So I just purchased this car for my gf a couple weeks ago and anything that can go wrong has already gone wrong. I've been searching for a 2 days and havent found a same scenario. Please any help would be awesome.

So she was driving the other day and the tranny just slipped away. no matter what gear you put it in, it just revs and goes no where. if left alone for a couple minutes and restarted it will drive for about half a block before slipping away again.

the D4 light is blank, and trying to read codes via the jumper only gives back a solid check engine light with no blinking. bulbs were changed but still does not work.

2 days prior the car was overheating so i took a look and there was no coolant, all water and rust and no thermostat. I flushed and installed a thermostat. and i noticed there was no ground wire. not sure if there should be one. somewhere along searching i read that this can result in the transmission not shifting because of low temperature something but im not sure?

i took out and cleaned both solenoids.

i checked tcm/tcu for burned spots but nothing.

the solid check engine light leads me to think that the ecu is busted? and possibly a the main relay? but what does any of that have to do with my tranny not going into gear?

i need help guys anything suggestions ill try. or do i just have a busted transmission?

coolant looks red doesnt smell burnt and is right on the bottom line.

it does shift quite hard btw but i was told its a tranny mount.

94 honda accord lx with 210k stock motor and tranny.

HELP ME!!!! HONDA-TECH!

 

To me, I had the same experience. It all started being stuck in 2nd gear. Then it started to shift weird then slipping. Then completely blew out the forward gears. The reverse is the only gear that worked.

Solution: I replaced the transmission. (96 Accord)

 

well thats the thing though, wasnt exactly slipping or anything in any gears. it just kind of died all of a sudden. some other searches points to either torque converter, which the shift gets stuck though. or the shift solenoid? which im not sure how to test exactly.

 

As in no ground wire at the engine mount cam cover, or no ground from the negative cable down to the transmission? Or no ground at all?
Doubtful this will work, had a similar problem. The trans failed.
Possibly a hard fault or code,
Is the transmission TV cable between the throttle body and transmission correctly adjusted? When warm there should be no slack in that cable, as soon as the throttle opens the cable should move. Make sure its not overtightened.
The ATF? Pull the plug and drain the fluid inspect the plug,its magnetic. If the plug is covered in particles then the transmission may be done. 250K is about the average, less if abused or not correctly maintained.
The tranny mount would be more of a noise, and thump, not a hard shift.
You said you checked the ECU did you check the TCU(transmission ecu)?

EDIT:One more thing, if you purchased the car off a used car lot or from an auction, an old trick to cover a bad trans is to replace the trans fluid. To remove the burnt smell.

 

Check fuse #35 under the bonnet if this fuse is blown the ECU will not store any codes. I had this problem w/ the CEL on and could not retrive any codes all i would get was a solid CEL, replaced blown fuse and the ECU just started spiting out codes. Hope this is of some help to you.

 

thanks for the reply guys.

theres no ground wire to the thermostat housing, nor intake manifold. i made my own ground to the valve cover.

i havent checked the transmission cable. ill look into that last i saw it had a lot of slack

no i havent drained the fluid yet. that was the last thing i wanted to do.

i checked the fuse. its good. you guys think ecu needs replacing?

 

I've never pulled the intake, so I do not recall any ground cables on the manifold.
Oh that's very bad, and probably why the transmission is slipping.
That is the throttle valve cable. Roughly it regulates the transmissions internal pressures. If it is slack and is not correctly tuned the transmission can 'burn up' Incorrect or lack of pressure could cause the clutch packs to become prematurely worn. This would cause slipping.
Try adjusting that cable first. You might get lucky, but doubtful. Any reason why the transmission TV cable was loose? Did the car come like that?
At this point I'm erring on side that the trans is toast. The rpm limitation may be a form of limp mode to prevent over revving of the engine with the slipping transmission.

 

There is a statement the D4 is "blank". So when you put the car into D4 there is no green light? If you're having trans issues, when you jump the connector you're looking for the D4 light to blink-if there are no Engine codes the CEL will not do anything. Please correct me if I'm reading this wrong.

210K is nothing to a trans that has been taken care of (personally have 365K, 245K and 190K on Honda Auto's-all doing fine). Drain and fill, can't hurt.