2006 CRV transmission slipped and put itself into limp mode. Could a simple trans drain and fill fix it? Any advice appreciated.
Hello, I have a 2006 Honda CR-V EX, AWD, Automatic transmission. It's also built in England if that matters (it seems to for some parts).
I'm a broke young adult and this is my first car. I got it a little over a year ago at pretty high mileage and been slowly dealing with a number of its issues as I get the money for it (and time to DIY what I can). I initially went to a dealership shop for a couple recalls, and I also paid them to do a transmission fluid service (they said it was dark and overfilled). Fast forward about 7 months, I went into a transmission shop to try and diagnose a leak in my rear differential. I also had them take a look at my transmission (it made a small whirring sound in lower gears. I thought it was a bearing in the transmission cover).
As it turns out, the dealership underfilled my trans by about a quart and I had been driving on it for months. It was also very very dark. The transmission shop topped off the fluid for me and I drove on that for another 7ish months.
Past couple weeks the transmission started to make this pretty scary whine on cold start. After reaching proper temp it would be completely silent for the rest of the day's driving, so I honestly just clocked it as old car bullshit and kept driving it like normal (sorry).
One day last week I drove to work and it felt very stutter-y on a middle gear, like pressing the gas made the car move a bit shaky. It slipped pretty hard on a couple hills, and then leaving an intersection it failed and put itself into limp mode. Drove into a parking lot very slowly and my scanner gave me engine codes P0780 (Shift Malfunction) and P1734 (Shift Malfunction F).
Towed it to the same trans shop I went to before. They drained the fluid and said it was completely black and had metal shavings, and was "basically destroyed." I should note, when I checked the dipstick earlier that day, the fluid was at proper level, and there was no debris on the stick itself. They didn't give visual proof but I didn't push too hard on it. Said used "good" transmissions with insane mileage were like $7k. He suggested $1500 labor deposit for opening up the trans and he gave me an estimate of around $4-5k for a transmission rebuild (with 12mo warranty). Long story short I didn't go through with it.
Also no local yards have a trans that matches my car. The places I found online selling them seemed too shady for me to trust, but I could be wrong. Considering that and everything else about the car that still needs repair, I'm at the point of most likely getting rid of it, which breaks my heart. I really love this car.
I wanted to try just refilling the trans fluid and seeing how it runs. Could that entirely fix the issue? I figured the fluid was so old and worn that the pump just had a hard time building up proper pressure to shift, thus causing the hard slips.
TLDR: My car's transmission recently failed to shift, threw engine codes, put itself into limp mode, and a local shop said it was destroyed after inspecting the fluid. Would a trans drain and fill simply fix the issue?