2004 Honda Civic Hybrid Tranmission issue or Flywheel?
 

Hello first I like to thank anyone in advance for any help they can provide and second this is my first post to the site so please go easy on me.

I have a 2004 Honda civic hybrid with a transmission problem. The problem occurred while I was driving on the freeway. What started happening was the car would shift into gear but would require stepping on the pedal to high rpm in order to move the car. Then at some point it would act normal but eventually feel like the gears are slipping or would not kick into gear at all. Eventually when the transmission gets to a bit warmer. The car would not move at all or either go reverse work. It would not go into gear.

I've read some of the Service bulletin on the site and are aware of the TSB 07-049 and TSB 07-50. I have about 135k miles on it. I've read so much about this problem probably just as much as reading a novel. My situation is a bit confusing as so many people are telling me it could be pully/belt or it could be a flywheel problem. Though I am really hoping it could the ladder. I would just like a bit more info as this will ultimately decide whether to keep the car or not.

Could someone who may have had this similar problem shine some light on my predicament.

Thanks

Re: 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid Tranmission issue or Flywheel?
 

It the car manual or automatic?

If it is automatic then there are not any "gears". CVT transmissions use a steel belt and don't "shift". These transmissions require a lot of TLC. Change the CVT fluid often. Changing the tranny fluid is easier than changing the engine oil. Just make sure you get the CVT fluid from Honda.

Re: 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid Tranmission issue or Flywheel?
 

Sorry for the late reply guys.

The car is an automatic, from reading all the problems involving this type of transmission it seem that changing the fluid wont do any good. We have changed the fluid so it seem like it's another issue. I'm not sure if it's a flywheel or a belt or starter clutch.

The car is drivable for period of time, once it gets hot, gears start to slip and eventually it will not shift into any gear even reverse.

Re: 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid Tranmission issue or Flywheel?
 

Well, our 2003 CVT has been suffering from judder since shortly after we bought it used. Honda dealer did the burnishing, and changed the fluid, and it worked well for 1K miles then started juddering again. This is relevant to your issue only in that the juddering gets worse as the car warms up. Judder appears to be, at least in part, the start clutch slipping. (I say "in part", because there are various feedback loops in the CVT and it is far from clear to me that the entire effect is due to clutch slippage.) I have learned to drive it very gently, to almost eliminate judder, and will continue to do so until the transmission finally gives up the ghost completely, at which point it is probably going to the junk yard.

We had extreme clutch slippage like you described a couple of times right after we got the car. In those cases it almost seemed to be an electronic issue. We pulled over, turned off the car, waited two minutes, started it back up, and it was fine. The fluid changes at the time of the burnish seem to have banished that particular effect.

As far as repairs go, the only "affordable" one is to change the transmission fluid. (And even that is quite expensive compared to on a conventional transmission, because the Honda fluid is pricey.) If that doesn't do it, well, the HCH CVT is very bad design. You can get a replacement transmission, but it will be of the same bad design, and there is every reason to think that it will fail again. It is also a very expensive repair, that might come close to the market value of the car.

Sorry.