i used to drive a ford and it was nothing like this - i could coast for minutes at a time in gear without having to touch the gas. with the accord, it slows down even on a decline! there is no problem when i put the gear into neutral, but in drive there is a noticable deceleration. doesnt seem very fuel efficient, having your foot on the gas almost constantly. is this normal?

 

Well, I have had only one Accord, my current one. It is also a 97. What you explained doesn't happen to my car. There is a normal negative acceleration while driving on flat surfaces or going uphill, but going downhill, even a shallow one, would cause the car to accelerate. I have had only one Accord like I said, so I cannot say the general behavior.

I'm not a mechanic, but maybe you should check the brakes. Maybe they are stuck closer to the wheel than normal and therefore causing the slow down. (Just a suggestion, I don't know how you would go about this, but it is the only thing I could think of. )

 

I have owned my automatic 97 for almost a year now, and that is the first thing I noticed. Its almost like a manual tranny when you don't push the clutch it. I also only owned Fords beforehand. I have had it almost a year like I said and I haven't had any problems, I figured it was normal. I do like it though, almost makes me feel like I am driving a manual-auto hybrid tranny car lol

 

I have a 97 too. When i got it the tranny would slow down like you said. I changed the tranny fluid and it made the deceleration go away for the most part.

 

Also you could check and see what your hub bearings look like.

 

Could be as simple as your tires are low on air.

 

What is your gas mileage? Measuring it will tell you if your car is normal or not.

 

This is the first thing I noticed when I had an automatic Accord. I sold it because I thought this was wired, then I test drove a lot of them while I was trying to purchase a replacement and realized that it was normal. I ended up getting a stick shift and kept it for the last 10 years.

I remembered reading in the Accord manual that it has "positive" shifting, meaning you feel the shifts, and they jerk, but they said they do this to improve longevity. Other automatics, they kind of go into a neutral coasting mode, whereas the Accord tranny stays engaged. The Accord still has way better gas mileage than any domestic car of similar size though.

 

I am getting usually mid 300 miles to a tank, and I drive my car to its full potential haha. I also hated the hard shifts, but barely notice it anymore. Also gotta remember these are built mid 90's, we are almost in 2012, in the 90's computers just started coming out, my point is technology has gained so much in the past few years, these cars are far from the definition of perfect int today's world. If she aint throwin codes or leaking, shes running good

 

I would assume its simply fuel cut.

My 02 Accord V6 does this. As long as it can lock up the torque converter, and maintain above 1K RPM or so, it will cut fuel if you are off the pedal. You can see the tachometer shoot up a touch after it slows down too far to hold the converter locked up, and the deceleration goes away. I can't speak as to a 97, but if its that noticeable, its probably cutting fuel.

Does it only do it above 40 MPH or so? Can you feel it go away after the car slows down to something like 30?

 

i also have a 97 and was wondering the same thing