Hello Fit Owners!

This is my first post after lurking here for a good bit, so thanks to everyone for the help you give!

So onto the problem. Whenever I use my transmission a lot it seems to get a melting plastic smell. Example: This morning I was struggling to get my car out of a tight spot that was also conveniently covered in ice, i.e. I was switching gears a lot. Once I got out of the spot I went to clear a bit of ice and noticed this smell.

Some background: I just bought the car used a month back with 96k on it. It is a 5AT, not driving a manual in Boston Winters haha. When I got it, we did a drain and fill of the transmission 3 times, so fluid should be good, and is OEM Honda fluid (From the dealer). Also swapped out the transmission filter, and air filters.

I know that a bad transmission can smell like burnt rubber, which i dont think is accurate. And I have heard a bad clutch will smell like burnt plastic, but im not certain on how that smells. I have not noted any problems with the car shifting gears or anything.

 

I've lived in some icy hilly areas and had the same smells on a lot of cars.

You really have to be delicate with the cars as trying to power out of an icy space is a great place to destroy tires, clutches and transmissions. Rocking the car back and forth is terrible. You can gently try moving forward very slowly. Then let tires stop fully with brakes. Then gently shift to reverse and try gently backwards. A few times.

Better is to buy appropriate winter (studded) tires. Or some traction gizmo to put under the tires, although these can be very dangerous for bystanders so make sure nobody is front side or behind the car due to projectiles, breakage etc. !!!!

In my experience the smell is typically from the tires; you may see black power in the wheel wells, on the tires, on the snow. That is rather extreme damage for traveling 0km. Smell also could be transmission so you need to be more gentle. And your engine is not fully warmed up so you are running with a compromised choke situation and need to be gentle with the engine.

 

Thanks for the advice! I am pretty sure it is not tires, because I have had similar things occur on a mountain. I was descending using engine braking with the paddle shifters. If it is to do with the transmission, should I be concerned? Or just try to be more gentle with it? Thanks again!

 

Your tranny is indeed a big deal, my friend. Its responsible for.. trans..missioning.. the engine! Into forward. Go-ification.
a burnt smell that you suspect is the tranny, eh?
if you're seriously thinkin the tranny is the cause, why not drain that fluid again to see if theres anything funny about it? Ofcourse, atf aint cheap, and you might save money by getting a proper diagnosis, but thats based on the assumption that the technician can replicate the fault during a short test drive. You may have to go at your own pace here. Have you noticed the car having difficulty shifting?

 

I havent noticed any issues with the transmission other than this smell when I get out. I am getting an alignment tomorrow so I am gonna have them take a look at it. I am more curious is this a common thing? I dont tend to generally use my transmission hard frequently, generally keeping it in low revs for mpg haha. This has only been seen in a few extreme cases when its under a lot of use. So should I expect to smell something when it works hard?

Im also getting tires today, so ill know if that is possibly a cause. and will help with getting out of snow (Less wear on tranny).

 

Tranny failure isnt a common thing to my knowledge. If theres issues there theyd likely be caused by lack of fluid. In regards to the smell, check the spark plugs just to be safe... besides that, yeah, fluid is it. Your driving style shouldnt matter at all unless you're actually racing for real, which you arent, or towing... or, i dunno, shifting into reverse while driving forward..
be absolutely certain your fluids arent low.. and inspect that tranny fluid if youre certain. The transmission is right next to the engine in an fd, so im surprised to hear a specific claim. Wouldnt hurt to check spark plug torque too.
another idea may be to inspect the exhaust line, since you live in snow country. Those salty roads, sir..

if for any reason i suspected an issue with my own trans, I'd be on it immediately. They aint cheap to replace. I dont know enough about torque converts to say anything there. they just need fluid too, whick is handled/shared with the tranny.
consider switching to redline atf (cant recall if its d4 or d6 for our cars, but their site could tell you. That stuff would put your trans worries to bed, excluding catastrophic failure, it really coats stuff up nice n smooths em out.

 

If I can ask?

Sorta recapping....

You are on ice or to say stuck in a parking spot....... trying to get out of the spot........ The vehicle has an automatic transmission....

and you are shifting quickly from forward to reverse?????????? moving forward. then backward..... etc etc.........

Thanks, J

 

It is pretty common to do this. When I say switching gears frequently, what I am doing is: Shift to D, move fwd till I cant (Or wheels spin for a sec.), Stop, shift to R and do the same thing, just backwards. I have learned and been using S instead the last few days (There is still snow ) and keep it in 1st gear. Sine the auto may be shifting around frequently with TCS and what not. That seems to help. I just got the tires on, and while its only been 1 morning on this back and forth, they are much better for getting out and the smell seems to be gone. Whether or not this is a result of me treating the trans more gently, or the tires, i am unsure of.

As for the under body, I just bought the car and had it inspected in VA (Much less snow) and theres no rust or anything. Part of the reason I didn't buy a used car in this frozen salty, car destroying wasteland. Im gonna check the ATF level as well, but it should be fie last I checked. I was considering doing spark plugs on my car, so I'll probably see about getting them done in a few weeks, ive been getting bad MPG and am doing everything to resolve it, but thats also city driving in the winter haha.

Thanks again guys!

 

Sounds like it was the driving after all.. wacky. I'm out in socal where snow is mimicked by flashy lights. Never new you could smoke up a tranny so easily. Glad you got a hand from the smart guys.

I'd definitely check the plugs just to be on the safe side. At 100k they should be due anyways. Be sure to torque em down to 20ftlbs..
thanks for teachin, guys

 

Try pulling your transmission dipstick and smelling it. If it smells "burnt" you might have an issue going on there. You changed the fluid three times after purchasing the car, so the fluid should have a clean smell to it. If it has a normal smell, just make sure the level is on the full mark according to the owner's manual inspection procedure.