I have a 92 Honda Accord that has only 152k miles on it. When I turn the key to accessories, the D4 light turns on while I am in park, flickers, and then dissapears. If I try and do the same thing again, the D4 light will appear weaker or wont even come on. Then, when I turn the car on the car back fires and refuses to start. After several attempts to start it, the air around the car smells like old varnish. When I finally do get the car to turn on and shift into D4, the D4 light won't come on. Every other light will appear when engaged except for the D4 light. The only time the D4 light will come on when engaged is when I press the gas pedal. In addition to that, the automatic transmission will slip when I am in D3 and D4. In order to go while in D3 and D4, the rpms crank up and the car acts really "doggy." The car is in excellant condition other than the problems just mentioned. The car was treated immaculately by the previous owner. The previous owner and me have never had any problems with the transmision or D4 light ever. These problems have ironically occured over night because the car was driven 63 miles the other day and the car ran like it was just out of the factory. What is the cause of these problems?

*It should be noted that the car has been sitting for the last 2.5 to 3 years inside a box semi container before I bought it. The fuel filter, oil filter, and the starter are all brand new.

**The tranny fluid is above the normal amount that is supposed to be in there. The only thing we need to do is flush the transmission and drain the old oil.

***When I checked the spark plugs, the spark plugs were a bit wet with what appeared to be old oil. So i wiped them off and dried them and put them back in the car. The car turned on easier.

 

The D4 light is the Transmission Control Module (TCM) telling you that it is unhappy. You can jumper the blue connector in the passenger outside kickpanel (yank the panel off) with a paperclip and count the times that the D4 light blinks with the key turned to accessory. You might have to reach up a little bit for the blue connector.

In any case, once you start the car, let it warm up and drain & refill the transmission fluid. It should take about 2.5 quarts - I use Honda Z1 or the Castrol Z Import fluid. If that cures most of your woes, then do it again in a few days after you have gone 25 or 50 miles or so.