2000 Civic bad front end problem

[Daxman]

I have a 2000 Civic with a automatic transmission. When im driving it and start coming to a stop theres a bad vibration and bumping that i can feel from the drivers side front end and it seems to start at speeds around 35 or so until im almost stopped. The crazy thing is if i shift the transmission into Neutral it goes away and is smooth can be. Has anyone experienced this or can shed some light on this for me. I know it has nothing to do with the brakes or rotors because once i shift into neutral it goes away... thank you

 

[daperez13]

How many miles are on the car and how many miles have you put since the last transmission service?

It may be time for a fluid/filter change.

 

[Daxman]

The car has 215,000 miles on it and was given to me a month ago. As far as i know they never changed the fluid in it. I know what your thinking because i thought the same thing the transmission is toast.

 

[5SpeedEJ6]

I had an issue that sounds a lot like the one you had (but it was on my Integra), the rear engine mount (civic's don't have one) was worn out. So take a look at your engine mounts also just in case.

 

[daperez13]

The car has 215,000 miles on it and was given to me a month ago. As far as i know they never changed the fluid in it. I know what your thinking because i thought the same thing the transmission is toast.

215K is not bad, the problem is knowing how well it was maintained prior to you receiving it. The transmission may still be ok, start with the cheapest and simplest things first. Perform a fluid and filter change and go from there. Torque converters can cause "shudder" and this may very well be your issue.

 

[Bradley Robert]

215K is not bad, the problem is knowing how well it was maintained prior to you receiving it. The transmission may still be ok, start with the cheapest and simplest things first. Perform a fluid and filter change and go from there. Torque converters can cause "shudder" and this may very well be your issue.

200,000 is heavy on all civics in the 6th gen range and youll start seeing major repairs needed to be done unless 0f course the car was treated like a baby before you got it

215K is not bad, the problem is knowing how well it was maintained prior to you receiving it. The transmission may still be ok, start with the cheapest and simplest things first. Perform a fluid and filter change and go from there. Torque converters can cause "shudder" and this may very well be your issue.

what this guy said...........

 

[HeX]

The car has 215,000 miles on it and was given to me a month ago. As far as i know they never changed the fluid in it. I know what your thinking because i thought the same thing the transmission is toast.

I suggest you inspect the tranny mounts for wear. If that's not it then its likely overdue for a tranny fluid flush. Either way, play it safe and start searching locally for used compatible transmissions juuuust incase the flush doesnt do the trick.

 

[lethal6]

Keep in mind that there are tons of documented cases (google will help you with that as well as the search function here) that say NOT to flush a honda automatic if it has never been done before. That is a perfect way to make sure of a future failure if it already hasn't failed.

And no, 200k miles is not bad for these (as long as it was taken care of). I have seen plenty of these well over 200k and still going with no problems. Hell a guy at work had his daily 6th gen hatch over 400k and all he did was major and minor services with stuff like brakes, tires, flushes, etc thrown in from time to time. He only got rid of it to make room for his new 2016 recently. Passed his old one down to his son I believe.

 

[daperez13]

Keep in mind that there are tons of documented cases (google will help you with that as well as the search function here) that say NOT to flush a honda automatic if it has never been done before. That is a perfect way to make sure of a future failure if it already hasn't failed.

And no, 200k miles is not bad for these (as long as it was taken care of). I have seen plenty of these well over 200k and still going with no problems. Hell a guy at work had his daily 6th gen hatch over 400k and all he did was major and minor services with stuff like brakes, tires, flushes, etc thrown in from time to time. He only got rid of it to make room for his new 2016 recently. Passed his old one down to his son I believe.

I'm not sure I understand your first statement. If I'm reading it correctly, you're saying that if a Honda's automatic transmission fluid has never been flushed before, that you should not flush it? Ever?

 

[HeX]

I'm not sure I understand your first statement. If I'm reading it correctly, you're saying that if a Honda's automatic transmission fluid has never been flushed before, that you should not flush it? Ever?

He's saying that the longer an automatic tranny goes passed a reasonsble time for a fluid flush, its documented that its more likely to fail upon changing the fluid. I agree with this up to a point, which is why I didnt bring it up. I wont bother going into it because I dobt feel you fit the profile.

In your case, your tranny is already faulting so youre not really risking much. Thats also why I suggested inspecting the tranny mounts FIRST before considering a fluid flush. If you go through with it, make sure to use a high quality fluid and consider re-flushing the system more than once within a short time to ensure you flush out as much debris as possible.

 

[daperez13]

He's saying that the longer an automatic tranny goes passed a reasonsble time for a fluid flush, its documented that its more likely to fail upon changing the fluid. I agree with this up to a point, which is why I didnt bring it up. I wont bother going into it because I dobt feel you fit the profile.

In your case, your tranny is already faulting so youre not really risking much. Thats also why I suggested inspecting the tranny mounts FIRST before considering a fluid flush. If you go through with it, make sure to use a high quality fluid and consider re-flushing the system more than once within a short time to ensure you flush out as much debris as possible.

I think I understand what you guys are saying. If the transmission has not experienced any issues up until he decides to perform a fluid change at 215,000 miles, assuming that the required fluid change was recommended at 75K, there has been cases where the transmission will fail simply because of the fluid change/flush? I see...interesting. Even if that's the case, I agree that if he's already having trans problems (based on the symptoms given) a fluid change/flush would not hurt and possibly resolve he's issue. I would recommend using only genuine Honda ATF, although there are other quality ATF's.