call a tow truck or maybe you can find a service shop that will
> > pick it up...
>
> However, I recommend that you don't go to a chain like AAMCO. AAMCO and
> other chain shops have a reputation of fixing every problem with a
> transmission rebuild. And, before you take it to a particular shop,
> check them out at the Better Business Bureau to see if they are a better
> business or not.
>
> Jeff
>

Thanks. I will keep that in mind.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

"PeterOut" wrote in message

> My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> Peter.


Check the transmission fluid. If the fluid level gets low enough, you won't
get any output from the torque converter.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral 

On Jan 27, 10:03 pm, "Seth" wrote:
>
> B) What class action? Are thousands of people affected by this 1 mechanic
> not predicting a future issue with a 6 year old used car? Or do you mean
> against Honda who sold this car 6 years ago and weren't the ones responsible
> for maintaining it?

It was a Honda purchased from a Honda dealer.
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On Jan 27, 10:07 pm, "JP" wrote:
> "PeterOut" wrote in message
>
>
>
> > My wife recently purchased an automatic 2001 Honda Civic. We took it
> > to a supposedly very reputable mechanic to check it out during the 30
> > day trial period. They found nothing wrong. Now it has just stopped
> > working. Whatever gear we put it into, it acts like it is neutral.
> > Put our foot down on the accelerator and it whines but doesn't move.
> > It seems like the engine is not engaging.
>
> > Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> > Peter.
>
> Check the transmission fluid. If the fluid level gets low enough, you won't
> get any output from the torque converter.

Thanks. I checked the transmission fluid. Is was clean and in the
normal range.

Thanks,
Peter.
 >> Stay informed about: Every Gear Acts Like Neutral