markdill

I have an Accord V6 with about 130k miles on it.

Transmission was shifting slightly abruptly so I had Midas do a trans fluid flush/refill. This was before I did any research and man do I wish I could take that back. They did a full power-flush and put basic synthetic ATF in that was supposed to be Honda-compatible.

I called them and complained that trans was now shifting much more harshly than before. The guy said he knew of a good fix, and he added a Lubegard additive. No noticeable improvement.

So I did some research and realized I had screwed up. Started off by doing a drain/refill with Honda DW-1 and saw slight improvement. Drove about 1,000 miles. Did another drain/refill with Honda DW-1 and it got worse. One thing I did differently on this 2nd drain/refill is I used the ATF 17mm bolt fill-hole instead of filling through the dipstick. Does that matter?

The problem now is really only noticeable at 1st - 2nd shifts. It will frequently come out of gear, let the engine rev up, then shift harshly into 2nd and peel out. If I am applying more than 1/2-throttle during the shift, the dashboard shudders violently.

What would you recommend at this point? I'm worried my torque converter is FUBAR. I ordered 3 qts of redline D4 to try another drain/fill with that, and I also ordered Lubegard 60902 additive and Dr Tranny Instant Shudder Fixx.

My plan is to drain and fill with Redline, then drive for a while. If no improvement, I'll add the Lubegard additive. (do I need to drain a little? or just add?) Test again, then add the Instant Shudder Fixx.

Thoughts, recommendations?

djkurious

Those transmissions are glass. You will need to get all the "unknown" transmission fluid out.
I would do this with Honda ATF:
It doesn't matter where you put the fluid back in. The 17MM spot is were I also add fluid on the v-6 Acura and Hondas
Hopefully some of the transmission guru's will chime in.

94 accord typeR

trans flushes are "suspect" and never suggested by mfgs. u essentially are running the trans low on fluid and gears etc are getting hot during the process (no fluid). a simple drain and fill is always the best suggestion. dont know about 98's but the 94-97 V6 has a drain and fill hole on the trans. any additives are not a good idea. normal Honda ATF should be enuff to run a trans smoothly. most likely the original flush killed the trans and u r just throwing away money, but u can try it if u want. Midas deals with thousands of cars and what works for one might not work for another

in the vid the guy added 3 qts of Dex III where u want to only add 2.5 gts. also there is really no way of knowing how much fluid has come out to know how much to add during the flush (low fluid). thats why its so dangerous. on new cars it instantly voids the warranty

in short drain and fill. dont rely on the experts rely on the owners manual

markdill

Well, so far so good! I did a drain & fill with the Redline ATF. Drove it around a bit and noticed maybe a slight improvement but still 1-2 shifts were quite abrupt. So I decided to add the additives.

I had only added 2.5 qts of the Redline ATF so there was *just* enough fluid to reach the acceptable level on the dipstick. After adding the Lubegard 60902 and the Dr Tranny Instant Shudder Fix, the dipstick reads that I've got just slightly too much ATF in there. I didn't really want to mess with trying to drain out 2 oz of fluid though, so I decided to just drive it and see how it is working.

Miraculous! This stuff is gold! I wouldn't say the tranny shifts like new, but it shifts at least as good as it did before Midas did the powerflush. I realize the additives may just be a band-aid on a bad tranny, but I am quite satisfied for now. I plan to do all future drain & fills with Redline and use the additives if it starts getting harsh again.

MAD_MIKE

Check for stored codes.
Then pull the NM/NC sensors and verify they are clean.
Next back probe the TPS and verify the voltage output is linear with no gaps.

markdill

What is an NM/NC sensor? I saw something about cleaning the filters on the solenoid. Is there a solenoid that could affect the 1-2 shift more than the others?

MAD_MIKE

On your car there are six shift solenoids.
Four shift solenoids and two linear units. If anyone of them has a partially blocked screen the fluid cannot be exhausted quick enough for a shift. Erratic shifting may be caused by the magnetic pickups that monitor the mainshaft(NM) and countershaft(NC) speeds. If these magnetic tips are covered in ferrous material they will not know the correct shaft speed and may command a shift at the incorrect RPM.

On the 98-02 V6 the NM & NC sensors are located, one on top next to the fill plug. And an identical sensor will be into the frontside of the trans left side cover. They are the same sensor, once you remove the 10mm headed bolt, slightly twist the sensor to break it free and then pull out. If there is magnetic slurry on the tip then it will need to be wiped off.

As for the above YT video of the guy using the trans to pump itself dry, this is a bad idea on Honda ATs. Unlike other vehicles that have a pan that can be removed to access the filter/pickup assembly, Honda ATs do not have a removable pan nor readily accessible filter/pickup.
If you use the trans to pump itself dry it will suck up more of the junk and crud from the bottom of the pan. Since there is no access(without trans removal/disassembly) to the filter, this will cause the filter to clog quicker than normal. It is best to drain the case using the appropriate drain plug, as the draining fluid will remove any of the clutch material that may be sitting in the sump.

Just refill the case, drive, drain, refill, drive, drain, refill, drive, drain.
Most folks do only three as this will get most of the old fluid out. I do it four times as it gives me those joy-joy feelings.