2002 Civic LX Coupe automatic transmission question(s)
 

I just got this car, it was owned by the head mechanic at a Honda dealership in MI. It has around 199k miles on it but seems to be in top shape. It generally drives and handles like a new car, everything works, and the body and interior are both in great shape.

However, in the 500+ miles of driving I've done over the last 1-1/2 weeks since I took ownership, it has done something a little odd, on 2 separate occasions, days apart. I'm trying to find out if this is just normal behavior for this particular model, or if it's something I should investigate further.

So here is the scenario: I pull out onto a street from a dead stop, with a warm engine (had been driving for awhile both times this happened). I see green light at the intersection up ahead, and start to accelerate at a normal rate. Suddenly the light turns yellow when i'm only a hundred feet or so from the intersection, and my speed is around 30+ MPH and I'm still accelerating. I let my foot off the gas, hit the brake, and the transmission doesn't seem to let go and wants to keep the car moving. The 2nd time it happened, I could swear it actually downshifted into another gear. Anyhow, a second or so later, it's disengaged and I don't have to brake so hard.

I don't know enough about automatic transmissions to know if I'm even describing the phenomenon correctly, but it's almost like someone's foot is still on the gas pedal while I'm trying to brake. Then suddenly it's not.

It's only happened 2 times in the scores or hundreds of times I've stopped in this car in around 500 miles of city driving. I'm really hoping it's either A) a cheap fix related to the throttle, or B) a quirk in the way this particular model of transmission shifts at certain speeds or accelerations and I just caught it in the middle of something at the wrong time when I started braking, and it's all fine and normal.

What I'm really hoping to NOT hear is that this is a symptom of some problem that will cost $1000 or more to fix :P

Thanks for any thoughts / opinions.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Coupe automatic transmission question(s)
 

Maybe the throttle body (TB) is dirty and the plate isn't fully closing. Pull off the TB and clean it thoroughly, and then reinstall with a new gasket and torque the nuts and bolts to spec.