I have a 2008 Civic with 26K miles on it that had a catastrophic failure of the clutch and transaxle when I was shifting from first to second while leaving a stop sign. There was a “clunk” and then it all froze up, requiring a tow. I had it towed to the dealer since it was covered under the powertrain warranty.

The clutch literally came apart. The clutch plate and pressure plate are fine (I have the old clutch now), but all the guts just came apart. I don’t know if there was a problem with the transaxle that caused it, or the transaxle suffered as a result of the clutch failure. The transaxle has bearing problems now, and who knows what else.

Honda has taken the position that I mis-shifted, and broke the clutch. They will not honor the warranty. They also will not pay for the transaxle. They said that they would be willing to see if there is a defect in the transaxle, but I would have to authorize them to disassemble it to the tune of $407. Given their stance that I caused the problem, whatever it may be, I don’t think I am going to throw any more money into it. I am already out $4,200 for the clutch and transaxle (there are no reman transaxles, plus this was done at the dealership since by the time it was diagnosed and refused warranty I was in it $600 for a diagnostic charge if I took it somewhere else).

To say that I am unhappy with Honda would be an understatement. I have spoken many times with the customer service case manager at Honda of America, but they will not budge. I suspect that HofA heard the dealer say the clutch exploded (that word is used on the service record), and then assumed I did a hard downshift coming off the highway (see Honda service news June 09). They did not know the transaxle was bad until they put the new clutch in it, so HofA did not know of that until after the initial warranty refusal. When I told them the clutch plate was fine, and did not fly apart like is described in the service news article, they agreed to let me send them a picture. I sent it, and the response was that there was no defect visible in the picture, so it would not be covered by the warranty. They said that if a defect could be found they *might* consider it.

Although I have driven manual transmissions for over 30 years I have never seen anything like this.

I have the clutch and I would like to see if there is anything I can point to as a diagnosis. What do I look for? Any suggestions would be welcomed. I can post pictures. The clutch plate looks fine.

 

You might consider taking the dealership to small claims court. Many years ago, I did this to dispute a shop's prognosis that I had overrevved my engine, causing a valve to break and then cause irrepairable damage to the cylinder and cylinder head. That shop had just recently replaced a broken valve but failed to replace all the valve springs as a precautionary measure. I had another shop look at the damage and write their own prognosis which exonerated me of any wrongdoing. When the (bad) shop owner saw my "evidence" in court, he agreed to pay me to have everything fixed (at another shop, of course).
Here in CA, we have the BAR (Bureau of automotive repair) and they helped me to fight the shop and get compesated. I'm sure you can do the same.