[77spartan]

My transmission hesitates when going through 90 degree turns. I talked to my dealer about it today.

What they tell me is most Honda automatic transmissions have grade logic. My understanding is that it anticipates that slowing down means you need to shift down. Thus it doesn't have to search for the right gear.

The Ridgeline does not have grade logic. Supposedly the new transmission being made for towing precluded the grade logic from being added.

Not sure if this is true or not but my dealership has been pretty straight with me.

 

[gormleyflyer2002]

Spartan

Does it do this all day and on every corner.....??.....or first thing each day and on first few corners.......??...if so, this is pretty normal from my experience and last few Honda's. There has been other posts about this same thing, mine seems to do this once a day whether I like it or not.

You can check if you have grade logic........find a good size downhill and approach as normal and apply very light brake pressure. If your truck makes a down-shift then we have grade logic.

 

[77spartan]

It does it all day....played with the VSA on and off and that did not appear to change it.

 

[gormleyflyer2002]

Yikes.....thats not very good.

Can you describe in a bit more detail ...ie, conditions, throttle position, left, right.

I wonder if this is something to do with the fly by wire throttle...??

 

[Grok Lobster]

Mine does this as well. I don't find it annoying as others seem to. It occurs turning left or right. It may be related to driving habits. I have never driven a vehicle with drive to the front wheels and I am pretty certain there is a preferred technique for cornering that is different than what I am used to. I have noticed that I can change the effect if I don't decelerate into the first half of a corner and then accelerate out the last half, which is what I normally do.

 

[maybearidge]

yeah..I noticed a little strange behavior too...nothing to alarming though.

 

[simm37]

I have had this problem to it does it all the time down shifts hard feels like i am putting on the brakes had it back to dealership 5 times and 2 diff dealership they always say no prob we cannot find it or duplicate it i hate my truck

 

[grunkster]

When I turn the VSA off it seems to lessen the effect ...

 

[AC Ridge]

What's the sense of having VSA if you have to turn it off to get rid of the hesitation? This is a great safety feature that should be used at all times. Honda needs to come up with a fix.

 

[ruben.nalda]

I have had this problem to it does it all the time down shifts hard feels like i am putting on the brakes had it back to dealership 5 times and 2 diff dealership they always say no prob we cannot find it or duplicate it i hate my truck

This is what is going on with mine as well. It's a bit annoying. I took it in for another problem and mentioned it to them, but they said it was normal due to the grade logic. I don't know. In very similar situations, it seem intermittent. If it was supposed to happen, it would consistently happen under the same situations. I'm wondering if I should take it to another dealer. I also have that hesitation, but it seems to happen mainly in the morning when I first start driving.

Ruben

 

[2759]

Mine does this as well. I don't find it annoying as others seem to. It occurs turning left or right. It may be related to driving habits. I have never driven a vehicle with drive to the front wheels and I am pretty certain there is a preferred technique for cornering that is different than what I am used to. I have noticed that I can change the effect if I don't decelerate into the first half of a corner and then accelerate out the last half, which is what I normally do.

Grok,

I came from an Element stick to my RL. Before that I drove a 1992 Honda Prelude SI with 4WS. I loved the car. That is why I still have it. I got the prelude after my firbird was totaled. I tell you all of this because noticed a HUGE difference in cornering strategy at high speeds. I have not had the chance nor do in invisiton doing this with my RL. That is what the prelude is for, but I will tell you the cars act 100% differently in corners.

When I drove my Prelude it was a stick and I would come nto the corner Hot and a little wide since I knew the back end was not going to lide like my firebird.

I do nto know if this would affect an auto trans but I know there is definatly a difference.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[BillB]

I experienced the VSA hesitation effect yesterday and it is definitely disconcerting. The roads were slushy and slick. I had to turn left across a local road with heavy traffic going both ways and moving at 40 mph on both sides. I had to move across quickly to join traffic flow and as soon as I got to my side of road and turned into direction I needed to go and also needed to get up to speed before guy coming up on me smashed me in back, the Ridgeline "stalled" in the VSA mode (yellow light on) and did not pick up traction for what seemed like an eternity but was really about half a second. I nearly got rear-ended and I did get honked at for good reason. VSA has its positive sides but this maneuver is not one of them.

 

[auditude]

The only hesitation I ever experience is in the early morning when I make my first left while the truck is still cold. On more than one occasion I've noticed a hiccup in throttle response during this maneuver. Never seems to happen when it's warm.

 

[MikeT]

Mine did not do this before the trans tsb and does not do it now (13800 miles at this point). My build date is 02/06, what is yours?

 

[UglyDuck]

My truck seems to do the same when slowing and then heading around a tight corner. I just touch the gas pedel a bit before the appex of the turn to trick the tranny into thinking I am going to accelerate which appears to keep it from dropping into the lower gear or kinda hanging.

Actually moves her around quite nicely.

Anyways, my boyfriend told me to try it when I was asking him about the way the truck corners last week.

Seems to run okay, little bulky and heavy, but overall runs okay.

 

[stampedeproject]

Sooo ticked off.

Been mentioning all the above issues, 4 gear not shifting, searching for gears when cornering, overpowering engine deceleration...etc. since I bought the Ridgeline and been getting a ... "nope nope nope there are no computer or other updates... it' because everything is drive by wire now" Could you look? "Nope says there is nothing to update."

Today after again having the same discussion... again, one of the guys suggested I look here. Searched and boom, tons of people with the same issue and most have resolved their issues with the TBS Trans updates. Now 93K on the vehicle I am out of warranty. Of course the dealer has no recollection of the discussion every time I come in, but will try to do a Goodwill Consideration.

I really like my truck in general, but Honda's service is an abomination. The other issue I had was the rear seat pulley on both rear seat breaking. This seals the deal I will NOT buy another Honda. I have had Toyota's, Fords, and Nissan's and Infinity's all have been very good to work with....

Disappointingly this is the best dealer in the area.

 

[speedlever]

Your issue is with the local faker, not Honda.

Haha. Auto correct changed dealer to faker!

The rear seat pulleys are a known issue. Search the ROC for a solution. It's an easy and permanent fix using machined pulleys.

Hey look on the bright side. You don't have brake and frame rot issues!

 

[IanRTL]

Sooo ticked off.

Been mentioning all the above issues, 4 gear not shifting, searching for gears when cornering, overpowering engine deceleration...etc. since I bought the Ridgeline and been getting a ... "nope nope nope there are no computer or other updates... it' because everything is drive by wire now" Could you look? "Nope says there is nothing to update."

Today after again having the same discussion... again, one of the guys suggested I look here. Searched and boom, tons of people with the same issue and most have resolved their issues with the TBS Trans updates. Now 93K on the vehicle I am out of warranty. Of course the dealer has no recollection of the discussion every time I come in, but will try to do a Goodwill Consideration.

I really like my truck in general, but Honda's service is an abomination. The other issue I had was the rear seat pulley on both rear seat breaking. This seals the deal I will NOT buy another Honda. I have had Toyota's, Fords, and Nissan's and Infinity's all have been very good to work with....

Disappointingly this is the best dealer in the area.

The TSB for the tranny upgrade should take NO LONGER than 20 minutes. All they have to do is hook up to the diagnostic port, see which firmware version you have on the truck and update it with the latest version. Even if they don't give you a Goodwill Consideration, it shouldn't cost you any more than $50 (and that's quoting high). It's all labor cost with no parts and it is really quick. Any competent Honda service place will be aware of the issue and should at least check to see if the firmware is up to date. I wouldn't get too discouraged about this. If some software programming and the rear seat pulley issue is all the gripes you have at 93k miles, I'd say you're doing alright. It doesn't matter which brand of vehicle you have - they require maintenance and they're going to break. Honda's aren't bullet proof and certainly aren't immune to things breaking. It simply has the track record for the least amount of general things that break.

 

[Josh427]

Totally thought this thread was about something else...

 

[TraumaTruck1]

I have the same thing going on. I never felt comfortable with it, but it has lasted 190k so far. It seems like it is having trouble finding which gear to kick down to. I have just adjusted my driving style to make up for it. If you hit the gas kind of hard, it will do it, but if you gently roll into the throttle and let it do its thing first it will do fine. I need to call the dealership to see if there is a TSB on it.