On my 94 Accord LX auto trans, I'm noticing an annoying "hunting" between locking/unlocking the torque converter while cruising on nearly-flat roads (above 35 MPH). Seems to be overly sensitive to grade changes and is unecessarily unlocking/locking/unlocking/locking (IMO). Any adjustments for this? Is this part of the adaptive logic built into the auto trans computer? Anything I can check/remove/clean to fix this?

Any and all input will be appreciated! I can't find any threads addressing this so far.

Thanks!

Mike

-Proud owner of a 1994 Accord LX, auto trans, 18K miles. And even at such a young age, it already sounds like a sewing machine......

 

The ECU won't allow lock-up unless certain conditions exist. One of those is engine temperature. Is you T-stat operating correctly? Maybe you are just borderline warm enough? Doubt it, but worth ruling out.

 

There is adjustment on the pressure lever cable that goes from the throttle linkage to the front of the trans.
First be sure there is a little slack in the throttle cable........Some mental midget may have jacked the cable to adjust idle speed.

Then Rest a long screwdriver on the end of the pressure lever, engine at idle fully warmed up, start to open the throttle with one hand, and just as the RPM barely increases the pressure lever should move up a little.

driving test......Under light throttle rolling on a level road at 25 mph floor the gas pedal and the trans should downshift to first gear.
Repeat the drive at 27 mph, when you floor the gas the trans only downshifts to SECOND gear.

 

Thanks for the couple of responses. I'm happy to say that adjusting the throttle lever cable did the trick.

Apparently, 14 years of short-trip driving stretched it a bit and there was a very small amount of slack. Adjusting the cable to the point where the slack is JUST taken out absolutely did the trick. I followed the procedure in the Haynes manual and she now locks up and stays locked up at all times I would expect her to. I'm frankly surprised how sensitive the transmission must be for that little of an adjustment to make such a huge difference, but I'm not complaining!

She now has 19,500 miles on her and running great down the highway.