rifted

I know next to nothing about accords seeing as how my only experience with hondas was on a 89 civic. Someone is offering me a 91 auto accord for really cheap, the body is 8/10 and the interior about the same. The only problem is that the transmission is shot. I called around to various places and the general consensus is 1k for a bench rebuild. Yet I found a rebuild kit for the apx4 transmission for 100 dollars on bulkpart.com but it doesn’t come with a torque converter. I’ve heard it said that you don’t always have to replace the torque converter on a rebuild, is there any truth to that in regard to honda automatics? How hard is it to pull a fwd transmission? Is the rebuild more complex than a rwd aside from smaller parts? I haven’t ever worked on a fwd transmission my only experience with rebuilding transmissions is on a ford c6 and a chevy 3-speed so any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks

bill-71SS

I work as a honda tech, you do not want to try to rebuild the trans. As for the converter, put a new one in with the trans you get, that is a must. Check the local yards, you can usually find a good trans for around 400 or so.

Broman78

wassup i live in dallas and check out lolo's junkyard he had one for about 250 and would have his crew install it for about 150. and the best thing is you can haggle with him cause money talks. this was also about 6 months ago so ymmv

rifted

ok so rebuilding is not plausible. Out of curiosity what makes rebuilding one so impossible? Also around what mileage do honda automatic transmissions go out typically? I will want to make sure the one I pull from a junkyard has decent life left. This isn’t the kind of thing I want to make a 15k mile ritual.

Hippie

My best friend owns a trans shop, in 10 years he and his chief wrench have only done one Honda trans each and that was because of "youthful exuberance". One had run over a curb and knocked a hole in the case. They both said they are nearly bulletproof in normal use but are a bear to work on. They don't use clutches like most autos but actually use gears like a manual which is why the hold up so well but also why they are so rough to work on. That is if I understood them correctly, I was busy watching the blond across the street.................

My buddy will not warranty a trans rebuild without installing a new or rebuilt converter. He says that the old converter is the perfect hiding place for all the crap from the old trans and no amount of flushing will get it all. You have to cut the case open to do it properly, somthing best left to someone specializing in converters. Reinstalling the old converter is like using used motor oil and a used filter to fire up a new motor.

Stripped Honda

they have clutch packs and they are very possible to rebiuld if you have time just rebiuld it ... and i agree that dirt and debree may be in the convertor but flushing the trans will take care of it after..... give it a try what is the worst that can happen ?? you loose 100.00 buks better then shelling out 400+

rifted

I can do gears in a transmission. I’ve rebuilt a manual before and it wasn’t very hard the trick was just to make sure that the gears went back on in the order that they came off. on that note though anyone know where I could get a tech manual or something with pictures showing how the transmission is supposed to look when assembled? If I get the accord ill just pull the transmission, open it up and take a look. If it seems too complicated to rebuild ill just go to the junkyard. I appreciate all the input. If anything else comes to mind please let me know. Thanks again.

hondapitstopcom

For views of the transmission there's a Helm manual for 4th gens online in the UK (I live in the US) but it's free at this link
http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/AccordManual

Also, to the original poster who's buying the Accord with the bad tranny you should seriously think about getting a manual transmission put in with the clutch pedal and all as down the line you may want a manual tranny if you want to autocross or drag race your Accord at all. food for thought ;o)

rifted

No racing in store for that car if I get it. I will be fixing it for a friends 18th birthday present. She doesn’t know how to drive a manual so I figure it’s just simpler to replace/fix the auto than have her learn on a manual and fry the first clutch in 6 weeks. I don’t really wanna go pulling a fwd transmission all that often, it looks difficult with so much stuff crammed in the engine bay.

YeuEmMaiMai

personally I'd go for the bench rebuild as most cars that are that old have well over 100K on them..... you never really know what you are going to get from the JY and since you are GIVING the car to someone take the extra time to do it right and avoid problems later........

GimpyAccord

Its definetly no C6... I've rebuilt a couple C4's and those are cake.

Those 4 poppers rarely bust a tranny... if it were ME I'd find one in the yard cheap and buy a converter. Turns a questionable situation into a half day tranny job. Also what if you find internal damage in the current tranny??? A rebuild may not be what she needs. If you're feeling daring rebuild the old one and sell it on ebay. What exactly is the transmission doing??? Maybe the converters just shot from daily city driving.

carolinaACCORD

As said above, what exactly is the transmission doing?

On the rebuilding part, it's not a hard job, just time consuming. You can buy a Helm's service manual that has every step in disassembly/assembly of virtually every part. If you have done a c6 and that 3-speed, then you can more than likely do that tranny.

If you wanna just buy a new one, a salvage yard is your best bet. Or you can get a JDM LSD auto tranny from http://www.hmotorsonline.com for 350+shipping.