2023 Acura Integra A-Spec 6MT transmission issue

[dcsports24]

Hi all,

I have a MAJOR issue with my Integra.
A few weeks ago in early October 2024, just as I got back home from vacation in Germany, I noticed my car was having a difficult time shifting into gears, despite the car running and the clutch pedal pressed all the way down.
Nobody should have had access to drive my car while I was away on vacation.
My car currently has 46,416 miles on the odometer and therefore is still within the warranty period.
I was unable to get the car into a gear to drive it, and needed to call Acura Roadside Assistance to have them tow the car to the dealership.
After about a week of diagnosis, they concluded there was an "improper downshift" performed at a high rev, which caused damage to the transmission.
According to the dealership, a computer scan revealed Engine Code P0219 Engine Over-Speed Condition.
Details indicated the car was apparently downshifted improperly at a speed of 67 MPH with an RPM of 5,551.
I have NO IDEA how this could have happened.
The dealership disassembled the transmission and took over 30 photos to show to a representative at Acura and concluded this was caused by physical damage, not a manufacturer's defect, and therefore will not be covered under warranty.
I have a dashcam that records date, time and location for all my driving. I asked the dealership to provide a time stamp of the alleged incident the computer scan is showing so I can compare to my dashcam, but they told me no such time stamp exists, and are only triggered when an airbag is deployed, to assist with crash investigations.
Keep in mind, I have driven a manual my entire life, and have had no issues with the car up until this point. I have also only ever had this car dealer serviced, and maintain regular and proper meticulous care of my car.
Additionally, no modifications have been made to my car that would void the warranty. The only thing I've done to it was put window tint on and change the engine air filter for a K&N Air Filter, neither of which would void the warranty or affect the transmission.
The dealership is now quoting me a repair in excess of $10,000 to replace the transmission, including the flywheel, clutch plate and other components.
I can't fix this through insurance because it's not a collision or external factor such as a tree falling on the car or the car was stolen.
I looked for open recalls on the car and found one open recall (VJV 2023-25) which says the steering gearbox worm wheel may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can cause the wheel to swell when hot or damp, however I was told that this would not be related to the transmission.

The bottom line is I'm pretty much screwed at this point. I definitely can't afford to shell out over $10,000.00 to fix a car that's only a few years old, and Acura doesn't seem to want to help me or cover this under warranty at all. Additionally, my car insurance is refusing to help me out.

What do I do?
Has anyone else on this forum experienced a similar issue?

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[nawfoo]

Gonna have to ask the dealer for a discount for the transmission.

 

[Two Step Performance]

Gonna have to ask the dealer for a discount for the transmission.

Also consider looking for a used Civic Si transmission from a salvaged vehicle.

 

[StingertimeNC]

The price does seem excessive. I don't know what other option you have other than trying to get a better price.

 

[porkster]

Seems odd that the P0219 code would be triggered below redline. The redline is 6600rpm, and usually those codes come up when you are in excess by several hundred RPM

 

[StingertimeNC]

Maybe the car was at 5500 rpm already, then was downshifted? this would likely cause it to exceed redline. Maybe 1st instead of third was selected next? Assuming the car was in second at the time of said speed/rpm?

 

[Xcfool]

Try to find an independent transmission shop or performance shop to diagnose and potentially fix it for far less. Also like the idea mentioned of fixing with a lighty used Civic SI for trans from salvage.

 

[FW14B]

Did anybody, like ypur family etc, has access to the car while you were in vacation? Maybe worth checking dashcam footage during the vacation time though this won’t solve the problem.

 

[carl3pedals]

I have no experience with this problem.
I just now did about 5 minutes of web searches, such as this one under duckduckgo:

Engine Code P0219 Engine "OverSpeed" honda

The web pages I found describe this as the engine revving too fast. As best as I can tell, it's a warning about the engine revving too fast, with no direct proof of what the manual transmission was doing at that time.

One mistake I have made a couple times (despite having decades of experience driving a stick) is that I have only moved the shifter into a neutral (ungeared) location, instead of all the way into the position for the next gear I wanted to shift into, so that when I released the clutch and pressed the gas, the engine faced no resistance and revved up pretty high, pretty quickly. I know I have glanced at the Tach at those times, and noticed I had gotten pretty close to the redline. Since I was driving at the time I did not get a complete view of the tach over the (very short) overall time that I did this, so I honestly don't know if I hit the redline or not.

My point is, there are other explanations for why the rpms of your engine may have risen to a high number very quickly, with at least this one I mentioned being a scenario that could not have possibly damaged your manual transmission.

Also note that the scenario they are claiming took place would have put a lot of stress on your clutch. How's your clutch?

I do think it's worth trying to find out if anyone else drove your car while you were away. You really want to be certain about whether that took place or not.

But in my novice opinion, based on my quick web search mentioned above, the existence of a P0219 Engine "overspeed" detection by itself appears to be a diagnostic only that the engine revved too fast, and by itself is not proof the overspeed happened at the same time that your transmission became damaged. And your dealer can't even tell when the P0219 was detected, never mind tell you what was taking place with your manual transmission at that time.

 

[Tmonk57]

For me at least, sometimes I will downshift into the wrong gear and the rev match system will rev-up and I will quickly know I am in the wrong gear. So maybe that's what happened. But still, the rev limiter would have kicked-in to prevent damage. That's what the rev limiter is designed to do. None of what they are saying makes sense to me.

 

[TeggySteve]

Hi all,

I have a MAJOR issue with my Integra.
A few weeks ago in early October 2024, just as I got back home from vacation in Germany, I noticed my car was having a difficult time shifting into gears, despite the car running and the clutch pedal pressed all the way down.
Nobody should have had access to drive my car while I was away on vacation.
My car currently has 46,416 miles on the odometer and therefore is still within the warranty period.
I was unable to get the car into a gear to drive it, and needed to call Acura Roadside Assistance to have them tow the car to the dealership.
After about a week of diagnosis, they concluded there was an "improper downshift" performed at a high rev, which caused damage to the transmission.
According to the dealership, a computer scan revealed Engine Code P0219 Engine Over-Speed Condition.
Details indicated the car was apparently downshifted improperly at a speed of 67 MPH with an RPM of 5,551.
I have NO IDEA how this could have happened.
The dealership disassembled the transmission and took over 30 photos to show to a representative at Acura and concluded this was caused by physical damage, not a manufacturer's defect, and therefore will not be covered under warranty.
I have a dashcam that records date, time and location for all my driving. I asked the dealership to provide a time stamp of the alleged incident the computer scan is showing so I can compare to my dashcam, but they told me no such time stamp exists, and are only triggered when an airbag is deployed, to assist with crash investigations.
Keep in mind, I have driven a manual my entire life, and have had no issues with the car up until this point. I have also only ever had this car dealer serviced, and maintain regular and proper meticulous care of my car.
Additionally, no modifications have been made to my car that would void the warranty. The only thing I've done to it was put window tint on and change the engine air filter for a K&N Air Filter, neither of which would void the warranty or affect the transmission.
The dealership is now quoting me a repair in excess of $10,000 to replace the transmission, including the flywheel, clutch plate and other components.
I can't fix this through insurance because it's not a collision or external factor such as a tree falling on the car or the car was stolen.
I looked for open recalls on the car and found one open recall (VJV 2023-25) which says the steering gearbox worm wheel may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can cause the wheel to swell when hot or damp, however I was told that this would not be related to the transmission.

The bottom line is I'm pretty much screwed at this point. I definitely can't afford to shell out over $10,000.00 to fix a car that's only a few years old, and Acura doesn't seem to want to help me or cover this under warranty at all. Additionally, my car insurance is refusing to help me out.

What do I do?
Has anyone else on this forum experienced a similar issue?

Hey, I am sorry to hear you are dealing with this situation.
If I could ask for some clarity, what damage was the dealership referring to when the photos were taken? From what I am familiar with, the manufacturer can reject warranty claims if there is a stored "overrev" code since it is a way to determine if the car was being "raced" thus not operated under normal intended circumstances. Frustrating for sure, but I can understand the logic. If they are saying you need a transmission due to an issue that is not related to the overrev, and that the claim is being denied then I can see that being the case.

 

[nawfoo]

This sounds kinda crazy, but I wonder if a Honda dealership would look at it and offer a cheaper (but basically the same Si transmission) as a replacement. The hourly rate would be considerably less than Acura.

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