3rd gear repeatedly either fails to engage or remain engaged. Has happened repeatedly...3rd gear & synchro(?) replaced after updated fluid didn't help. First happened at 6K, then 15K, then at 19K.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

I was merging onto an expressway and I shifted into 3rd gear to accelerate to the speed of (heavy) traffic. The transmission popped out of gear and I was nearly rear-ended by a tractor trailer (that was going too fast). I had to swerve over to the shoulder to avoid the collision. This popping out of gear, and difficulty shifting into gear has been going on for three years and occurs 3 or 4 times a month. After this near miss, I took the car into get it serviced (this was in 2006). I was told by the dealer that this was normal for this transmission and that there was no fix for the problem. I have not had any close calls (as bad as the first one) since, but I have learned to force the car into 3rd gear every time. I have also had my share of horns directed at me due to delayed acceleration. Recently, I did an internet search on "3 gear Accord 6 cylinder manual" and one of the results was Honda service bulletin 08-020. This bulletin covers my 06 Accord and is for "transmission grinds when shifting into 3rd gear, pops out of 3rd gear, or is hard to shift into 3rd gear, note: These symptoms can be intermittent and sometimes more noticeable in colder climates. Faulty 3rd gear synchronizer or shift sleeve" sounds exactly like my problem so I went to the dealer today to have it corrected. The dealer went for a test drive and couldn't duplicate the problem (it can go for over a week without showing up), he said Honda's policy was unless they could see the problem Honda would not authorize any repairs to be made. So Honda has found a problem with their transmission (the one that almost caused me to have a collision), released a service bulletin on how to fix it, but refuses to do any repairs until this 3 or 4 times a month intermittent problem starts to fail often enough for it to fail while the dealer is actually driving the car. Meanwhile everyone with this transmission is placed in harms way.

- Fogelsville, PA, USA

Third gear constantly pops out of gear upon slower/normal acceleration. The fluid was changed at approx 12K miles, third gear synchro was replaced at approx 15K, and now around 19K it is happening again..major safety concern as car wont accelerate in neutral.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

I purchased a brand new 2006 Honda Accord, with a 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual. The car is a LX special edition, with a 2.4 liter, 4 cylinder. The car has burned excessive amounts of oil since day one. It burns more than 2 quarts of oil between each oil change. At first I thought it was due to the thin oil that is required and that it was just the break in, but it keeps getting worse. I have run the factory Honda oil and filter and the problem keeps getting worse. This oil change I tried mobil 1 synthetic oil in the recommended weight, but it did not help. The oil is at 50% and the car has already burned over 1 quart of oil with just over 20,000 miles on the car. I have done all of the required oil changes at the proper intervals. The cars transmission is also abnormally stiff when it is warming up. A friend of mine was able to insist that they rebuild his manual transmission for similar problems. The excessive oil burning is the problem I am writing about though.

- Oakland, CA, USA