ok, i am a newbie. i just bought a 99 accord lx with 82,000 miles. shame on me for failing to do my research. i had a 97 civic lx which i loved and the only reason i sold it was b/c i wrecked it $3k in damage at least. anyways, i assumed all hondas were just as solid and hence the stellar honda repututation. after about a month of owning this car, i notice the tranny shifts awful from 1st gear (auto) and now i have researched and have found that these trannys are notorious for failure around this mileage. i already drained and refilled it once. question is, has anyone on here any suggestions to keep this to a minumum or prolong the failure? it seems inevitable but i want to keep it to a minumum. thanks in advance.

 

I hope you used Honda ATF.

 

i used the castrol import vehicle atf which supposedly meets the honda standards. i know you aren't supposed to use the regular dexron III stuff, except in emergencies. i am going to change it again soon, since you only get about half of it out when you drain it.

 

Drain and refill with Honda ATF only two more times. Driving for a week or two in between. Make sure you check the level correctly. I've had shift problems because the level wasn't correct. Do it with the car completely warmed up, level and not running.

Next step would be to start checking the solenoids, T-stat, sensors, ECU etc.

Does it do it all the time or just when cold?

 

just when cold. also when starting the vehicle, it almost comes to a stall, then idles fine the rest of the time. i think it's the coil, not sure yet. overall, this car gets the big thumbs down. much more room and trunk space than the civic, however.