valorracer

so heres a quick rundown:
-99 civic dx auto
-engine is immaculate.
-old trans was slipping and shifting late/hard into gear.
-replaced with freshly rebuilt trans and blue torque converter.
-on initial startup, there was a high pitched squealing sound from the trans area, and the engine was having a hell of a time starting.
-then there was a metal *clunk* sound, then the car started, sound went immediately away, filled fluid accordingly. all is well.

-200 miles later while riding down the road at 40, the trans loses torque.
-engine free-revs in all selectable gears.

here is the strange thing:
turn the car off... wait 5 seconds, start it... reverse, d4, d3, and 2 will all select. but drive or sit for about 15 seconds.... then you feel the trans let go again, and youre back to free revving.

repeat the process,
after 15 seconds of driving or idling, the trans completely lets go, idle climbs a tiny bit, and back to more fantastic free revving.


trans fluid is all oem honda. brand new. right within the marker range. only code is p0740, and when jumped, d4 will blink 4 slow times and repeat.

i am totally stumped. lockup solenoids were pulled, they looked brand new. screen was cleaner than Jesus.

i dont know what turning the car off has to do with it, but it allows the car to run for about 15 seconds before the trans just lets go and you dont go anywhere.

any help is greatly appreciated. this is my best friends moms car and i am a honda tech, so i would like to narrow it down before i tell her to go buy another trans or torque converter and have me swap it all over again.

Former User

I think 94EG8 may have found that swapping an AT from an EX into a DX would cause this problem.

valorracer

the wires ohm out @ 1.7. so they are good.

why would an AT from an ex into a dx have this problem?

zacheryleatherw

there's a lot of people having this problem...mine doesn't show any codes though

valorracer

pulled the backup fuse, let it chill for a sec. started it at 180', backed it out about 15 feet, then it let go. scanned for codes after repeated attempts to drive it back in the shop... none. not it wont show any d4 or CELs but cant drive more than 15 feet about every 5 mins...

zacheryleatherw

mine never even showed a code

zacheryleatherw

tomorrow i'm changing the silonoids on the top of the tranny i will let yall know how that works

Former User

PM moderator 94EG8 and link him to this thread.

94EG8

It'll throw code P0715 due to 3rd gear being a different ratio than the DX transmission. It will work though, just shift somewhat erratically (delayed engagment allowing high reving between D and R when rocking a vehicle in snow) as well as harsh shifting and obviously the aformentioned CEL code.

No need, stumbled upon it all on my own

valorracer

well, changed out the lock up sol's with a set off a perfectly running 00, made no diff. and now, the turn the key off and restart trick doesnt even work. now, its totally useless. not a leak, bad sound, or anything. just simply free revs in every selectable gear.

im pulling the trans and doing a 5 spd conversion. 2 transmissions in less than 4 months... this is just ridiculous.

Wyatt87

Youre going to be so happy you switched to manual. i plan on doing the same soon

94EG8

From the sounds of it something got screwed up during the installation or the transmission wasn't rebuilt properly. Those transmissions really weren't known for having a high failure rate. That said if it was mine I'd definitely be swapping in a 5 speed.

DragonHeart335

1991 Honda Accord LX, 2.2L, auto trans, recent trans swap. No codes read, no CEL, no flashing lights.

Wow! So glad to find this thread. My wife called me while driving our 91 Honda Accord to lunch yesterday and told me that the tranny went out of gear, she turned the car off, waited, and then started it and it went into gear just to go out again a few secs later. I went to get her, checked the car and this is what its doing still: Start the car, it goes into all gears both Sports and Regular modes, then slips out of all gears about 15 to 30 secs.

History: I JUST got this car on the road, inspected and tagged. I had to change the tranny because my wife accidentally shifted into reverse while moving forward. Nuff said . Anyhow, got the new tranny from junk yard. It worked fine. I have actually driven the car close to 3000 miles already before this started happening.

I will be working on this problem for the next few days. If I come up with a solution I will post it here for you all. Any and all help is appreciated. This is our ONLY family car. The only other vehicle we have is my 95 Ford diesel truck which will put us in a homeless shelter if we have to depend on it for daily transpo. lol

tschoening

Please let us know if you find something! There are a few threads with the exact same problem, but there has been no closure to any of them.

Thanks...

DragonHeart335

Well, that's sad news. The only thing I am fairly sure about at this point is that it is an electrical problem of some sort, whether a pressure solenoid, bad sensor, or bad TCU. BTW, I did have to change the TCU as well. I got the TCU off the Internet and it seemed to be fine. I doubt that it is a wiring problem as the going 'out of gear' happens the exact way every time.

valorracer

crazy ****.

yeah, i think either the TC was not rebuilt or the rebuild on the trans was not right. cause everything worked great for a few days, then suddenly with no warning signs, just nothing.

the lady said to switch it over to 5 spd. i got a cx trans for cheap, so it should give her great mpg, and make her car feel like it has all of 11 hp.

bump for anyone who finds a resolution.

zacheryleatherw

Has anyone tried changing the two solenoids on top of the transmission??

94EG8

If it's not throwing codes there's really not much point. I can really tell you so many times it's not an electrical issue. Just typical automatic transmission failure.

zacheryleatherw

Mine have oil all over them from a recent leaky valve cover gasket, i'm willing to bet those two solenoid's have something to do with it. If I would have gotten my check today I would have tried it but that will be tomorrow.

zacheryleatherw

Guess I'm gonna call jap motor's in the morning to see about a auto to standard swap?

motegicivic

Since it is an EX going into a DX I wonder if there is a ECU issue?

94EG8

DragonHeart335

That will be the first thing I try. My 91 Accord is ODB 1 so it aint throwin codes anyway. There is NO WAY the tranny is shot. It will go into gear, shift through ALL gears and then the tranny will let go and not go back into ANY gears 15 secs later. Shut the car off, wait about 1 minute, start it back up and it goes back into gear. WEIRD STUFF! BTW, the longer I wait to turn it back on, the longer it will stay in gear without slipping out.

DragonHeart335

BTW, I have never checked codes for either the ECU or TCU for my 91 Accord. Can someone tell me (or show me the post) that describes in detail how to do this? I'm not getting a CEL or any flashing lights, but I'd like to check anyway.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

This isn't the Accord forum.