[tiberiusjones]

I was going down the road this morning on the way to work and all of a sudden lurch and loss of power. I thought I had hit something in the road. The engine was running , I was unable t go forward and only backup in reverse. I backed it into a parking lot and called a tow truck.When they tried to get it hoisted on the flat bed tow truck, it would not move. The front wheels were locked in place, even in neutral. The back wheels could spin.
I have been pretty good with keeping up with maintenance intervals, changing the fluid, etc. I checked the fluid levels when I pulled over, Transmission, oil, radiator were all good.
I could hear something scraping or dragging when I backed it up.
There was no fluid leaking that I could see or anything stuck underneath the truck.
It's got 134,000 Miles, is a 2006 RTL and has had the water pump, timing belt changed at 100K. I ddint see any corrosion of the line coming out of the radiator at the bottom that I heard some people mention in the forums. I dont have a clue what happened. Anyone had a similar experience or want to offer some advice?
Thanks.
Tim

 

[Bogus919]

Random question, how have your brakes been? When was the last time you changed the front pads?

I ask this only because about 10 years ago my sisters Prelude locked up on the highway, would only go in reverse. I was luckily on leave at the time and home and so I came out to see her car on the side of the highway, eventually found that she had wore her pads down so far that the caliper drove the hydraulic piston into the rotor... it was wedge so that the chip in the rotor would catch if she was going fwd but not in reverse (though reverse made a noise). I was able to get her car off the hwy by (adding) changing the pads right there. Then a few days later I replaced her caliper and the rotor on the one bad side.

It's a long shot but I figured I would mention my experience with that similar situation.

Just some questions that come to mind, how was the colum shifter, did it feel normal going through the normal stops (P,N,D,R,2,3)?


Report back to us, I'm sure more will chime in.

 

[tiberiusjones]

Hey Bogus
Appreciate the thought, that is a good idea but I did all four brakes back in Jan 2014, and replaced all four pads. It seemed fine with shifting through all the gears, although I felt a click going into drive.

 

[henni]

I ddint see any corrosion of the line coming out of the radiator at the bottom

Tim

Am certain you are aware that the transmission fluid mixing in with radiator coolant aka SMOD, is not deterred by an external visual inspection.

 

[Dnick]

Sounds like something actually "broke" inside your tranny..... that's obviously a wild guess at this point. You're best bet is to get it to a reputable mechanic that can tell you what's up. Preferably someone who's worked on RLs before. They're a bit unique.
Sorry to say, your problem is not a familiar or common one that I can offer any useful advise on. I did have a Chevy Truck tranny seize up on the highway once upon a time. Wouldn't roll anywhere.... couldn't even get it into neutral. Just had to drop in a new tranny. That was on a big block Subruban.
Our RLs are completely different animals, but you may end up with the same solution, sorry to say.

Maybe someone else here will offer more upbeat prospects.

 

[tiberiusjones]

It's at a Transmission Mechanic who came highly recommended by my usual mechanic, they both know each other and even compete in drag racing. My neighbor, although not a RL driver, had a car tranny repaired by him .

 

[Dnick]

It's at a Transmission Mechanic who came highly recommended by my usual mechanic, they both know each other and even compete in drag racing. My neighbor, although not a RL driver, had a car tranny repaired by him .

Keep us posted... maybe we'll all learn something new.

 

[Bogus919]

I had something very long typed up and I just deleted it after I read over.

Bottom line, transmissions suck

I hate working on them myself and those are just the basic ones TH350/TH400. I wouldn't attempt to do much to my RL's transmission other than change the fluid.

There's a reason why some mechanics specialize in transmissions and spend their whole career working in a transmission shop.

 

[speedlever]

I sometimes lament the relative simplicity of a manual transmission.

 

[tiberiusjones]

Would SMOD also show up in the ATF dipstick?

 

[speedlever]

Possibly... maybe even likely.

 

[tiberiusjones]

yeah I didn't see any signs of SMOD when I checked it.
What puzzles me is that the front wheels locked up but the rear ones didn't. I have had a transmission fail before in a Maxima and it just stopped sending power to the wheels, it didn't make the wheels lock up like this. Anyone else wanna chime in here?

 

[tiberiusjones]

Maybe, just maybe,, this is not a transmission issue?

 

[speedlever]

The rear wheels should not lock up with a tranny failure. They are controlled by the electronic clutches in the rear diff. The rear wheels are driven when the ECU for the VTM-4 unit powers the clutches, otherwise, they freewheel.

The propeller shaft is always turning, and the rear diff taps the power from it. How Honda controls the power flow to the rear to 70% of available torque, I do not know.

 

[Dnick]

The reason I mentioned "broke" in my earlier post, is that sometimes happens ("dogs" or whatever can just break & fall into the works), and you won't get a warning, and you won't see it in your fluid..... if you get a broken internal part, it just suddenly 'sucks', in no predictable manner. I had it happen once in a Voyager mini-van... fortunately, it only effected reverse gear (broken dog)... the part that fell free was small enough it just fell clear w/o further damage... just wouldn't any longer engage reverse. But sometimes broken parts fall into the worst places (e.g. plastic timing chain guides break off & fall into chain/sprocket works & destroy GM 2.2 engines frequently). Broken innards often = bad juju. Hope you didn't break something.

 

[tiberiusjones]

Well I guess at this point its just speculation, I just will have to wait until the transmission guru guy does his thing and tells me what he sees.

 

[tiberiusjones]

Well problem has been identified. THe transfer case was out of oil. The gears had seized up and locked up the assembly. Replacement cost, $550.
Dodged the bullet on this one!

 

[speedlever]

I've been around the ROC for a while and that is the first time I've ever heard of the TA running dry. Any idea how that occurred?

 

[suke]

Running dry would be odd, but they are the most overlooked maintenance item of any 4wd vehicle. Followed next by diffs.

 

[speedlever]

Running dry would be odd, but they are the most overlooked maintenance item of any 4wd vehicle. Followed next by diffs.

And by some Honda service departments too, based on reports I've read here. Some don't appear to know that the RL has always had a separate transfer assembly, unlike the Pilot which had an integrated TA prior to 2006 lubed with tranny fluid. From 2006 on, Honda split the Pilot's TA from the tranny and lubed it with hypoid gear oil, just like the RL.

Still, I'd like to know how a TA runs bone dry.