[silkiechicken]

Thanks for your write up! I am happy this worked out in your favor. I am in a similar situation right now, with one of the codes also being P0776, except I do not have the receipts for the 24+ quarts of DW1 transmission fluid that I've bought to do 8 DF's in the last 140k miles.

 

[silkiechicken]

@Ice Thank you for the well wishes. Unfourtantly all I have are hand written documents and not receipts. Of which, something hand written over years is a heck of a lot harder to "forge" than a digital set of documentation. I would hope that literally tracking every tank of fuel and maintenance item would lend credibility to our meticulous maintenance of the vehicle.

 

[silkiechicken]

Perhaps you can go through and print relevant posts from this forum where you mentioned each ATF change as sufficient evidence?

That's a good idea, since there are time/date stamps for the updated posts, along with a photo of the drain plug at the first change floating around.

I actually did make a print out of the MM sequence that I have posted with mileage and code, along with my digital documentation of the transmission issues by date of when they occurred. When I handed it to the tech, he looked at it, and asked me where I found it. I told him it's my personal record of maintenance for this vehicle and I could see the gears spinning in his head. The service advisor photocopied the sheet and attached it with a print out of the codes their computer found.

@Vinny in ATX I feel like with regular maintenance, even 100k is a short life in a modern vehicle. I am wondering if these 6 speeds have some sort of finite # of shifts before they start gong bonkers. I almost feel like perhaps I made it to 142k, where others are imploding at far less mileage, just because the vast majority of my driving is going from gears 1-6 and then sitting in 6th for 30+ mile stretches.

 

[silkiechicken]

@Will48121 @zroger73 Has the most comprehensive listing of known failures on the board all nicely assembled in a pinned thread. Although there are "a lot" of failures, getting the details of the service history for that listing is going to be hard, and at the end of the day, my guess is that the sample size for those with VCM disabled and those not following the MM is going to be too small to make any meaningful conclusion.

 

[silkiechicken]

@14v6 Unfortunately, I don't always use the same dealer when buying fluids and I doubt they have a record of who I am when I go in to buy them, short of a credit card #, and sometimes I use cash. The only DW1 "proof" I would have is in the thread where one of the dealers accidently sold me 9 quarts of DW1 from their 55gallon bulk drum. Maybe I should start online documenting everything in the form of pictures on a public forum. lol

 

[silkiechicken]

I have taken care of to the best of my ability since the day I drove it home. It doesn't feel right to trade it in after all the work and TLC I have put in to it.

My truck is basically stock without nearly as much as you have done to make it yours, but I agree, it hurts to even consider replacing it so soon. I was fully hoping for at least 250k/10 years before I was in the market again. This truck was my first vehicle purchase. Drove the car my parents gave me for 13 years while I squirreled away the cash for a new ride. That car made it to 201k miles and 24 years old, despite being driven by a new driver, and it went to a new home on it's own power. We joke that this is our punishment for straying away from a Toyota. LOL

 

[silkiechicken]

Man, you’re like a walking encyclopedia. I was under the assumption that all 1st Gen Ridgeline have the 5-speed and the 6-speed started with the 2nd Gen… I wonder what went wrong… shouldn’t it get more reliable after all those years? Thanks for the correction

@zroger73 Knows everything. As for the tranny, I believe the 6 speed was used on the smaller cars... but is struggling in the larger vehicles. However, zroger73 will know for sure. lol

 

[silkiechicken]

RL is the perfect fit for you. Have you thought of other contenders if you switch to something other than a Ridgeline?

There really isn't anything compelling in the midsize market, but might be worth taking another look since it's been 6 years. We had considered owning a daily and a weekend full size, but it still doesn't quite make sense in terms of storage or cost of maintaining/insuring two separate vehicles. Plus, a full size (short of the highest trims) comes with the challenges of balancing the whole reaching the pedals and seeing over the hood. One might think a trailer and SUV would open up more options, but I can't back a trailer, there's no good place to store one, and doubling up feed/animal transport with a work day commute would not be possible, as that is how I'd for sure get stuck in the parking garage.

 

[silkiechicken]

Ya I hear you. I really don’t want a Tacoma, but it seems like the most reliable option. Naturally aspirated, no VCM to worry about. They’re so ancient at this point, but I guess that’s why they’re so reliable.

I'm not sure the newer Tacoma's are really that much more reliable. It might be flying off it's reputation from the 90's and 2000s as well. The G3 Tacoma came out in the same general years that the G2 RL... and it also has it's issues, which like the RL, they may have ironed out in the later revisions.

That said I did test drive a Tacoma when I was looking and I ended the test early. It was not a comfortable ride and the engine/transmission felt like it was trying to overcompensate for not being a full size, along with a nose so obtrusive you might as well get a full size.

 

[silkiechicken]

(maybe I’ll detail the whole story later but I loved the ridge enough to get another)

Yes! I'm with @Ice. Tell us your story. It can be helpful for others to read stories of those who were in similar situations. It can help guide what might be the best course of action.

 

[silkiechicken]

I've had a 2022 for a year now.

You probably don't have to worry about the 9 speed so much. The problematic transmission is the 6 speed.

That said, they don't seem to be making cars like they used to. Our old 90's Honda was a trooper and is still on the road today, just not being driven by us anymore.

 

[silkiechicken]

Even if thats true and hopefully it is. Like you, I too scored what I think was a pretty fantastic deal on my 2019. If it costs me a $7000 transmission to keep it going after 5 years. The purchase deal goes from fantastic to pretty sub par.



I think I'm on board for future testing. I even still have the fluid sitting in a container from my first drain and fill a few months back. I wonder if sitting in a sealed container would adversely affect the results?

Send it in and add to the data pool! I have requested the dealer to save some from our dead tranny, even though it had a 3x DF only 6k prior to the shifting issues... and 8 total DF's in the last 50k, which may literally dilute our findings.