Transmission Not Engage problems of the 2004 Honda Odyssey

Engine light and tcs light came on, gears stopped shifting at high rpms. Soon, transmission would not engage at all. Car failed to move on a busy freeway overpass exit. After several minutes with the engine off, I turned it back on and hobbled in first gear off the overpass. Mechanic said it was typical of 2004 Odysseys to have transmissions fail. Cost of repair far exceeds blue book value of car.

Our Honda Odyssey's transmission failed under very scary circumstances---with my wife and disabled son attempting to merge onto a highway. As she tried to accelerate, the van’s engine revved, but the transmission did not engage----leaving the van coasting into traffic. Thankfully, she was able to leave the roadway just before a vehicle that was approaching from behind would have made impact. She and my son were very lucky. Prior to this incident, the transmission was not exhibiting any kind of shifting problems. In doing some research, I found that this is a known design flaw problem.

As I was driving the car, the engine over revved but the wheels were not moving. I was on city streets making a turn - luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road without any incident but it could have been dangerous as the gears were not engaging. After I navigated to the side of the road, the car wouldn't move forward or backward on being put in gear. There was a smell of burning rubber - later I realized it was probably burning or overheated transmission fluid. On towing the car to the dealer, the dealer ran diagnostics and advised me that my transmission was damaged and needed replacement. For the past couple of days, the 'check engine light" and the "tcs off light" had been coming on and off occasionally. I had also noticed the vehicle not responding to accelerator pedal being pressed in a normal fashion.

My 2004 Odyssey, with 77000 miles, experienced a transmission failure while driving on highway with no warning & no early indications of malfunction (slippage, engagement, etc), noticed tachometer revving higher than normal then lost of drivetrain power with engine still operating. Manage to exit highway and onto offramp before transmission disengaged from engine. The frightening thing was we coasted to a stop in a blind turn with vegetation hiding our position from other exiting vehicles ( sb i280 ocean Ave exit, next to city college of san francisco). Serramonte Honda service dept told me transmission no longer under original 60000 mile power train warranty & that he does not know of any transmission problems in the Odyssey model. Internet search reveals transmission failures very common with many Odyssey owners having to go through multiple power trains with no admission of design flaws for such premature transmission failures by Honda.