I've been looking for a 4dr EK as a daily driver with an auto tranny. My friends have told me that honda auto trannys go out like clockwork. I'd like to know if they're actually that bad? Is it not worth getting an auto? Thanks for any replies.

 

I don't know about them going out but they are not very strong units. Mind you these things (6th gen) are nearly 12-16 years old.

 

The first thing to go out is the fun gear. It happens when you sign the bill of sale.

 

The AT is fine for DD and stock power. Once you start adding additional power (not talking I/H/E), the transmission's life begins to shorten rapidly.

 

I've got 243K miles on my DD 99 Civic Lx automatic, the car is all original, no signs of problems.

 

Thanks for the replies. And yeah, I have no intention of doing anything extra to the motor. Just a DD.

 

Fine for DD.

 

Than it should be fine, stay on top of trans fluid changes, that's the best advice I can give you.

 

As long as the car has been taken care of, the AT should be fine, as others will chime in and say that they have put 200K+ on theirs. My brother is at about 190k with no problems. He has a stock 98 LX.

 

i have 220xxx on mine with no problems but im goin with a 5 spd swap over spring break

 

i was actually wondering the same thing i found a 93 hatch auto with 103k miles i wanna just drop it and use it for DD but my friends say other wise same as the OP dont wanna do anything with motor just drop it and put a sound system in and im done.

 

A friend had one that was just starting to slip at nearly 300k miles.

The best fix for a smoked auto tranny is an auto>manual conversion.

 

They go out like clock work when they are ****ed with, and asked to do things they weren't made to do.

220-230k on mine, it's not that happy, however I am not suprised. I didn't really treat well through the years.

When goes, it's getting replaced with a 5spd. Now, just the waiting game.....

 

Depends, the 6th gens are typically strong, if the fluid is changed and not beat on, like power launches etc. The key is use Honda trans fluid only.

I have 252k orig auto mine.

 

Honda had a lot of trouble with autos for a long time, in no small part because they engineered their own transmission. And by engineered I mean they used as little technology as possible that would have had to be licensed from other companies. They came up with novel solutions to problems that had already been solved, because using the other company's solution would have added cost to the final product.

As a result Honda autos are quite different than autos from any other manufacturer, which is why you should always use OEM fluid and not whatever happens to be on sale at the auto parts store.

The older units have more in common with Honda manual transmissions than anyone else's automatic transmissions.

 

AT would work well for DD, assuming it wasn't poorly abused by previous owners.
Yet again, I have little to almost no experience utilizing them. Makes so much sense to use a MT. Clutch goes bad? Replace. No electronics, and simple to maintain.

 

Typically the first thing you should do when buying a used auto is spend the 120 bucks to have it flushed and new fluids do to most people do not maintain autos as well as they should but have two auto del sols one with over 200,000 and still runs strong for a 18 yr old tranny

 

I have an EJ1 that has 300K+ on it with the original auto tranny. No slipping and no noises...But I think it all depends on how you take care of your car.

 

Nice one.

 

Pretty much this ^ the '92 - '95 automatics were very good transmissions though, '96 - '00 were ok and '01 - '05 were pretty craptacular.

 

You should never flush a Honda automatic trans, Honda will even tell you this.

Drain, refill, drive 20 miles x3 times to get all the old fluid and junk out.

 

I've flushed mine twice and have never had any problems with them all flushing it does is get all the old trans fluid out from the tranny and tc shouldn't cause any problems from flushing it

 

All flushing does is blow everything trapped in the internal transmission everywhere it's not supposed to go. DO NOT power flush a Honda automatic, Honda does have official TSBs on this.

 

Even with manual transmissions I've found the best cleaning is to change the fluid, drive it for a while, then change the fluid again. It'll wash whatever can get washed out out and the gunked-on crap that's hiding in grimy corners can stay in those grimy corners and not get washed into the gears & bearings. Back when a shop changed me to an aftermarket fluid I ended up having to change it.... crap, I forget, I think 3 times before my synchros were completely back to normal. Definitely more than twice. Poor little tranny.

BTW, my earlier comment was about early Honda automatics, back when they first released an automatic (70s). Those things were, um, delicate. They've come a long way since then, and even if they may have gone downhill recently, it's still better than their first auto trannies. There were entire pages devoted to it in the book The Honda Myth (which was really, really good, it talked about Honda starting from the seed of Soichiro & Takeo and how it evolved into the company it was a few years ago, and the "myth" was about Soichiro's engineering genius).

To quote Wikipedia:
"Honda's automatic transmissions are unusual in that they do not use planetary gears like nearly all other makers. Instead, the Hondamatic and its successors use traditional, individual gears on parallel axes like a manual transmission, with each gear ratio engaged by a separate hydraulic clutch pack. This design is also noteworthy because it preserves engine braking by eliminating a sprag between first and second gears. Honda was forced to invent their new system due to the vast array of patents on automatic transmission technology held by BorgWarner and others."

 

Yes, So bad that i bores me to death.

I had a leaky transmission weeks ago after my radiator change, but it was just a loose hose that was connected to the radiator.


I shift into N to coast. (Save gas) Wonder if it causes any problems.