Greetings,

Disclosure: I don't work on my car usually, so all of this is a little new.

This regards a 92 Accord EX with 135k miles on it.

My D4 light is flashing. When I jump the service check connector, D4 flashes 7, then 8, which appears to indicate a problem with the shift control solenoids valve A & B. I checked the TCU and there are no obvious problems as referenced in http://techautorepairs.com/transmission.html.

So I'm thinking of changing the shift solenoids. Easy enough.

When I go to look at the solenoids, I notice that fluid appears to be leaking from the *lock-up* solenoid. Huh. That doesn't seem right.

Here are two pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ggd4865/Honda

What is this fluid? If it's the AT fluid, the level seems OK, but I haven't been checking it regularly since this problem came up 75 miles ago.

What should I consider doing next? Changing the shift solenoid anyway?

I appreciate any help.

--Glenn380

 

perhaps you should do a quick test on it first. apply direct 12v to it and see if the solenoids click. if it does, then you should be fine. If not, then you might want to replace it

The solenoids have a rubber seal, perhaps the seal's going bad, and that could be causing the leaks. that fluid certainly looks like transmission fluid, as it's reddish color.

Also, the solenoids have this mesh-type of screen/filter; I'm thinking it's for preventing junk going into the actual solenoid. MAYBE the screen has some blockage, and you would need to clean that.

Is your car locking up when you're up to the required speed? ................OOps, i didn't read your post in detail. Is your car showing any changes in shifting?

 

Thanks, ttcheung97.

OK, I'll test the solenoids with direct 12v.

If all of the solenoids click, does that mean replacing them is probably not necessary?

Shifting is noticeably less smooth than before, without a doubt. It still seems to shift through all of the gears, but not smoothly at random times. When accelerating, it will sometimes hang for a second before shifting gears, although it always shifts.

I'd like to check the filters, too. Can I take both solenoid assemblies off without large amounts of transmission fluid leaking out? It looks pretty straight forward.

Thanks again.

 

lousy shift, that's another clue.

yeah, just complete the circuit and check for the clicking. My guess is the solenoids are intermittently working?

When you take out the solenoids, you'd obviously do it when the engine's off. there'll be a drip or two coming out of the solenoids, but sinec they're mounting high on the transmission, there won't be fluid spewing out.

not sure where you can find solenoids, just go to the junkyard or something. are you in the snowbelt? the pictures show some pretty rusty hardware.

 

Got it. I'll do the battery check in the morning.

I've seen the solenoids listed in a couple of places, like hondapartscheap.com. Whether that means they're available remains to be seen.

Since I've owned it, the car has been in Chicago (96-06) and New York City (since 06).

This raises a couple of questions:

- it's below 30 degrees (F) here. Is that a concern when working with the solenoids? Should I run the engine for 10 minutes to warm everything up before taking them off?

- any general recommendations or concerns regarding the rusty hardware? Other than move south, of course. :-)

I'll report back in the morning. Thanks for your help.

 

Both solenoid assemblies click when connected to the battery.

I also took the lock-up solenoid assembly off to see if I could tell why it appears to be leaking fluid - I saw nothing obvious. The screens were clean and the gasket looked fine, although it sat flush with the assembly housing, so perhaps it's not forming an effective seal?

I did notice something strange, however. After disconnecting the shift solenoid, I noticed the plug had some kind of liquid in it. There's a picture of it here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ggd4865/Honda. No idea how this got here. It's not water and there's no obvious source. Is it possible this is causing the solenoid issue somehow? How the heck do I clean this? This is the connector that (eventually) goes to the TCU

 

Where are these selenoids located at? Thanks for the info. Mine is doing the same thing.

 

Go here: http://techautorepairs.com/transmission.html

About 1/4 of the way down in the "Won't shift and no 'D4' or 'S-light'" section there is a drawing showing the locations.

 

Hey glenn380,

My dad's car is also doing this. His D4 light is flashing 7 times only though, but still, the shift solenoids is the cause of the problem. Was the shift solenoids difficult to remove? It seems like it too crowded to fit any parts in there Which parts did you have to get out of the way before you were able to get to the shift solenoids?

I can't tell you why that fluid is all over your connectors though... maybe coolant dripped there??

I really appreciate that you're doing the same work that I need to do! I've been searching everywhere!

I hope you find your problem soon.

Thanks!

 

So this has all been sorted out:

I took it to the shop.

They replaced the shift solenoid.

Upon ignition, the TCU went up in smoke. Or that's what it smelled like to the mechanic, at least.

They wanted $585 for a new TCU and $112 to replace it, so I took back the car and replaced the TCU with an ebay purchase from http://www.autocomputerexchange.com/. (Remanufactured, but with a lifetime warranty. $150 with 2-day shipping.) Worked like a charm. Case closed.

I don't know this, but I suspect it was the computer all along. As it turns out, it's the cheapest and easiest part to replace. If I had to do it again, after I checked that both solenoids clicked when connected to the battery, I would have purchased the computer next, then taken it to the shop.

 

how too clean solenoid off 92 honda accord

 

Im told over and over and i beleive after owning 90 to 93 accords since new, 98% of automatic transmission shifting problems are TCU, cant always see it, they are 140.00 rebuilt on ebay and as low as 50.00 in junk yards. mosts garages ive taliked to have no understanding of the problem. every accord ive had has had to have a tcu sometime in its life, one lasted 230000 miles, another 112000 in another car, sooner or later it seems to happen
Frank Allen

 

Hi everyone, I am having the problem of the Sport light staying on. It has been on for a week, and not once turned off. Not only is the light on, but it is actually placing the car in Sport mode. After researching this problem, I did the following to diagnose and attempt to correct:

I removed the TCU, but it didn't look like any of the part on it were in bad shape. I brought it to Radio Shack and they said the same thing. I figured, at the very least, having it disconnected for half teh day would at least reset the TCU and the problem would at least very temporarily go away. However, after reconnecting it, the light stayed on the second I started the car after.

What concerns me most is that even after resetting the TCU, the Sport Light still comes on right away. Does that make it much more likely that it is NOT a TCU problem?

Any advice on what my next steps would be? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

I have had at least three TCU units go bad, when i opened them up i did not see any apparent problem. i replaced them and problem was solved. im not saying that is your problem, however ive seen it over and over with no codes showing. if you do replace it be sure that the pxo number is correct, some say it makes no difference, im saying it does 92 LX uses a pxo -721 or 722 , ex uses pxo 332 . did you try disconnecting the batt for a minute or so?? Frank Allen

 

Yup, disconnected the battery for quite some time. That's what confused me, since it did not reset the Sport Light, even for a second after I set it back up!

 

i have 92 accord and it only shifts into 2 and 4. can u tell me what's wrong?

 

I have a 1993 Accord. The car sat in the driveway for 2 months, drove it once every other week to go through gears and to keep dust off breaks. I took it around the block today and it felt like the transmission was slipping, it didn't feel right it wouldn't Go. I dropped it to L1 and took off like normal, I shifted to L2 and it shifted well, at first it would not come out of L2. I shifted back to L1, went back correctly. Then I manually shifted from L1, to L2, to L3, to L4 but with constant pressure on accelerator. It shifted from L3 to L4 to L3 to L4. I Parked it in the driveway. At idle there was a clicking from the kick panel and from the hood. The clicking was Random. The D4 light on the Dash indicator was in sequence with the clicking While In Park. The gearshift was also sequenced with the clicking. You could feel it move. Jerk. I heard it could the TCU or a solenoid. Could it be the Relay in the Kick panel?

 

Did you check for codes per http://techauto.awardspace.com/transmission.html