Well, for those who've been following my slight problems with my new '03...

I took my car in this Thurs and was told that nothing appeared to be wrong. I'm begining to understand what everyone was saying about how crappy Honda service can be; it seems as if they don't want to do anything unless your car blows up in front of them or something.

My car is exhibiting a power loss, rough idle, a clutch click, and a couple tranny problems... not to mention the trunk and hood have oxidation after just a month and a half of ownership.

I think I'm going to have to find out what's wrong with the car on my own. Anyone know of a quality shop that specializes in hondas in the San Diego/North County area?

On a side note, I was thinking my tranny problems might stem from a bent shifter...after taking a look at my shifter it leans to one side, from left to right (from driver to pass. side)... like / that. Is that normal?

 

Well, the shifter isnt exactly like / but its almost that way. Is that normal? Shouldnt it be perfectly straight?

 

Mine is dead straight (as far as I can tell).

 

Well, if that is true, I think I just foudn the source of my tranny problems.

 

the shifter is bent slightly for some reason:

could be bent one way for japan, and the opposite way for the US. but i'm not sure about that

 

Well, there goes that theory.

 

Yeah it bent slighty. I can feel it when I clean the boot.

 

sounds like you been beating the crap out of the car....

 

Nah, I've broke it in properly (according to Honda) and don't abuse it at all. I don't race, and want to keep the car for a very long time. I love it. My purchase was an ordeal, I left the dealership about 4 times before getting them to cave and give me the price I wanted; during the whole process I think the Sales Manager beat the crap out of the car before I got it (when it became apparent I was buying it). I've got these problems, but the dealerships I've visited have all told me things will have to get worse before they can do anything. I LOVE my car, and wouldnt trade it for ANYTHING... but I wish Honda service would be more upfront with things.

 

OK, just to be obsessive about this I went and measured the angle of my shifter when in 3rd gear, and as far as I can tell it's pretty much dead straight (I read 1.2 degrees to the right, but I'm using the center line of the leather wrap as my guide so I'm going to call that close enough to be considered straight).

I measured it with a protractor with the base placed across the plastic surround around the shifter boot (which I'm going to assume is close enough to square with the transmission for our purposes).

Here's a picture I took:



If your shifter is at a significant angle then on the basis of this I'll say that something is definitely not right.