I recently rode in my friend's Toyota Camry and his shifts seamlessly from gear to gear. My 99 Integra shifts "hard"? I feel a pull everytime the tranny shifts. I plan on flushing the fluid in accordance with Honda's service techniques.

My question is, do your auto Integras shift like mine? Where you can feel the gears changing, a slight jerk? Or just tell me how yours shift.

Btw, I don't know why, but after the car has been driven for like 5mins, it starts to shift a lot smoother? I apprecaite your input guys.

 

The increase in smoothness is because with the operating temperature being reached the fluid is not as thick causing things to move and mesh together easier. Honda automatic transmissions are known for being some of the worst in the business as far as performance is conserned, and if yours has been beatin on that is not going to help the situation.

 

Perhaps the shift solenoids are going out?

 

yea i feel it shifting but its not really a heavy jerk. every now and then when its shifting into 4th i notice it lags or stalls. kind of like when your driving you floor it and it is int he middle of shifting but doesnt fully completely shift til a second later.

 

mines like that too..(98 ls auto)

ive been lookin for options on a better tranny..

It helps to have the fluid flushed and stuff though

 

how do you know if the tranny is going bad (which shouldn't be the case).

I have a 99. It shouldn't be going bad even with 128k on the odom. They are mostly highway miles meaning the car was in gear and not shifiting.

 

I would replace the tranny fluid, especially with the miles u got on it. My 91 civic auto was getting really hard at shifting and seamed to jerk a bit when shifting, replaced the tranny fluid and it made it all better.

 

how long did you go without replacing it? Mine was changed at 100k, and now it has 128k....I dunno if it was a full flush, but the dealer's papers said changed tranny fluid. I'll do it and see if it helps.

 

Dont have an auto teg , but my moms Accord does it , I thought it was gonna be a problem but nothing has come up from it .. over a year now ..

 

u have a smaller engine

 

well guys, you dont have a cvt, you know? so you are going to feel that shift shock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Honda automatic transmissions are known for being some of the worst in the business as far as performance is conserned, and if yours has been beatin on that is not going to help the situation. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is nonsense and there's actually no basis for it. Honda transmissions are known for being some of the worst abused in the business. Revving the trans in neutral and then dropping it into gear is guaranteed to waste ANY auto trans in a short amount of time.

Honda automatics from around 88-00 are unique to all other automatic transmission designs in the world. They are in fact, very similar to the manual transmission design. They are known to shift harder and this is actually a good thing. Most transmissions are padded down as a compromise for the sake of selling more cars. But softening the shift shock in this way actually decreases the strength and longevity of the transmission. The more the transmission slips during the shift, the hotter it gets and the more power is wasted. Honda decided to lean more towards performance than comfort, but each successive generation of Civics and Integras (starting from the 4th gen Civic and 1st gen Integra) got softer and softer shifting because of the publics misconception until finally in 00, Honda went with a conventional design auto trans in the Civic (and also with a conventional design suspension, hmmm, a pattern here).

What you're describing actually sounds like your transmission is going out. In my experience, once you notice the trans going out, you're already too late. You're going to need a rebuilt or low mileage JDM replacement transmission. But for the other people who have noticed that their Honda/Acura shifts harder than normal cars, and there doesn't seem to be any problem with slipping/stalling/jerking, they can relax because it is supposed to be that way.

 

I have a 4 door auto and it shifts a little aggressively. I don't consider it a bad thing.

 

Mine just shifts hard...I don't think it's going out. How do you tell if it's going out?

 

I was speaking in terms of handling extra power (more than stock). I have friends with an auto accord and one with an auto integra. Both cars are well maintaned and have basic bolt ons. They don't do stupid **** like rev and pop into gear, but like driving spiritedly, and both their transmissions are crapping out and my friends integra only has 103,000 miles on it. I would agree that for a mom and her accord that hondas automatics will last the life of the car; it's just when power is added or spirited driving is a norm that they will not last long.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JasonST &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would replace the tranny fluid, especially with the miles u got on it. My 91 civic auto was getting really hard at shifting and seamed to jerk a bit when shifting, replaced the tranny fluid and it made it all better.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont think this is always the case. I have a 91 integra, the owners that had it before me NEVER changed the transmission fluid in her. I took it to get it changed and the tech said it came out like chocolate milk!

Put some new fluid in her and all. But it still shift's pretty rough. Rougher than my friends 99 Accord(auto) so idk what to do. Changing the fluid helps, but doesnt fix it.

BTW, my 91 is an Auto as well. Just a daily driver so its no BIG concern to me. But I've also noticed that under soft throttle (getting close to 3k but shifts at 2.7-2.8k that it's softer than going to 3k. Harder throttle gives it a more jerk.

Also another note, the car's transmission fluid was changed at about 125-130k and now has 148k (just turned over)

 

Mine shifts smoother the higher the rpm....weird?