Hi,

I hope some of you can help with this problem. I have a 2002 CRV
with 36,160 miles (hell of a time to have a problem, huh?). Today I
was driving around 40 mph when I heard a loud thud from under the
car. It immediately started lurching forward and backward, so I
pulled over ASAP and turned off the engine. I got out and checked
for damage thinking I hit something or blew out a tire -- all was
ok. I got back in and started the engine.

The engine wouldn't rev past 2100 rpm in park and there was a strange
grinding sound. I shifted from park to reverse and the grinding got
louder but the reverse gear never engaged (after around 30 seconds).
I shifted into neutral and the grinding largely went away. When I
shifted into drive, the grinding returned for around 10 seconds and
then the gear engaged. I shifted back into reverse and after around
5 seconds of grinding, that gear engaged. I was 1/4 mile from a
Honda dealer so I went there at 10-15 mph. When I got there, the
service advisor was unable to replicate anything that just happened.
He test drove it and stated that he got it up to 60 mph and that
everything shifted as expected. He heard some grinding when shifting
from park to reverse or drive and said he was minimally concerned by
it and it was likely the torque converter. He didn't do any further
diagnostics on the problem. He told me that if it acted up again to
bring it back and they would take a look at it. Now in park, the
engine will rev as high as I want to take it.

I have had it in for service for a couple of minor
shifter/transmission related problems earlier. At 13,000 miles I had
to have the ignition switch and gear shifter replaced because I was
able to turn the ignition off and remove the key when it was in
drive. Also at 21,000 miles I brought it in because the transmission
seemed to be slipping and shifting strangely. They reprogrammed the
software and the problem went away. Last week I was pulling into an
uphill driveway and it shifted fairly violently from 2nd to 1st
gear. I checked the transmission fluid and the level was fine.
Until today, it acted fine.

What does this sound like to you? Clearly, I think something major
has happened to the transmission but what could happen that would
render the car immobile one minute and then be asymptomatic ten
minutes later? I've been reading this afternoon about transmission
problems with the CRV and noticed that this model has been left out
of the 100k transmission warranty extension from Honda. I called
American Honda a little while ago and reported the problem and
received a case number, so at least it's documented. Any thoughts on
what I should do?

Thanks!

Dave