Fighting warranty claim for sudden transmission failure

Hello all, I'm a little bit stuck and very concerned about my situation.

I have a 2018 Honda Civic Si, FBO with 27WON turbo upgrade. 30,000 miles, and the transmission suddenly gives out. What gives? Yes, it does have aftermarket parts, but overall, it is driven as a daily vehicle with spirited driving every now and then. The car does not experience any launches, it has never seen a track or a drag strip. I recently drove it up to San Fransisco and back, no problems.

I was driving normally to pick someone up, then I hear a whistling, a whining, then a clattering.

I bring my vehicle to Pacific Honda in San Diego and they dismiss my issue due to aftermarket parts. But did not prove in depth that they were the actual cause. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, they should prove that my parts were the cause of the sudden failure. However I understand that I must pay for the full teardown in order to prove this, before getting reimbursed.

My question is, what is your opinion on the situation? I know I have aftermarket parts, but with my driving style it doesn't add up... People have abused their car much more than I have, a yet here I am with what I'm thinking was a lemon transmission from the start.

I've had transmission issues before that were brought up to the dealership but dismissed as normal. My biggest argument against the case is a video of my transmission fluid coming out of the car at 20,000 miles. HEAVY metallic flaking. I've received multiple opinions in saying that it does not look normal. I change it again at 25,000 and it still has heavy metallic flaking. I've come to believe my transmission was experiencing some kind of premature wear from the start since I drove it off the lot. Please check the video link I provided to see what the fluid looked like.

I'm at a loss at what to do! I don't want to pay out of pocket for a rebuild when I feel like this should be covered under warranty.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tcnKFbVP63phzvCf9

You are running FBO's with an upgraded turbo and the accompanying tune... Sounds like you are f***ed.

Personally, I'd recommend you start looking for a used transmission.

Sorry bro. That's a lot of mods and they knew about it.

jakdotdot said:

You are running FBO's with an upgraded turbo and the accompanying tune... Sounds like you are f***ed.

Personally, I'd recommend you start looking for a used transmission.

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Trying to lay out all my options right now Anyone have a transmission sitting around that they want to sell to me? Hahaha

julianzh said:

Sorry bro. That's a lot of mods and they knew about it.

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It is a lot of mods and I understand that. What I'm trying to wrap my head around is at the end of the day it's how it's driven. And my driving style leading to this doesn't add up to me.

IvanJonn said:

It is a lot of mods and I understand that. What I'm trying to wrap my head around is at the end of the day it's how it's driven. And my driving style leading to this doesn't add up to me.

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Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how you drive it. All they are going to say is that you are running all of this extra power through it and that caused the failure.

jakdotdot said:

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how you drive it. All they are going to say is that you are running all of this extra power through it and that caused the failure.

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That's what I'm seeing too. They don't really want to work around it. But I'm trying to see what I can do.

Anyone else around here aware of any transmission failures? I don't see much of them on here.

Wow, this happened on Honda's Mt? looks like Honda should follow Hyundai and Kia's 10 year warranty

So how exactly did your transmission failed? Also that fluid drained, it looked terrible, mine at 20K wasn’t even close to that

Sorry for you.
It is well know, with mods forget the warranty.

This is the point where you "Pony-Up" and upgrade the transmission, not revert back to stock. It is deplorable that you tried using the Magnusson-Moss. You ask for our opinion, well.....your metal flaking is from your disc getting slowly chewed away with the inability of it to clamp. You are at an obvious impass, so pony-up and do the right thing - Upgrade your clutch. It is not a Honda issue.

Did you have a new clutch installed and a custom tune when you put on the W1 turbo? I believe 27WON recommends both of those things when upgrading to their turbo.

There is no chance I would drop the W1 in without also doing the clutch at the very least.

if you mod you know at sometime it will break, cant blame Honda

Not necessarily. The question is, were you modded at the 20k mile mark when your fluid looked bad? That’s the only leg you have to stand on, if things were going south before you started modding.

And yes, I hate it when dealers try voiding warranty for a failed transmission because of your Enkei wheels, or upgrades stereo. But your mods directly interact with the power train...

What mileage was the car at when you upgraded the turbo anyway? It seems like the bearings were on their way out from the beginning. Don't MTs usually just strip and shatter gears and cases from too much power? Good luck telling Honda that though..


@Hollywoo0220 lmao, maybe take a moment to read and comprehend what's being discussed here; hint, its not clutch discs