I couldn't find any earlier threads on this, so .....

It's a "feature" of AutoStop that it goes off (i.e. the ICE restarts) when you shift from "Drive" to "Reverse".

I can't figure out why Honda would make it this way - surely the logic that applies when in "Drive" could apply equally well when in "Reverse" (restart ICE as soon as pressure is released from the Brake pedal).

It's very annoying to pull up to park, with AutoStop doing it's thing, only to have the ICE restart unnecessarily for a couple of seconds as I shift into Park and then remove the key.

Any idea of an explanation anyone ?

 

I've noticed the same phenomenon in my Civic. I suppose the ICE kicking in during a shift to reverse, though seemingly pointless, at least isn't too detrimental - when are you likely to shift into reverse and wait for an extended amount of time before actually moving? I suspect the electric motor can't propel backwards, so the ICE has to kick on. It would seem that they should be able to just tie the restart into the brake pedal, like the autostop does when in drive.

I'm with you, though, on the annoying factor of the ICE kicking on for that few seconds when shifting to park to turn off the car. If anything, "park" should be hardwired to always maintain the ICE off. When would you ever need the engine on in park, except if you wanted to keep your AC on? And there's always the ECON switch for that.

Maybe Honda will address these things in the '06 Civic redesign - predicting future changes for the Accord. I just got my '05 HCH, so the redesign won't do anything for me, but it'd be nice to see these little things tweaked.

 

My guess is that it has to do with the transmission; the engine needs to start to allow the AT (or CVT) to be placed into either R or P (remember that in D3, D, or N, you're still dealing with a forward gear or neutral (which disengages the clutches)). Reverse engages a different clutch, and Park has it's own attendant issues with locking the driveline, setting the parking pawl, etc.

In theory, you're right - if you're putting the car into Park, you're not planning on going anywhere (I also alluded to this in another post; the one where the supposed Honda engineer asked us what we'd like to change about the cars; this was one of the things I mentioned). But if you shut down the HAH in N, move the gear lever to P, then restart the car, you'll hear a nasty little 'clunk', which after a couple of times with me, gave me the message "yes, it's wasteful to restart the car just to put it into Park, but if I keep defeating it, I'm liable to damage the tranny"

Exacerbating this is the fact that the Honda V6 AT hasn't been known for sterling reliability the last few years; Honda extended my warranty on the '01 coupe up to 100K, without me asking (and to this day, I believe I had a malfunctioning torque converter on that car) Couple that with a new AT case housing, a taller gear set (more $ to replace, being non-standard to the other V6 AT), and a TC that is programmed to stay in lockup earlier / longer (helps w/ regen), and I'm treating this one with kid gloves - I've recently passed 12K on the odo, and will be changing out the fluid with fresh Honda ATF-Z1 at 15K, when my next oil change is due.

 

Hi All:

___Sorry for going OT …

___GreenAndBlue, can you take a pic of your AH’s tranny fluid at 12K and upload it in the share section when you swap it out? I have seen a 7th gen Accord’s at 80K and the fluid looked like it came out of the crankcase (yecchhh). Just interested given it will clue me in to when I should be doing a triple flush on mine as well.

___You can see the gory details here: First Tranny change @83k!!!

___Thanks in advance.

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Xcel - no problem I'll try and get a pic - and just to let you know, I was planning on sending it in for analysis. It'll be changed at 15K - I'm not sure if I'll be doing the triple flush, or just the drain / fill. I'm planning on changing every 15K - that's what I did with my last Accord, and it seemed to be 'ok'.

It also coincides well with the 7500mi OCI that I use (w/ synoil, of course Makes for easy-to-remember maintenance - tire rotation at every OCI, tranny drain / fill at every other.