pauken

First of all, I do know that my generation of Accord has a history of automatic transmission problems.
1999 Accord EX 2.4L 4-cyl A/T.

I had a Honda Dealer Tech look at my transmission the other day. He said there was some slightly irregularity to it, but nothing major. Fluid was fine, and it didn't smell. He suggested I wait for a while and see if the symptoms increase. He wasn't able to produce what I was describing. ((more on this later).

Here are the symptoms and non-symptoms:

1. There is a slight delay when shifting into Drive (from park, neutral, or reverse) before it engages. There is no delay shifting to reverse.

2. There is a little clunk and more specifically a substantial jerk when shifting into drive. Reverse shows no symptom like this.

3. I can watch the engine body jump a little when engaging into Drive… much more jerk than when engaging it into Reverse. (yes I know, I will have Honda check the mounts).

4. The same jerk happens just about every time I come to a complete stop- the same jerk felt when putting it into Drive.

5. The car auto-shifts fine… no slippage at all --EXCEPT if I do not let that jerk happen when stopping. Say, if I do a rolling stop and right before the jerk happens, I hit the accelerator- it will bang a little. The car has always done that a slight bit for 10 years, but nothing substantial like this. It used to be a very slight delay- now it is a clunk. (perhaps the tranny has an delay and jerk issue getting into first gear?)

This only happens if the car has been driven for a while, not when cold. Yesterday, I drove for an hour on the interstate. When I got back to town, it was more pronounced.

The dealer tech wasn't able to produce the same symptom. I am convinced that the reason for this was because the car was cold after it sat for a while before the tech drove it. It usually doesn't do this until it is hot.

Tomorrow, I am going to hit the interstate and take it back to the Tech--- and let him drive it when hot so I can reproduce the symptoms.

I am completely fine with replacing the transmission with a OEM remanufactured one ( even though it will be 2500 dollars or more). I just want to make sure it is the transmission and not something else before committing to a repair like that. I need to drive the car on vacation in a week or so, so I need time to get it repaired before doing so (time is of the essence).

Any experienced thoughts? Thanks in advance!

MAD_MIKE

What was irregular about it? Not enough fiber in its diet?
From P > R or also is there no delay when going from 1-2-D-D4 or N to R?
First gear shift solenoid(s)? When driven more, the solenoid would progressively get worse with heat.
If the '99 AT has external shift solenoids like the '90-'97 cars you may be able to test them by jumping them directly with 12V. Listen for the solenoid actuating with a crisp 'click'. If one of the solenoids does not 'click' on and off quickly it might be sticking, which progressively worsens as it is heated.

I do not know what Honda changed in 6th Gen of ATs that makes them more prone to failure compared to the 4th and 5th Gens. But that may be the next component(s) to scrutinize.

pauken

Thanks for your help MAD-MIKE.

We ended up replacing the transmission after it started causing several other problems the next day.

Even though it was an expensive repair for a car that wasn't worth a lot more, I am actually happy with my purchase because the AT comes with a 3yr/36k warranty.

155k miles, looking to hit 200k, then buy another in cash.

Cheers.