Alright guys I'm working on a 1993 civic cx automatic. The transmission no longer shifts on its own. It will stay in first. If I switch to D3, I have no gear, just revs as if in neutral. D2 however works fine if I shift to it manually.

Now the speedo also does not work. It has the typical needle wrapped all the way around problem, but the needle will move slightly as if it's getting a signal now. No CEL on. Trip and odo still work. I've done plenty of searching, replaced vss, inspected vss plug, bent vss prongs for better contact, still same problem. I also found the 7.5 amp "back up" fuse under the hood blown. Replaced that and still nothing. A local transmission shop has looked at it and condemned the transmission saying its bad. With the shotty electrical gremlins I've found in relation to the speedo, I'm not convinced the trans needs to be replaced. I'm looking for some help from guys who are good. I need some Honda gurus! Help me out. I'll be willing to pay a small PayPal fee if someone can help me find the problem.

 

If you don't have a VSS CEL and the speedo doesn't work the speedometer head is bad. A lot of times if you remove the cluster and then pull the speedometer head you can just touch the solder points on the back to melt the solder again and they'll usually start working again.

In terms of how this affects your transmission? It doesn't, they're separate and unrelated problems. You can try checking the shift and lockup solenoids on top of the transmission, but I can almost guarantee you the transmission is bad. Any non EX (or Del Sol Si) automatic transmission will work. If you can find someone doing an auto to manual swap or something you can probably get one cheap. I know around here you can't even give them away.

 

The transmission is almost surely toast. Is there any ATF in the transmission? When was the ATF last replaced?

The speedo or cluster is bad.

Does the CEL work?

 

Darn ok, I already purchased a replacement used transmisison for this from a scrap yard. ill try swapping the solenoids on top. If that fails, looks like ill start tearing it apart.

The trans fluid was low previously, and was just drained and filled with honda ATF DW1. I was just so skeptical about it since from some basic searching, the transmission tends to act up when the speedometer experiences problems.

 

Does the CEL work?

 

yes, CEL works, CEL check bulb works, but CEL is off,no codes when jumped