Maintenance for Toad

[kevinb16690]

Good suggestion, regarding the drive to neutral rather than reverse to neutral - I will put that on the checklist (I am a private pilot, so I always use a checklist). the 3 days I drove without starting the car was the first 3 days, and I put on the 1K miles on the car after that and it drove OK.

I do have a "smart" charger mounted in the Honda and a hot and 2 neutrals while driving. I found that the neutral going through the Blue Ox tow bar was sometimes not really grounded so and the ground going through the cable was a bit marginal, so I ran a separate ground line as well. I run my lights most of the time and have never had a discharge issue on the toad.

I was also running around 64 most of the time and I will dial that back a few MPHs.

thanks agoin for the input

[F4Gary]

Not sure why that has to be a checklist item. You are supposed to run the shifter down through all the gears and then backup to N. So you always go from D to N.

[even22]

Originally Posted by kevinb16690

I have a Win 40U DP and tow a 2011 Honda fit. Honda says it is OK to tow at speeds up to 65 MPH. I currently have about 12K miles of towing on the toad and never had any issues - until the transmission locked up. I was fortunate that the tranny locked up at the exit while I was waiting for the light to change, but still smoked the tires dragging it for a block to get out of the traffic.

I just got the Honda back, with a rebuilt transmission and new axle that also failed and would like to hear what is recommended for me to do to avoid this happening again, short of going to a trailer. I have seen pumps that are sold to keep the fluid circulating, but I also heard that Honda in general do not need this, and the $1800 for it would be overkill.

Change the transmission fluid every (?) miles, or at least before beginning the trip?
Start the car every 200 (?) or so miles while being towed
Suggestions?

In my opinion you should take help from Car Manuals they will suggest you better about the change of transmission fluid and many more things related to your Car model.

[Sweetbriar]

Unfortunately my fourth Honda isn't flat towable but I put a lot of miles on a 98 Accord, 06 CRV (AWD) and a 10 Accord. All autos and never a drivetrain a problem. Couple of things I did that might help and if not doesn't hurt.

1. At the start of the day, even if still hooked up which I did a few time, I ran the engine for 5 minutes and then shifted thru the gears several times before following Honda's procedure to ensure a neutral.
2. At every stop I made during a travel day I would run the engine for a few minutes. Fuel, food, sightseeing, dog break, leg stretch whatever. If the engine is turning the transmission oil pump is pushing fluid around relubricating and COOLING the transmission.
3. I kept my speed under 65 as much as possible but when I needed to go faster I kept the time at speed to a minimum. The limit is keep the heat build up down to a minimum. The spinning internals of the transmission are splashing oil around and providing some lubrication but without the pump nothing is running to the cooler so you will have heat build up over time and the faster you go the more heat you generate.
4. Transmission oil change every other engine oil change which was usually each spring. Not a full change but a drain and refill with the same amount drained. Usually drained about 3 qts which is about $30 of Honda DW-1 transmission oil. Probably wasn't entirely necessary but easy to do.

As far as the three flat towed Honda's, the 98 I wore out as a daily driver at 300,000 miles and 18 years of use. The 06 CRV is still going strong at 165,000 miles and 14 years but is no longer towed. The 2010 Accord I wrecked last November at 9 years and 120,000 miles (valued at $10K by the insurance). Have a 2017 Accord now that comes along on a dolly. No idea how many extra miles on the cars towing.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

kevin said "I did go 3 days without unhooking the car or starting"

There's your problem.

Agree

[Mr.Goodbar]

We tow a 2014 CR-V. The pre-towing routine says to shift thru ALL the gears, putting in Drive for 5 seconds, then Neutral and let the engine run for 3 minutes to be sure the fluid get circulated completely throughout the transmission. The owners manual says to repeat the pre-towing routine every 6 hours.


Somewhere I've read that Honda recommends doing the normal 30K service routine on an annual basis if the vehicle is towed.

[timjet]

Originally Posted by Mr.Goodbar

We tow a 2014 CR-V. The pre-towing routine says to shift thru ALL the gears, putting in Drive for 5 seconds, then Neutral and let the engine run for 3 minutes to be sure the fluid get circulated completely throughout the transmission. The owners manual says to repeat the pre-towing routine every 6 hours.


Somewhere I've read that Honda recommends doing the normal 30K service routine on an annual basis if the vehicle is towed.

On page 236 of my '14 CR-V manual it says repeat the pre-towing procedure every 8 hours.

Concerning the ATF change, on page 235 of the manual it refers to AWD (All wheel drive) vehicles. The way I read it, if you tow a AWD CR-V then change the ATF every 30,000 miles or 2 years.

Perhaps the issue the OP had with the destroyed transmission is he did not follow the advise to preform the pre-towing procedure every 8 hrs, leaving it hooked up behind his MH for 3 days.
But could be different, mine is a CR-V and as I recall, his was a Fit.