alright, here's the deal. i just bought a 1990 accord automatic a few months ago, and up to now, it's been running fine, but over the past couple of days it's been acting funny.

i have that little button on the side of the gear shift that says "sports" on it and when you press it in, a little light pops up by the odometer. now what it's been doing lately is every now and then the light will start flashing off and on, and the car starts to run funny. you can feel the transmission pulling and it doesn't shift as smoothly as it's supposed to. it's like 2nd gear is non-existent and it goes from 1st to 3rd. does anyone know what this might be? any help would be appreciated.

 

The 'Sports' button is just overdrive.

 

You know, I always thought D4 is overdrive and the "Sports" setting actually changes to more aggressive shift points. I dunno, you're the one with an automatic.

 

I'm pretty sure its OD. My big blue dash 'S' light doesnt even work. I always drive with the button ON. It allows me to rev higher but at the same time acting like a 5th gear on the highway. I think those are the characteristics of OD.

 

Over drive means a gear ratio numerically lower than 1:1. Almost all cars' gear ratios are above 1, except for the last gear, which is below 1. Unlike every other gear, the output shaft now has higher RPMs then the input shaft, hence the word overdrive.

 

You see, you know better than I do. Thats what you get for asking me for technical info.

 

okay, but what does it mean when it just starts going on and off all by itself like it has been?

 

That means the transmission control unit has detected a problem. The control unit is on the firewall under the carpet on the passenger side. There is an LED on it that should be flashing the code or codes stored in memory. Just count the flashes.

 

Kat I will check you ECU sometime this week when I'm off. . .