I have a 1996 honda accord, 99k almost 100k and it seems to "slam" into gears from park or neutral. Fluid level is ok fluid doesnt smell burnt. If you grab d4 d3 2 or 1 or reverse you need to wait the car "kicks" and then engages and if you give it gas before the kick it engages but slams worse. Seems to shift ok, will shift rather hard every once in a while. downshifts seem like they wont happen unless you floor the pedal. no check engine light. Acts like it starts off a light in 2nd unless you stop all the way. Someone please tell me what I can do for this, I really hope the tranny isnt going.

 

If you haven't had it done in a while, I would suggest either the typical Honda Transmission Tri-Fluid change or a Transmission flush. It sounds like one or several of the controlling spool valves in the valve body are sticking; possibly the throttle valve.

 

what is a honda tri fluid change? the car is running factory tranny fluid and I got it from my grandma. It sat in her driveway most of its life, being driven about 100 miles the last week of the month every month. Needless to say all the problems ive had with my car all trace to lack of maintenance\sitting for long periods. The stock tires dry rotted before they wore out, its on its 3rd set ever. Timing belt done at a dealer as a result of a recall\tsb campaign of some sort. Exhaust rotted I believe from sitting, brake lines went because of sitting rot. It needs an exhaust still, I did my lines plugs cap and rotor and ran alot of injector cleaner in it and it slowly runs better all the time. This weekend I will be completely removing the throttle body and IACV for a major cleaning, initally I used seafoam deep creep and that made a big difference but I can still see junk in my TB so ill be tearing it down like I said. I did a valve adjustment and that made it run smoother and quieter with more power. The dealer I called that did all the servicing on the car told me not to flush it because crap would get loose and gum up the valve body hopelessly and the tranny would be junk, is that true? I assume this tranny is the same as any other aut, drop the pan clean the pan and fill it up right? but yeah Im going to school for deisel heavy truck repair and I learned a limited amount about auto trannys so I kinda know whats going on with your diagnosis. So I guess what i really need to know is what is a honda tri fluid change and would a flush be a bad thing like the dealer told me it would be? How about some kind of tranny additive to try to clean the junk out? I guess the trans valve body is just sludged up eh? what kind of fluid goes in this transmission?

 

Some Honda purists insist on the multi-fluid change proceedure. ie:
Change the tranny fluid
Drive the car
Change the tranny fluid
Drive the car
and finally
Change the tranny fluid (Honda ATF) and add a can of either Lucas or BG Trans additive.

Others just power flush the thing
'six of one, half a dozen of the other...'

I've done both without incident


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does it have to be honda fluid? like from honda? im gonna give it a shot if you really think it will help

 

The Honda stuff is best for Hondas, they don't like DexMerc..

 

I use nothing but Genuine Honda ATF for Honda's and Acura's
It's cheap insurance

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ok, how much does my tranny hold? sorry to ask so many questions I dont have the owners manual. I was also told they all shift a bit hard sometimes and because this is my first honda i may be overly concerned. Is that true? No matter what I dont like how gears engage when stopped.

 

The drain and fill advice is dead on. I wouldn't recommend a flush or additive under any circumstances, I've heard about 50/50 on the failure rate which is too high in my book. I believe it's 5 quarts capacity but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, drain and fill, drive 200 miles, drain and fill, drive 200 miles, drain and fill, drive 200 miles, drain and fill. The reason you do it 3 times is to get all the old crud and fluid out. By the time you hit the third one, you should be good to go.

 

Lol, 5 qts that'd be more than the motor itself!

Unless the auto has a different amount than the manual - which I doubt it. It's roughly 2.5 quarts however the "fill level" for a manual is when the fluid hits the threads on the fill bolt.

 

That's my mistake, I have a bigger transmission cooler on mine so it takes just over 5 qts. On a reg. model, you're looking at 3.5 qts for the automatic and 2 qts for the automatic, per the manual and also 5th gen faq on another site.

In case you're wondering, I run a larger transmission cooler for longer fluid life, cooler temps, and I'm hoping an increase in transmission part life.

 

ok, well I will be doing this hopefully tomorrow. Thanks gentlemen.

 

Let us know how you made out.

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first trans fluid change: drain bolt was stuck really good. Looked like its never been out before. Had some clutch material and a small amount of fine metal shavings (like powder but not sharp between your fingers) and drive engages a very small amount better, reverse is still pretty harsh. Will be doing it all over next weekend

 

What color was the fluid? Did it smell burnt? A small amount of clutch material and shavings is a good sign so far.....

Also, I said 200 miles earlier but I'd like to amend that and say go for 300-350, at least a full tank of gas.

 

You'll most likely see continued inprovement as you continue to exercise the transmission. Schedule another fluid change for next weekend. (the drain plug should be easier this time)

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will be changing again next weekend. Wasnt burnt, was a little dark but not black, and the change is extremely small but it is there. yeah at least that drain plug will pop right out now. couldnt get in there with my breaker bar and a drive adaptor so it was a little 3\8 drive ratchet and alot of pulling and cursing

 

i recently change my transmission oil didnt add no lucas or other similar, but my shifter feels hard n sometimes i cant make the changes good in reverse n first gear. is there something i can do to make my shifter softer n to shift quicker??
thanks

 

Wes:

I'm more than happy to help, but I'm a little confused. Are you speaking of an Automatic (as we were here) or a Manual Transmission?
Not that I couldn't speak to both, but I'm a lazy &^*% and hate typing (yet here I am )

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nice thread jack wes

 

oh my bad, its a manual tranny

 

is this a compliment??

 

yeah it is, you do a good job of thread jacking

 

ha ha sure i do!!do something

alt + f4 if u dont like it!!

 

Too thick a viscosity can cause what you're experiencing.

Honda 5spd manuals are somewhat sensitive in their lubrication requirements. Particularly the viscosity range that's used.
Put in the wrong lubricant, it reduces the lubrication to the 5th gear set and starts wearing not only the shift forks but the bevel gears as well.

To avoid sticky legal stuff, I use
Honda Manual Transmission Fluid Honda OEM Part# 08798-9031

Some others locally are trying Royal Purple MTF, but I haven't heard anything one way or the other.

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