Bakuryu06

Hey guys, so yesterday (Sunday) I did an oil change on my car and along side I did the transmission fluid change as well since my car is at about 100k on its stock d15b7. It's a 95 Civic DX. One thing that didn't sit right with me as I was doing the transmission fluid was that the transmission only took about 1.5Qt when the manual says it should take about 1.8-2.0. I used 10w-30. Could it be that I was doing it on a slight slope and the car was raised on front ramp and not on a flat surface?

Well the issue is that today driving after about 35 miles the car chocked a couple of times around 2500 rpm, the rpm needle wobbled up and down with a clear loss of power for a few seconds and did this around 35mph-40mphs. Could it bea transmission issue or is this a complete coincidence with some other issue?

apexi_rsx

car should be sitting on the ground and filled untill it starts to drip out of the fill plug

94EG8

You should probably add another .4L of transmission fluid, but that's not your issue, just a coincidence. Could be a number of things, but right off sounds like the igniter in the distributor is starting to go bad.

Bakuryu06

Hrmm, i c. Kinda hard to get under without a ramp or full ramp. I guess i'll just use 4 jacks.


yeah, I had a distributor issue before so I guess i'll check the ignition.

apexi_rsx

i open the fill plug and use a piece of hose and a small funnel and let it drip thru the vent hole on top the transmission. it takes for ever just have a few beers while ur doing it.

94EG8

It's a lot easier to just pull the VSS and put it in through there. Takes a lot less time.

hondaOchibi7

Tell me more about this VSS trick lol and would it apply to a D16Y7 also?

itsnotfast

Yea, any manual trans car. The vehicle speed sensor (VSS) is on the top back side of the trans near the bell housing. One 10mm bold holds it in. Take it out and pull the speed sensor and fill through there until fluid comes out of the fill hole on the side of the trans.

On a side note, I personally would NEVER run anything other than Honda MTF of Syncromesh in any of my transmissions.

94EG8

Exactly.

'92 - '95 Civics call for 10w30, honda didn't have their own MTF at the time, and honestly i've heard some very respected honda transmission guys state the Honda MTF is just too thin for them.

Bakuryu06

Funny how things lead from one thing to another. I think I need to replace the VSS sensor on my car as the speedometer is going wacky. Both RPM and Speedometer are sticking and then bouncing and it's funny it's doing this after doing the transmission fluid change. Which sensor should be replaced? Aren't there four different sensors? One on each corner of the car. As such below. One is $133 the other is $30

(Front Driver Side)



VSS on transmission

94EG8

Top sensor is an ABS sensor, bottom is an OBD1 VSS.

Bakuryu06

Ok cool, thanks! Saved me from spending 140$ extra! Is it ok to purchase an OEM VSS vs. Honda ? I mean how sensitive are the parts really?

94EG8

You're confused, OEM = Honda.

What you're thinking is aftermarket vs OEM. I dunno, never used an aftermarket unit. you can get a real one used quite cheaply.

Bakuryu06

Yeah my bad. My brain was thinking ahead of me. i meant OEM vs Aftermarket.
Yeah cuz the price difference is a good $50. I'll give the aftermarket a try

Bakuryu06

Alright guys, so the problem is still there, between 2500-3000 the rpm and speedometer needles wobble and I can feel a loss of power. I'm leaning towards Fuel Filter.

Former User

It gets expensive when your strategy is to replace parts on a whim without any troubleshooting. What CEL codes are thrown?

94EG8

That and a bad oil filter wont cause a power loss like that.

Bakuryu06

There are no cells, and trust me, my strategy is not to throw money away =\ Kinda broke atm, that's why I posted here. So no cells, what else can I do to diagnose? A few things that I did notice:

1) It doesn't seem to choke when the car is cold and only starts after 15-20 minutes of driving around.

2) It happens when I'm accelerating, in 2nd and 3rd gear. When i'm cruising around 3k, its smooth ride.

Bakuryu06

Did I say Oil Filter...err, I think i'm losin it. I meant to say "FUEL FILTER". I bought the car about 6,000 miles ago and i'm not sure if the previous owner ever changed it or not.

Former User

Does the CEL work?

When you turn the key from off to ON(II), the CEL should turn on and then off after 2 seconds if no codes are thrown.

Bakuryu06

Yeah. When the car is in ON position the cel turns on and then turns off in 2 seconds. No codes are thrown.

HondaPartsHero

VSS on the bottom left with two 10mm bolts. Unplug and remove the two bolts


Use a long funnel to fill

Bakuryu06

thanks for the pics I found the VSS. But will adding .4L of transmission fluid fix the symptoms? And BTW: I think i'll be purchasing one of your Vtec Solonoid connector harness.

94EG8

No, it's just going to prevent problems later on from running your transmission low on fluid.

Bakuryu06

Good point. Would it bad if I didn't open the filler hole and just poured .3-.4q via the VSS hole?