Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||||
| 1202 | 12/16/2002 | 10002575 | Straining the automatic transmission fluid (atf) to diagnose automatic transmissions. *tt | 09/05/2003 | |
| 010103 | 01/01/2003 | 10001790 | Check (atf) automatic transmission fluid condition to diagnose (a/t) automatic transmissions. *tt *jb | 07/18/2003 | |
| 010402 | 04/01/2002 | 636755 | Subject regarding automatic transmission shift problems - slippage, flare, hard upshift. *tt | 11/13/2002 | |
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||||
| 060103 | 06/01/2003 | 10002699 | Grade logic control information. *tt | 09/11/2003 | |
| 97024 | 03/17/1997 | 52394 | Atts light on/dtc 78: vehicle inventory update. *tw | 07/24/1997 | |
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - TORQUE CONVERTER | |||||
| 010400 | 04/01/2000 | 618985 | Subject regarding a leaking torque converter. *tt | 05/10/2001 | |
| POWER TRAIN - CLUTCH ASSEMBLY | |||||
| 010101 | 01/01/2001 | 624054 | Information regarding: transmission/driveline. *et | 10/31/2001 | |
| 010201 | 02/01/2001 | 619937 | Information on diagnosing clutch pressure switches when experiencing harsh or late upshifts and downshifts. *tt | 07/06/2001 | |
| 97080195057 | 08/18/1997 | 52947 | Fifth gear shift fork was not manufactured properly. *yc | 11/13/1997 | |
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||||
| 01070 | 08/07/2001 | A970028 | 623341 | Subject regarding parts to correct 5th gear grinding. *et | 10/26/2001 |
| 01070 | 08/07/2001 | 623292 | Subject regarding fifth gear grinds during upshift. *et | 10/26/2001 | |
| 95057 | 10/17/2000 | 95057 | 618903 | A condition may exist where the transmission grinds when shifted into 5th gear. *tt | 05/07/2001 |
| 97101395057 | 10/13/1997 | 54131 | Information regarding the transmission grinds when shifting into fifth grinds. *yc | 03/30/1998 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/06/2008 | 115000 | 1 | |
| My transmission on my 97 honda prelude went out on me it started to slip every day. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 03/31/2010 | 90000 | ||
| I've driving my prelude for 4 years. very soon after i got it i noticd the shifting was jerky. soon after it became jumpy and now when i drivie my car from cold its bolting into gear with a tremendous jerk. i feel its on its way out. | |||
| 05/05/2008 | 91000 | 1 | |
| The transmission in my 1997 honda prelude automatic ss crapped out on me after kicking and slipping for a few months so i had it rebuilt...and now a few months later it's already slipping and kicking again. it cost 1500 to have it rebuilt the first time, honda already addressed the 00-01 prelude auto transmissions in a recall, why haven't the addressed the issues in the prior years? it's the same car as the 00-01, no changes were made to the body, engine, transmission, and yet they refuse to address this widespread issue among prelude owners. i for one am tired of it, honda owes it to their loyal consumers that they confront this issue head on. *tr | |||
| 11/20/2005 | 50300 | 2 | |
| I have a 1997 prelude that has had 1 transmission failure in nov. of 2005 & it was rebuilt. it current is failing the same way the first transmission failed. it is making noise & starting to slip when it is cold. $1700 to fix the 1st transmission by a trans shop. i am joining a class action law suit if it is not taken care of from honda. this car only has 65,000 miles on it! *tr | |||
| 02/16/2008 | 180000 | 1 | 12/14/2007 |
| My 1997 honda prelude sports shift auto transmission failed and now it needs to be towed. *tr | |||
| 01/30/2008 | 169841 | 1 | 11/18/2007 |
| I recently bought my honda prelude back in november 18, 2007 from a used dealership. the car came with 167k miles and now i'm at 169k. the main reason why i am filing a complaint, is the automatic transmission is going out. i take my car to work, school, drive my mom to work, and even my younger brother to school. this is the only car we have. the transmission slips and jerks at low rpms from 1k-3k in 1st-2nd gear. i've done research on 97-01 honda preludes and the automatic transmission has the most fails. if my automatic transmission goes out i wouldn't have the funds to replace it while i'm still paying for insurance and monthly payments. i believe that honda should replace the transmission without cost even with cars without the extended warranty. also i hear that the 99-01 automatic transmissions were stronger than the 97-98 years and were also given an extended warranty for the 99-01 years with under 100k miles. *tr | |||
| 12/01/2005 | 97000 | 5 | |
| The automatic transmissions in 1997 honda preludes are weak and fail easy. the reason is cheap parts and metals in the transmissions themselves. the 97 preludes were recalled in turkey, and replaced with a new m6ha unit. mine is constantly slipping and tearing up. i'm looking at a constant problem that costs a lot of money. i bought this car for its quality and prestige in the honda world, but due to the lack of quality and workmanship in the automatic transmissions, my opinion of preludes has drastically dropped. i would not care if i had an automatic or a manual, i just want a car that works like the honda company lacked to make it. thank you. *nm | |||
| 05/05/2004 | 67000 | 1 | 10/07/1999 |
| 1997 honda prelude with only 67,000 miles. started to make a minor buzzing noise when in park or neutral. took it to my independent honda mechanic who told me that i had a bearing going in the transmission. it would require a rebuild of the transmission. cost $3,900. he suggested that i sell the car quickly as it wasn't worth the cost of repairs. that's what i did. sold it to a honda dealership. honda needs to recognize the problem with these transmissions. no more hondas for me. | |||
| 09/25/2003 | 10 | ||
| 1997 honda prelude transmission failure. honda refuses to assist consumers with faulty transmission problems inherent in the vehicles. trans will slip out of gear, or not engage when entering freeway, causing a dangerous and life threatening condition. when someone gets killed because of these transmissions, american honda will then be forced to recall these horrible cars.*ak | |||
| 04/14/2004 | 73000 | ||
| 97 honda prelude | |||
| 03/07/2004 | 99793 | 15 | 05/17/2003 |
| The transmission slips when shifting gears. when shifting from 1st to 2nd, the car will rev up like it's in neutral then suddenly jerk into 2nd. the same thing happens for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. on several occasions, when i came to a complete stop the car would shudder violently then the engine would cut out. this happen several times while i was trying to cross an intersection, and the car could not be stopped while in drive because the engine kept cutting out. i had to stay in neutral then shift to drive real quick and hope the engine didn't stall in order to cross the road. this has proven to be very dangerous, and potentially life threatening. the honda dealership says it's $3600 for a new transmission, and i don't have a guarantee that the new won't fail either. honda should pay to fix this obvious defect. *nm | |||
| 11/21/2003 | 45000 | 1 | 01/03/1999 |
| Transmission failed prematurely... car slows down significantly during gear shift in the automatic transmission. this causes the drivers following the vehicle to brake unexpectedly. *la | |||
| 10/03/2003 | 52540 | 1 | 07/04/2003 |
| My 1997 prelude ss had a transmission issue and it decided to go on me, in the middle of the road, while traffic was behind me. so, i decided to contact honda and make them see the issue, instead i received a no answer, which was a pretty lame excuse to not replace a transmission failure in all 97-99 honda prelude cars, so, the service manager decided to retry the honda usa number, and they got me through and replaced the transmission under a non-transmission warranty. so, my point is that honda must comply with a transmission warranty on all these cars, and not just the newer models, because it is unfair to have a transmission which will eventually fail, again and again and again. so, with all this said, i want to make sure something will be done regarding this issue. thanks. *la | |||
| 04/27/1998 | 3 | ||
| Problems with ball joints, brakes, air conditioner, radio, windshield and seats.*mr in addition, the engine burned oil, the vehicle had a hard time going backwards. consumer had numerous incidents with the vehicle going out control. the vehicle was repaired multiple times, but the problems continued to exist. *ph *jb | |||
| 09/06/2003 | 84000 | 1 | |
| My automatic transmission on my honda prelude is beginning to fail after only 80000 miles. it will occassion jolt and cause erradic acceleration and deceleration while traversing the freeways. i beleive this to be a considerable hazard to me and have since stopped driving the vehicle. *ak | |||
| 06/25/2003 | 66000 | 1 | 10/20/1997 |
| 1997 honda prelude sport shift transmission failure. car has only 60,000 miles and the transmission is failing. car is beginning to jerk forward when slowing down to a complete stop in traffic or at a stop light.*ak | |||
| 07/03/2003 | 2 | ||
| Automatic transmission began shifting extremely harshly. auto transmission failed prematurely.the transmission will slip into neutral while shifting from gear to gear. while under any kind of acceleration, the transmission will slip into neutral and the engine will climb rpms before the transmission engages, causing it to slam into gear. also the transmission will cause the car to stall at a stop, causing the car to shutter and die in certain situations.*ak | |||
| 04/14/2003 | 1 | 11/21/2001 | |
| The four speed automatic transmission in my 1997 honda prelude is defective. it shifts abruptly, slips, and has caused instances where my safety has been jeopardized. research on the internet has revealed numerous problems with this transmission. a company such as honda should recognize this as an inherent problem, and offer consumer assistance, such as they are doing with the 2000 through 2003 models ( 100,000 mile extended warranties). i am a young consumer, who once trusted honda, and will not regain that trust unless they stand behind their expensive product. my car is currently at a local honda dealer and they are quoting costs of from $1,000.00 to $3,000.00 to repair. the dealer has also stated that they are seeing numerous instances of failure with late model honda automatic transmissions. i cannot afford a high car payment, and continue to pay high repair bills for a late model car. honda motor company needs to address this problem, or possibly face a class action suit if inherent failures begin to cause severe accidents. toyota has been asked/required to fix the oil problems with there 4 cylinder camrys, so why shouldn't honda face up to and admit their inherent problems with their automatic transmissions. *nlm | |||
| 12/31/2002 | 117800 | 1 | 12/31/2002 |
| Faulty transmission in 1997 honda prelude ss automatic transmission. *jb | |||
| 03/26/2003 | 99500 | 2 | 06/22/2001 |
| I have a 1997 honda prelude sport-shift automatic. like most owners of this type of vehicle, the transmission went out. the gears begin to slip and will not engage. the dealer wanted $4000 to get a rebuilt transmission. i had it replaced, but then about 20,000 miles later, it went out again. this time the first gear did not engage. i am basically afraid to drive my car around anymore. i do not want to get it rebuilt again because of the fact that it may as well break again. however, the 2000-01 honda preludes with this type of transmission get an extended warranty and i find it very unfair that the same exact car with the same exact transmission gets an extended warranty, but the 1997-99 preludes do not. if honda knows of the faulty transmissions, why not replace all of the transmissions instead of the later year ones? i used to love honda vehicles, until i learned of many others with this same exact problem. *jb | |||
| 04/19/2002 | 80000 | 2 | 08/13/2000 |
| My car suddenly started shifting oddly and got more violent as time passed. this was dangerous because after reversing out of my driveway, the car would jerk and basically have a big clang. the car also died out when i was driving. after i replaced the transmission at 80000 miles, it is now starting to shift hard again. *jb | |||
| 11/20/2002 | 80000 | 5 | 07/01/2000 |
| While driving, the transmission slipped, causing the vehicle to surge forward. ts the transmission stalled, didn't shift gears properly, and would jerk, all while in motion and/or speeding up. scc | |||
| 05/18/2002 | |||
| Consumer states that when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear vehicle will skip,and motor will revv up to high rpm. when it finally shift vehicle will jerk forward, jerk is so severe that it may cause lost of control of vehicle.dealer contacted, cannot fix problem. mr | |||
| 07/01/2002 | 1 | 07/01/2097 | |
| When the vehicle is cold, the transmission experiences a delayed abrupt shift into reverse. when shifting from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, 4th to 3rd, and 3rd to 2nd, the transmission shift abruptly (sometimes delayed) until the car warms up. this made turning onto busy roads difficult as i was never sure how long the shifts would take. honda never identified the problem. their only solution was a complete transmission replacement. honda america provided the replacement transmission (goodwill assistance), but i was required to pay labor (~$380). the problem now appears to be fixed. nlm | |||
| 08/01/2001 | 1 | 05/01/2001 | |
| Automatic transmission began shifting extremely harshly. on upshift the car will squeal the tires causing obvious control problems. this poses a safety hazard, especially in heavy traffic, or on wet pavement or slick roads, as car is difficult to control on upshift. dealer says car needs remanufactured transmission. i have researched and found this (transmission failures) to be a known problem with honda preludes of this generation, as well as accuras of similar vintage. i have uncovered information that honda has been aware of this problem for some time and done nothing to correct. i contacted honda consumer service and they would not discuss with me. i feel honda should recall these cars for this potentailly dangerous defect.*ak | |||
| 08/04/2000 | 1 | 06/01/2000 | |
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| 07/10/2001 | 02/01/2001 | ||
| Auto transmission failed prematurely. 8 other reports filed to nhtsa, more than 20 others have similiar complaints of transmissions failing at www.hondaprelude.com. service bulletin issued by honda recognises the problem, but will not provide any financial assistance to repair the defect. | |||
| 06/01/2001 | 07/01/1998 | ||
| Transmission went out with only 60,000. dealership cannot give reason other than sometimes they just fall apart. dealership also stated that the transmission in the preludes are designed to go over 200,000 miles. had a diagnostic test done and result was converter collasped and destroyed transmission. sometimes they just fall apart is a very expensive answer for a car with only 60,000 miles.*ak | |||
| 06/18/2001 | 1 | 03/01/2001 | |
| When vehicle is cold, the transmission will slip into neutral while shifting from gear to gear. while under any kind of acceleration, the transmission will slip into neutral and the engine will climb rpms before the transmission engages, causing it to slam into gear. also the transmission will cause the car to stall at a stop, causing the car to shutter and die in certain situations. dealer is well aware of the problem, but refusing to fix it. *ak | |||
| When vehicle is cold transmission does not shift from first to second gear, and then from third to fourth, extreme hesitation occurs. cause unknown. please give any further details. *ak | |||
| 04/27/1998 | 1 | 03/07/1997 | |
| Transmission does not go into reverse some times. yh | |||
| 06/08/1999 | 3 | 08/01/1997 | |
| Can you please help us. the car has been to 2 different dealers and neither will tell us whats causing the problem. they dont know why. we just got car back and its still shifting strange. car has no power for passing in low gear. this is getting dangerous to drive on the freeway because when the transmission goes out it has no power at all. nevermind getting stuck on the freeway. please feel free to call us if any further info is needed. thanks jean delucia | |||
| 05/31/1997 | 5 | 02/01/1997 | |
| While driving the vehicle transmission malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to stall. also, while changing into 1 and 2 gears it will abruptly stop which almost caused an accident. dealer replaced 5 transmissions. dealer cannot determine problem. cause unknown. *ak *ml | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - TORQUE CONVERTER | |||
| 06/01/2001 | 07/01/1998 | ||
| Transmission went out with only 60,000. dealership cannot give reason other than sometimes they just fall apart. dealership also stated that the transmission in the preludes are designed to go over 200,000 miles. had a diagnostic test done and result was converter collasped and destroyed transmission. sometimes they just fall apart is a very expensive answer for a car with only 60,000 miles.*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - CLUTCH ASSEMBLY | |||
| 08/15/2003 | 130500 | ||
| 1997 honda prelude the clutch spring retainer broke rendering the clutch inoperable placing stress on the transmission and damaging the internals from the spring being loose in the system | |||
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||
| 08/15/2003 | 130500 | ||
| 1997 honda prelude the clutch spring retainer broke rendering the clutch inoperable placing stress on the transmission and damaging the internals from the spring being loose in the system | |||
| 07/12/2002 | 7 | ||
| Power door locks will unlock for no apparent reason from idle or in motion mph varies. dt | |||
| 03/01/2000 | 15 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Grinding occurs shifting into 2nd from 1st gear, especially at high engine rpms. 3rd happens less often, but doesn't occur exclusively at high rpms. 2nd gear has always felt notchy many other prelude owners i correspond with through email also report similar problems. *ak | |||