Looking to buy 04 RL FWD

[antibiotics]

Hi Folks,

I am glad to find a forum dedicated to VUE RL. I am looking at one owner 04 VUE RL, 90K miles. I have a few questions,
(1) Is the autobox of 2004 VUE built by honda or GM?

(2) How reliable of 2004 RL? Anything I should be aware of?

Thanks.

[silverbullet]

Trans is a Honda part and as for reliablity, I cant comment as you have mor emiles than ours. We are 74k only. AT 100k it is recommended for timing belt and waterpump though

[nitroussaturn]

im a 2004 fwd im at 118k already did the timing belt,100k service myself.
other then a misfire issue that the dealer took care of my vue has been nothing but reliable for us,even been down the 1/4 mile about 15 times,lol
motor doesnt leak or burn any fluids,trans is tight

[XRL]

The interior and suspension are the weak points (along with the AWD). basically, the GM parts are weak. The Transmission and Engine (both Honda sourced) are bulletproof.

I'd make sure they do the 100k service for you. It's kinda pricey (dealers charge at least a grand). Depending on where you live, you may go through wheel bearings, most people go through strut mounts, the rotors are rusty crap usually, but that's really about it as far as trouble spots. Keep the tranny fluid changed every so often, change the oil once in a while and you'll probably be OK. But expect to change the suspension out a few times, and your whole interior to rattle.

[tbasse01]

Originally Posted by silverbullet

Trans is a Honda part and as for reliablity, I cant comment as you have mor emiles than ours. We are 74k only. AT 100k it is recommended for timing belt and waterpump though

all these guys posting about 100k service?

I got my owners manual right in front of me and my service is 160,000 km

100,000 miles not k is timing belt and water pump

and in k meaning km's is 160,000 k = 100,000 miles

I really dont understand when u guys say 100 k miles??

is it miles or k?

[XRL]

100k = 100,000. It's in miles. 100k in this context means 100k miles.

k is just a common abbreviation for thousand is all.

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally Posted by XRL

The Transmission and Engine (both Honda sourced) are bulletproof.

The transmission is not bulletproof. The torque convertors on them are weak and they are picky about what fluid you put in them... it's one of the more common threads on here about them lately.

[XRL]

Originally Posted by OhioVueBoy

The transmission is not bulletproof. The torque convertors on them are weak and they are picky about what fluid you put in them... it's one of the more common threads on here about them lately.

For all our hysteria about fluids... nobody's been posting failures. Just us being massively hysterical about changing fluids and the transmission acting strange at times.

The Torque converters were an issue on MDXs, vans, and earlier TLs. But for some reason the Vue seems to be less commonly killing the TC. I dunno why, because supposedly the fix for the TC didn't come until 04-05. It could be that the lower weight of the Vue compared to the MDX or vans helps it, it could be the ridiculous torque management put in on first gear, or maybe the ones sent out to GM had the transmissions with the fixes in place already.

FWIW, there's plenty of people with 100k or more on the original tranny fluid. No TC problems. That's darn near bulletproof in my eyes. Some people even tow and aren't having failures.

[BobbyP]

Originally Posted by OhioVueBoy

The transmission is not bulletproof. The torque convertors on them are weak and they are picky about what fluid you put in them... it's one of the more common threads on here about them lately.

This Honda bashing is undeserved and getting VERY OLD...

We could easily come back at you with the weaknesses with your VUE and SMART, but we are trying to be considerate and don't want to get you upset. You tend to throw a hissy fit every time anyone disagrees with you...

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally Posted by BobbyP

This Honda bashing is undeserved and getting VERY OLD...

We could easily come back at you with the weaknesses with your VUE and SMART, but we are trying to be considerate and don't want to get you upset. You tend to throw a hissy fit every time anyone disagrees with you...

It's not bashing when it is fact.

Say what you want about either of my vehicles. I've never said anything on here that isn't fact. It's not like I give a damn what any of your opinions are any way.

[XRL]

Well, the fact is that there's not been huge reports of TCs failing on the Vue for whatever reason. Whether we got the updated tranny version, or we were just lighter than the plagued vehicles, Vues seem to be better off in that aspect.

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally Posted by XRL

Well, the fact is that there's not been huge reports of TCs failing on the Vue for whatever reason. Whether we got the updated tranny version, or we were just lighter than the plagued vehicles, Vues seem to be better off in that aspect.

How are the TCs holding up in the MDXes and such that got recalled for overheating of the gears?

I would have thought the TC would have given out on those long before they managed to get the internals that hot.

[Blulite_69]

Originally Posted by XRL

The interior and suspension are the weak points (along with the AWD). basically, the GM parts are weak. The Transmission and Engine (both Honda sourced) are bulletproof.

That's funny, after talking to the dealership (when I test drove my used Vue Redline the "see a mechanic" light came on) the guy told me that Honda and GM had a deal in which Honda would supply engines in trade for GM supplying the trannies. They call it a Honda Tranny built by GM....

(also, because of the issues Honda (Acura) were having with the trannies, Honda pulled out of the deal)

[doublesharp]

I like my 99 thousand mile 2004 Redline fine. Put 30 thou on it myself.
Noisy...supposedly because the plastic panels contract and expand so much that it is too hard to get a good seal. Drove mine from Las Vegas to Little Rock straight through the starting as soon as I took the keys.

I will admit to stopping for electrical tape to seal the space between the doors and trim on the sides of the vehicle to cut down on the wind noise.
Some of the owners have installed Dynamat and others have said that they rehung their door to some benefit.

As far as the reason for the engine..."The relationship between the two companies goes back to a partnership formed in 1999, with Honda agreeing to supply engines to GM for the U.S. market and GM agreeing to supply diesel engines to Honda in Europe through Isuzu Motors Ltd".
excerpt found at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/colu...14/story3.html

[XRL]

Originally Posted by Blulite_69

That's funny, after talking to the dealership (when I test drove my used Vue Redline the "see a mechanic" light came on) the guy told me that Honda and GM had a deal in which Honda would supply engines in trade for GM supplying the trannies. They call it a Honda Tranny built by GM....

(also, because of the issues Honda (Acura) were having with the trannies, Honda pulled out of the deal)

Honda supplied the engine/transmission, GM sent some diesels to Honda. It wasn't a long standing deal, and it might have just been for specific number of units. Honda had supposedly ironed the bugs out of that transmission in 2003 though. They're still using the transmission in question in a few cars. The MDX was using it up until 2010, it was replaced with a 6A now.

I've been thinking about putting some heavier duty weather stripping in my doorjambs. a lot of the foamy crap they used has fallen off by now. I dunno, we'll see.

[newbievueowner]

Originally Posted by XRL

Well, the fact is that there's not been huge reports of TCs failing on the Vue for whatever reason. Whether we got the updated tranny version, or we were just lighter than the plagued vehicles, Vues seem to be better off in that aspect.

Maybe not 'failures' per say but lots of threads about transmission (TC) acting funny in 5th gear. Mine does it when lugging along in 5th (between 65-85 Km/h), kind of pulses a little or RPM's jump when first pressing on the gas. Changing the fluid did not fix it. I'm just going to try and drive it until it breaks and then maybe do something about it.

These Honda trannies are 'O.K' but they are nothing special IMHO. My old man's 4 spd Trailblazer tranny is just as smooth (if not smoother) and doesn't have the funny quirks of the Honda tranny.

[XRL]

The Honda tranny is definitely quirky, but quirky doesn't necessarily mean bad.

Your problems with 5th gear are likely due to it being so overdriven. 85 km/h is roughly 52mph, that's 3rd or 4th gear territory. 5th gear is overdriven so that if you're cruising at 70-80mph you're around 2k rpm. If you're cruising lower than that, you can actually damage your transmission. Cruising at those speeds in 5th has to put you at around 1500rpm, maybe less.

Is that what your speed limits are around there? You might want to try to figure out a way to keep it from going into 5th, that should clear up your issues. Either that or drive faster so your engine will be turning enough rpms. Worst case scenario, you might need to use the "I" setting for the transmissions for those speeds, or try to use the tire diameter to alter your effective gear ratio to artificially inflate rpms.

The 4 speed in the Trailblazer is smoother because it doesn't have a 5th gear with a huge overdrive. That's also part of the reason it's sluggish everywhere and is probably lucky to get 20 mpg highway.

[tbasse01]

Originally Posted by XRL

100k = 100,000. It's in miles. 100k in this context means 100k miles.

k is just a common abbreviation for thousand is all.

ok so when you 100 k service what are you talking about??

my manual says timing belt at 160,000 km's which is 100,000 miles

there is a huge difference in km's to miles us from canada can tell you that

if you guys are changing your belt and water pumps at 100,000 kms that is about 60,000 kms to early

why are you doing this then ??

mine is a 2006 redline with 78,000 kms which is 48,000 miles roughly

[XRL]

We're changing at 100,000 miles. I don't know how many km that works out to off hand, but it's a lot. Figure you're halfway there.

[newbievueowner]

Originally Posted by XRL

You might want to try to figure out a way to keep it from going into 5th, that should clear up your issues.

That's what I have been trying to figure out. Do you know how to do this on these trannies without dropping a fault code? I do switch to 'I' when driving around town at speeds lower than 75 Km/h. If 'I' range was 4th gear selection and not 3rd gear I would be happy! At 70 MPH on the highway it does not fluctuate because the RPM's are close to 2000. At 45 MPH my RPM's are like 1300-1350 RPM - so yes, way too low.