06 Accord flat towing issues

Hello everybody

About 6 months ago, after doing much research and hearing quite a few people saying it would be fine, I decided to modify my 06 accord with a tow bar. According to Honda Motor Corp. and many other testimonies, all I have to do is hook it up, crank the car, and shift to drive...then neutral, then turn key back to acc. Simple.

Well, let me tell ya, my 06 accord does not like to be towed. First couple of short trips (50 miles) it wanted to shake real bad after I unhooked it. It didnt like sitting still in drive. It would shake like it wanted to move. Kinda like letting out on a clutch on a manual transmission without giving it gas. A shutter.

Well, after driving about 100 miles everything returns to normal. Its like the computer resets itself after driving it around. Well one time I unhook it and it will only hit about 2,000 rpm's before the rev limiter kicks in! Keep it under 2 grand and it would run fine. Mash the gas a little more and it would start bucking as the rev limiter was kicking in. Drove it about 100 miles and everything returned to normal.

Very irritating.

So, with all that said, and a big trip looming ahead (3,000 + miles) my question now is, what if next time, I unplugged the negative battery terminal after going through the pre tow procedure? Would that keep the computer from going haywire? Or would it damage the car?

Im quite disgusted with the whole thing, and now wish I would have just bought  a dolly. But I really want to take this trip and am trying to figure this thing out. Thanks in advance for any help.

Not sure about the 2006 Accord. We did tow a 2000 Accord about 40,000 mile and now tow a 2014 Honda CRV.
What we do (according to owners manual instructions I think) is
1. Cycle through every gear, down to L1, stopping in each location for 3 or 4 seconds.
2. Shift to drive (3 or 4 seconds, then to Neutral.
3. Let idle for 3 minutes.
4. Turn engine off
5. Turn ignition to acc or on, I can't remember which. Steering wheel must be free to turn.
6. Be sure all accessories or off, so it doesn't drain battery.
7. Can only lock car with a second key while key is in ignition.

I do know the 2014 Accord says it can not be towed 4 down, but I don't know what year that started. Should be in owners manual.

We just googled a 2006 accord sedan for owners manual and it appears, it probably should not be flat towed behind a motor home.
It may be possible to have a lube pump installed, Not sure.

Yeah, its not a dedicated tow vehicle. But I did some fairly extensive research and had a few people saying they had no problem towing theirs as long as the "emergency towing" procedure was followed. I read the manual and it is simply from drive to neutral, then turn key back to acc. Ive tried running for several minutes, cycling through the gears slowly, running in neutral a few minutes. It seems like a computer problem. Not a lube pump problem. Ive heard these computers are self-learning/self-adjusting, and it doesnt know how to be towed I guess. After driving a few hundred miles, its back to running perfect. But it really acts up after being towed.

I had the car before the motorhome is why I went this route. In the future I will definitely make sure I get a tow certified vehicle.

The 2006 is no different than the 2005, which Honda agreed was towable. They simply withdrew their towing OK for 2006 and later. Presumably warranty issues, but Honda would never say.

Gary RV Roamer said:

The 2006 is no different than the 2005, which Honda agreed was towable. They simply withdrew their towing OK for 2006 and later. Presumably warranty issues, but Honda would never say.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Thats what convinced me it would be ok. Plus ive never seen any bad reports. But mine certainly is having problems. I just dont get it.

I haven't a clue, but merely having the computer forget its settings shouldn't have that much effect.

So nobody knows. Great. I have the only car in history of man that does this. Figures.

What happens if you just park it in the driveway for a day in "towing mode"? Does it shudder and complain when you reactivate it for driving?  I'm trying to figure if the problem is caused by simply being in that state, or whether it is triggered by the actual towing (wheels moving).

Since this problem does not occur with other Accords, you need to figure out what is different about yours, either the vehicle it self, the tow wiring, or your tow set-up procedure. Something is differemt, but you are going to have to get down to nitty-gritty details to figure out what (and why).

Towing mode? Not sure exactly what you mean. Here's what I do to tow it. I attach the towbar, crank the car and pull up behind motorhome. I shift out of D into N. Its a standard P-R-N-D-D3-D2-D1 setup. Let the car run. Pull parking brake arm. (I use parking brake all the time. Thats not the problem). Get out of the car and attach the towbar to motorhome. Get back in car, release parking brake, and turn key back to acc. Make sure everythings turned off. Thats it. The lights are just some cheap magnetic ones. So no wires are plugged into car. Its simply being towed.

I have tried variations in shifting, like cycling through all gears, leaving in each gear a few seconds, warming car up, running in neutral 3 minutes. Doesn't seem to matter. I also avoid reverse when im about to hook up. Meaning I try not to use reverse at all and dont shift to that gear. Just crank, drive, neutral, off.

As soon as I get where im going, I get in car, pull parking brake, and disconnect from motorhome. Then get in car, release parking brake, crank car in neutral (should I be shifting to park to crank?) Anyway it will crank in neutral so I just do that, and then either shift to drive or reverse depending on which way I need to go.

1st trip, and subsequent trips, a whole lot of shaking going on. Stopping at a stop sign is no fun. Its not THAT bad....but it is bad enough for a nice car like mine.  It idles smooth as silk right now, after a few hundred miles. It takes about 300 to totally reset, but after the 1st 100 it feels alot better, maybe 90%.

Then the rev limiter thing happened after a trip. Anyway, tired of typing and im sure the three people that read this are tired of reading, so im gonna quit. Any ideas would be great.

Meant to say thanks Gary and everybody else who chimed in. I appreciate the help.

By "towing mode" I mean putting it in the state specified by Honda for getting ready to flat tow. Here is an excerpt from the official procedure, published in letter form up to and including year 2005:

When preparing to tow your vehicle, make sure the transmission fluid level is full. Do not overfill.
If Honda/Acura automobile with an automatic transmission is towed with the front or all four wheels on the ground, you must do the following every day immediately before towing:
• Start the engine.
• Press on the brake pedal. Shift the lever through all the positions (P,R,N,D,2,1).
• Shift to D, then to N. Let the engine run for at least three minutes, then turn off engine.
• Release the parking brake.
• Leave the ignition switch in ACCESSORY (1) so the steering wheel does not lock. Make sure the radio and any items plugged into the accessory power sockets are turned off so you do not run down the battery.
If you travel more than 8 hours in one day (including stopping time), you must stop and repeat the above procedures.
NOTICE:
The steering system can be damaged if the steering wheel is locked. Always leave the key in the ACCESSORY (1) position to prevent damage to the steering system when towing behind another vehicle.
CAUTION:
Severe automatic transmission damage will occur if the car is shifted from reverse to neutral and then towed with the drive wheels on the ground.

NOTICE:

Improper towing preparation will damage the transmission. Follow the above procedure exactly. If you cannot shift the transmission or start the engine, your vehicle must be on a flat bed truck or trailer.

If you tow a Honda/Acura vehicle with automatic transmission, the fluid must be changed every two years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Click to expand...

Oh, ok. I see what you mean now. Like to test it to see if simply going through those motions would cause a problem in itself. No I havent tried that yet. My owners manual the procedure is not that elaborate. Under the "emergency towing" section, it simply says to crank the car, shift to drive first, then neutral. I believe it emphasizes the "drive first" part. Then turn key back one position to acc. I will get a picture of it up. Im glad you shared that info.