Overheating on the 2004 Honda Accord
When overheating gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Honda Accord report overheating at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 100 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 102,000 miles. It is the 29th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 100 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 92,090 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
44% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 miles | 94 miles | 45,000 miles | 66,000 miles | 92,184 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$3,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 14 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 230,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 18; the 2004 has 10. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I purchased new a 2004 honda accord sedan with a v-6 engine and automatic transmission in february of 2004. While driving the car on wednesday, january 17, 2007, I suddenly no longer had 3rd,4th or 5th gear. Honda refused to fix the car under warranty because I had 51,700 miles on the car, 1,700 miles over the warranty. They denied that there was a recall on this model car. I have since learned that this model has had a recall, 04v176000, that calls for the replacement of the transmission if 1) there are over 17,000 miles on the car; and 2) there are obvious signs of discoloration due to overheating. I had the car towed to a transmission repair shop, and they called to tell me that the entire transmission had "completely burned out." the shop service manager stated that "the bands should be a light tan color," and mine were "burned black." I have since been told by honda that my car was not covered by this recall, and they would not fix the transmission. *nm
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 honda accord. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle slowed down and would not accelerate. The vehicle was pulled over and restarted ten minutes later. As the contact was driving to the mechanic shop, the vehicle overheated. The mechanic stated that the transmission failed. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA recall # 04v176000 (power train:automatic transmission). The current and failure mileages were 66,000.
My new 2004 honda had a safety recall on october 18, 2004 to correct an overheating problem with the transmission which could result in gear teeth damage and a dangerous breakdown. Depending on mileage, the corrective action involved either replacing the transmission or installing a fan to reduce the heat buildup. For my car, they installed a fan but did not replace the transmission. Recently, I had my transmission fluid changed in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. On my service receipt, the local honda dealer stated, "the transmission fluid was black and smelled burned with metal flakes in the fluid". Clearly the corrective action that was taken in the safety recall was ineffective and the transmission is overheating I filed a complaint with american honda in torrance ca and requested that my transmission be replaced to correct the safety problem. Their response was that since the transmission is currently functioning, they will not replace it. (note also that I have an extended warranty through honda that is still in effect) the purpose of a safety recall is to prevent accidents by taking timely corrective action…
Also reported on the 2004 Honda Accord
Other powertrain problem
Complete transmission failure
Other electrical problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Seat belt or retractor failure
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does overheating happen on the 2004 Honda Accord?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 100 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is overheating on the 2004 Honda Accord?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed