I'm looking for any suggestions on where to turn next - planning on contacting Honda directly - thoughts?

Here's the history - sorry for length: 2001 Rubicon which just turned only 1000 miles, so it's not beat. I don't get to ride anywhere near as much as I would like so this history spans a couple years and about 50 miles - also because it was in the shop for months at a time. Back in Feb 05, I started having problems with Limp Mode kicking in. Off to the dealership it went and they replaced the Angle sensor and checked a few other things (couple hundred bucks there). Had a couple shorter rides and then I'm out with it in March of 06 and after an hour or so Limp Mode kicks in again. Took it back to the dealership who now finds a problem with the tranny. They contact Honda. Honda contacts me and, to my delighted surprise, Honda offers to buy all the parts and replace the tranny, shift motor, another angle sensor etc., etc. I pay the labor and don't get it back until June (550 bucks for that). I have a busy year and don't get out for any real riding till Jan 07. A half day goes buy and Limp Mode comes back again. Extremely frustrated at this point, it goes back to the dealership and they call to tell me it's the ECM (Electronic Control Module) which costs $173. Three weeks later I go to pick it up and they hit me with a bill for the ECM, yet ANOTHER Angle Sensor and labor totaling $680. I freaked!!! They then claim they dropped 50% off the labor charges - I still freak and they agree to drop another $200 so I still pay $480!!! They then tell me they spent 2 days checking it over, connections, etc. and that's the labor charge. The Honda regional rep was also in and looked at it and they say they spent a lot of time on the phone with Honda tech looking for help finding the problem. All that and I'm not yet sure it's solved. Should I pay for them to scratch their head spending hours trying to figure it out or pay for an actual repair?? The dealer understands my frustration and gave me a number at Honda to call - as they gave me the bill...

Sorry this went so long, just want to give the history in hopes some may have suggestions.

 

Hmmm tricky one so many things. I am a tech and own a rubicon. Now by chance when Honda bought all those parts and shift motor was there anything wrong with the wiring harness. Seen once where the shift motor failed it fried the harness at the ECM.

What else? Does it act normal the rest of the time? When does it go into limp mode? Do you start it in gear? How fast are you going, are you in D1 D2 or ESP? High or Low range, or revrse?

Try unplugging the right hand brake switch by the master cylinder, all it there for is to make it so you can start in gear. There is also a switch on the gear selector.

No worries should be able to figure this out. Far as the other dealer, go to a different one!

 

Thanks for your reply...
To answer your questions:
As far as I know the harness is okay and the dealer claims they checked and tested all the connections. The shift motor was replaced simply because it was struggling to function when the tranny had it's problem, so the dealer added it to the list for Honda to purchase just in case it had gotten worn or damaged. Other parts included various O-rings, gaskets, etc., etc.

Acts perfectly normal rest of the time (at least the few times I've recently had it running normal at all). Has gone into limp mode at any time or situation, once after riding about 1/2 hour then ideling about 5 minutes - put it in gear and limp; once cruising at about 5 mph, limp; trying to get out of a rut once - limp. No particular reason on any occasion. I do not start in gear and always stop before changing any gear or mode selection. Normally I'm in D1 high when it happens. Also has happened in reverse.

Dealer, again, claims this time it's fixed... we'll see, I've heard that a couple times before. However, they did tell me that in ESP mode it won't go into (I think they said) 5th gear without kicking in limp mode. They wanted to spend more time and get more diagnostic tools from Honda to figure that out. I said forget it since I rarely use ESP. And this was before they gave me a bill for 680 bucks...

 

It sure will go into 6th gear in ESP man doesn't sound like they know how to fix anything there expect charging for what they cann't fix.

Do a quick search on here and intilize the ECM and clear the codes, but clear the codes first. Willing to bet that it should fix your problem. But count the codes before you earse them.

 

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