I was wondering if you guys can help me out with some mechanical problems on my 97 Prelude SS...

ONLY when the car is NEUTRAL or PARK, the engine makes a light knocking sound. When I put the car in Reverse or Drive it goes a way immediately. Odd things is that car runs great when going down streets or on the highway. It even feels better than ever (I've been having tranny issues for a while).

Anyways, all my friends says it sounds bad, but are confused as to why this only happens in PARK and NEUTRAL.

Anyone venture a guess and what could be wrong?
(One friend said to add some fuel cleaner stuff before taking it to the dealer...)

Thanks in advance.

btw, only small engine mods....intake & exhaust, shouldn't be the source of the problem, but who knows.




[Modified by spoon805, 2:25 AM 1/21/2002]

 

How many miles since your last valve adjustment?

 

a had a feeling it might be in need of that, I'll have to check... thanks for the heads up

.... any idea why it only happens in Neutral and Park?


[Modified by spoon805, 8:52 AM 1/21/2002]

 

in case anyone else finds this thread... Dealer has confirmed these problems are the result from a failing tranny.

 

Did they pin point where the sound was coming from?

 

no. someone on the other forum indicated a broken solenoid. On a side issue.. the tranny shifts hard all the time... and even the dealer thinks a new tranny is necessary

 

Anyways, the first dealer that took in my car diagnosed a failed transmission. The dealer, like most Honda dealers, are trained and familiar with replacing transmission units with remanfactured transmissions. However, my warranty company demands a complete teardown of the transmission. This dealer, unfortunately, does not do tear downs. So, as you can imagine, I went thru a bit of trouble locating a Honda dealership that could perform a teardown. The nearest ended up being 140+ miles away. The warranty company said that an AMMCO would suffice. However, my service manager admits they have the worst reputation in the industry.

The second dealership has been helpful and very polite so far. Last week, they drained the transmission fluid and found "METAL SHAVINGS!" A teardown has been initiated, and the warranty company will be coming into investigate once they get a prilimilary diagnoses from the dealer.

Unfortunately, this is not my first encounter with the failure on my 1997 Honda Prelude SS.

9/24/98, 10084 miles
Symptom:
Whinning at idle and during acceleration
Solution:
"WARRANTY A/T KIT" (06200 - P6H - A00RM)

5/28/99, 18370 miles
Symptom:
Gears slip between 1st and 2nd, feels like neutral. On cold starts, car jerks into gear when going from park to reverse
Solution:
"HONDA REMAN TRANS REPLACE WITH RE-MAN TRANS."
Replace "SOLENOID, LINEAR" (28250 - P6H - 024)
and... "WARRANTY A/T KIT" (06200 - P6H - A00RM)

My maintence records.... all oil changes (with Mobil 1 or Royal Purple) done every 3K miles. Transmission Oil replaced at 28857 miles, and 46593 miles

Today, the car is at 50048 miles

The dealer's currently constucting a list of parts and negotiating with the warranty company about its prices. There's been no word if the warranty company is covering the repair or not. However, they have repeatedly insisted on a overhaul, as opposed to a replacement.

The dealer's looked at the toredown transmission and has made the following guess on what went wrong. The head tech thinks that the torque converter had an internal mechanical failure. The failing parts then mixed in with the transmission fluid. Upon reaching the fluid filter, a number of those parts passed thru the filter and circulated within the transmission. I'm sure the tech meant that the filter got clogged with all the parts that reached it. However, with the possibility of loose the parts mixed in with the transmission fluid and the clogged filter, many parts of the transmission did not get the adequate amount of fluid and therefore causing the bearings and a number of other parts to fail.

 

Good luck with your tranny rebuild. At least it sounds like you are dealing with some knowledgable techs.