PhoRiuH

I just got a new 98 Accord with a V6 VTEC engine and an automatic transmission. When I went to take it for a test drive the day after I bought it from an auction i put it in D4 and started to exit my neighborhood then when I accelerated to about 35 MPH the car shifted to low then turned off. I put it in neutral and started it again then turned around and went back to my house. I checked the transmission fluid and stuff then took it back out and it was acting fine, but when you put it in D4 and drive for a while the D4 light starts to blink. I also shifted from D4 to D3 and there was no gear change at all, the car just kept going. I'm not sure if I have a transmission problem or what, my dad said it seems like the owner before me swapped the transmission for a three speed one because once it switches from 2nd to 3rd gear it doesnt change gears again. I was going about 65 @ 4,000 RPM and it never changed to 4th gear. Can someone help me identify if this is a problem or if the owner before me just swapped transmissions and im fine.

Rude Awakening

98-02 Honda V6 auto trannies are notorously bad. Really.

PhoRiuH

yeah thats what i've been reading, but the tranny seams to be fine.

PhoRiuH

and when i was in third gear i was going about 70 and the engine wasn't like screaming or anything and the RPM's weren't high

94EG8

Honda never made a V6 3 speed automatic so no the previous owner didn't swap one in. Transmission in almost guaranteed to be bad. I've got a B7WA Acura TL tranny torn apart right now, 5 speed automatic. 99% of the time it worked great I'm told, but occasionally it would try to make a 2nd to 3rd shift and just rev up. Took tranny apart and 3rd gear clutch pack is completely cooked, the only thing I can save is the outer case, spring flared out and pretty much destroyed everything else, plates, discs, piston, O-ring, spring, thrust bearings, piston cap, all ruined. Transmission otherwise looks ok.

The accord tranny you have was well know for premature failure, to the point where I wouldn't even look at a junkyard tranny since there is such a large possibility that you'll get another bad tranny. IIRC the 4 speeds like yours failed due to a bad bearing most of the time, bearing cage would fly apart and send fragments into oil passages in the tranny causing erratic shifting.