nicolaselias

Hi everyone...

For the past year or so my 96 accord EX (auto) would take a few seconds to engage drive when you had just started the engine from cold..

Now however, it has gotten worse to the point where you will put it in reverse to back out the garage and have to wait about 20 seconds for it to engage...
Forward gears usually take about half that time to engage but when pulling off and cold it would usually take quite a while to auto-shift from 1-2, sometimes slipping once or twice while going uphill until it warms up..

Fluid is relatively fresh, gears shift normal and nothing feels unusual about it once it warms up..
No CEL or any codes...

Any ideas? My mechanic mentioned to me that the internal seals of the trans could be worn ...

I don't necessarily mind it, if I just start the car a minute earlier, but I suspect that this issue is not going to get any better...

Thanks

nicolaselias

85 views but no help.. Bumpy?

holmesnmanny

wow one whole year with that condition. Consider urself lucky and u can either have it rebuilt or just wait until it goes.

nicolaselias

Well my accord has always been a tough one.. Doesn't give up the ghost so easily..

I figure I will tough it out until it goes..
That said, getting it "rebuilt" means nothing to me if I don't know what particular transmission part will lead to this unique problem...

MAD_MIKE

Pretty much. The seals could be just getting old. Could also be the tolerances in the AT pump are getting sloppy and it not creating as much pressure as quickly when cold. Then when it heats up the tolerances tighten up. If you could beg/borrow/steal a 300psi gauge, and plug it into the trans to watch the pressure that would give you an idea of the transmissions health.

nicolaselias

I am pretty sure that my mechanic has one of those 300psi gauges...

I'm glad that you agree with his prognosis.. He is generally spot-on with those sorts of things..
Honestly, for now I will just start the car a little earlier and try not to go too hard on the throttle while the engine/trans is still cold..
Its a bit hard though because either direction from me is some uphill/downhill driving..

nus_dogg

Yeah, sounds like the clutch seal is brittle/old.

nicolaselias

Well, I have an update..

Last week the trans started "hard shifting" between 1st and 2nd when on the throttle.. ie. it would buck the entire car but complete the shift..
In addition to this, it might sometimes slip into neutral at WOT

Then:
The other morning I left home and found the trans was taking extra long to get out of 1st gear (even if I "manually" shifted to 2nd)
I get on the interstate and I put my foot down to merge, it slips into neutral and revs me up to the limiter...
Following that, I have been unable to get 3rd or 4th to engage...
I managed to get the vehicle to the next exit and back home.. However I live on top of a hill and the transmission was slipping in 1st and 2nd all the way up the hill...
I let it cool down, checked the ATF level (which was good) and tried again later...

On my 2nd test drive I actually was unabe to get drive to engage 2 or 3 times when slipping or shifting from reverse to drive...

What do these symptoms point to? Destroyed clutch packs? Really bad seals?
My mechanic works for cheap and would consider a rebuild but does it even make sense?

I can get a replacement trans fairly easily but I am seeing this as a potential opportunity to do the automatic to manual conversion..

MAD_MIKE

The leaking seals may cause a delay in shifting, but they will usually not fail completely. A worn clutch pack may occur, but you would not lose all four gears to this problem at the same time. You would lose a gear.
Sounds like a lack of correct pressure to correctly actuate the components.
Did your mechanic ever check the line pressure?

Go through this link and test what you can test.
http://techauto.awardspace.com/transmission.html

If the pump is failing, the regulator is not working, or the shift valves are not holding any of these symptoms may cause what you are experiencing.

MACH 7

its an auto i think so yes check seals, maybe tourq converter is faulty or leaking and find out how to test the shift solenoids maybe u can do a simple resistance test


AND ALSO MAYBE THE CANTACT POINTS IN YOUR SHIFTER ARE NOT MAKING CONTACT AND NOT COMPLETING THE CIRCUIT WHEN YOU SHIFT IN TO WTVR GEAR

Robert Arauz

shift solenoid? it seemed to help, but freezing weather still takes 20 seconds

99stockcivic

If it's still going after 10 years since that post, it's a beast! Check dates on messages to make sure you are not responding to a decade old message.

nicolaselias

You know I never followed up on this but since he brought it back up from the dead....
I ended up getting a used transmission with warranty for about 350US equivalent, and mechanic charged maybe 150 to swap it out. It is has been fine (fingers crossed) for the past 10 years.....
One day i'll get around to doing the manual conversion, but haven't been able to go home to my accord for over a year now because of covid

99stockcivic

Wow, impressive! Glad to see its still alive.

Covid has been insidious, I'm sorry to hear you haven't been home in a awhile. Hopefully this will be ending soon if the vaccinations keep the pace up now.

nicolaselias

Thanks, much appreciated. Hopefully I'll get my second vax dose soon and the borders to my country (Trinidad and Tobago) will reopen sometime. it has been HARD closed for over a year now.

In the meantime, my sister has been driving the accord and doing her utmost best to destroy it lol