Problems with my 1990 accord ex (shift lock among others)
 

ok, my car was driving fine, until suddenly, the shift lock automatically engages one night....

so im puzzled, and i finally figure out that that is whats not letting me shift out of park, and i dont have any spare keys, so i have to turn the car off, put the key in the shift lock, put the car in neutral, take the key out of shift lock, put the car in neutral, turn the car on, and then drive.... but if i put it back in park, the shift lock automatically engages again...

is there any way at all to permenantly disable it???

another question.... oil is leaking from my crank case, onto my oil filter, and then onto my cat, where it is burning off and making large amounts of smoke....

today im going to put some "smoke b gone" into the oil, but i was wondering (because im sure that wont fix the leak) if i should wrap the filter in a rag or something to just absorb the oil so it doesnt drop down and burn off.... or if i can put something on the cat to deflect the oil....

whatever, help me out please guys, thanks

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

I had a simialr problem with my 96 EX. There is a switch that the brake sits against when the pedal is up. It releases when you press on the brake. It's that switch that activates your brake lights and also releases the shift lock. So see if you have break lights. If you don't, that's your problem. Otherwise you're on your own.

As far as the oil, I can't really think of a good suggestion.

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

About the oil... can be bad. Hopefully it's just a bad valve cover gasket, which is easy to replace and not a head gasket.
The shift-lock release will be hard to troubleshoot. It could be the actuator on the pedal side or it might be the solenoid on the shifter/lock side. You'll have to check for continuity or something. If you want to get serious about DYI, pick up a Helms manual, the official Honda manual, about $70.
With it you could disassemble your car to a bunch of metal and plastic pieces and screws and reassemble it back together. It also has lots of electrical troubleshooting flowcharts.

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

The oil leak is probably leaking out of your valve cover gasket (just replace the gasket-12 bucks or so) and dripping/running onto your exhaust manifold. Does it usually do it more on the highway or after aggressive driving?
The shift lock solenoid is probably bad...More info on the shift lock assembly can be found here...
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...5=SELECT+LEVER

Edit: It took me too long to find the link... http://rely.net/~htimages/smile/emsmile.gif


[Modified by Stew Pidasso, 1:14 PM 11/1/2002]

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (Stew Pidasso)
 

well the thing is that i hardly drive this car cuz i have a prelude, so im trying to fix these problems before i sell it...

about the shift lock-- theres no way i could just open up the center console thing and just take it out or unscrew it or break it or something?

im almost positive that the oil is coming from the crank case.... but yes, the smoke comes after ive driven it for about 5 minutes... even less sometimes. but when i dont drive, it stops. which again leads me to believe it's the crank case.

shift lock-- do you think yall could run by me one more time what im supposed to do about a switch under the brake pedal?? or something? syliniods, lights, continuity, uhhh

thanks for your help guys


[Modified by matt0199, 11:10 AM 11/1/2002]

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

^^^

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

when my auto did not want to shift out of park , it was a blown horn fuse which was also for he tail lights.

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (rrei)
 

so they key here is brake lights?

or at least, they are important, right? if they dont work, your shift lock doesnt work?

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

Do your brake lights work?

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

Well the oil problem sound to me like your valve cover gasket. Look around your valve cover and see if there is oil or dirt. You may not see where it is dripping onto the manifold because it will burn off. When you drive or rev the engine the oil pressure increases and there is more oil up top so that is when they tend to leak. I don't really see anywhere it could smoke out of the crankcase. I would bet that the shiftlock could just be removed and used as normal. Take off the center console and figure something out. Put power to the solenoid itself and see if it works...

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (Stew Pidasso)
 

see, thats what i was wondering.... cant i just open up the console and break it or something? or maybe permenantly jam something in the key hole? im looking for a more brutal way to fix it, not these complicated explainations

violence can be used as a good thing, heheh.

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (matt0199)
 

I believe the solenoid is #8 in this diagram. I would say just unbolt it and see if it will go into gear then. It's worth a try...
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...13SM40_J17.gif

Re: Problems with my 1990 accord ex (Stew Pidasso)
 

This happened to me before on my 91 lx sedan.I was puzzled just like you were..but come to find out it was just a blown fuse under the hood...i dont know what it had to do with the shifter lock....but all i know is that when i changed that fuse everything was fine after that.