Hi everyone! This is my first post on the board. Talk about getting straight to business, haha. I'm new both to the forum and to cars in general.

I'm helping my dad out in the garage. The car in question is a 98' CRV, 4WD. We've only recently acquired it, and it was having problems with the A/T. My dad dropped the A/T to try and troubleshoot jerkiness and the apparent absence of 3rd and 4th gear.

I've downloaded the service manual hoping that it'd help my dad (he's a mechanic). Earlier today, we decided that we're just going to use the car as is for a while and just shop for a replacement A/T. We've reassembled the car alright, but now it won't start.

When the key is in the ON position, the D4 light blinks rapidly and I can hear a rapid clicking noise from the passenger side dash. The blinking D4 light dies if we disconnect the linear solenoid, but the rapid clicking doesn't.

If we ignore the rapid clicking noise and actually turn the key to start the car, the engine cranks alright but it doesn't go.

Any thoughts?

 

when d4 flashes that means theres a major transmission fault. go over all of the plugs and make sure that theyre all plugged in. this can sometimes stop the engine from starting and causing damage to the transmission. were any wires disconnected from the engine? there are a few plugs that all look the same and can plug into wrong sensors.

 

We'll try to check our wiring tomorrow. It's possible that we missed something since we were rushing earlier (was getting dark). To my knowledge, no plugs were removed from the engine itself, although we haven't installed the air filter assembly yet.

We were hoping that the engine would start so we can get the A/T spinning a bit so that the fluid we put in would warm up so we can properly check the ATF level using the dipstick.

Question: Will the engine refuse to start without the air filter?

I'm thinking it has something to do with the rapid clicking sound though, to be honest. The last time I heard a similar sound is when we helped a family friend get his car back up and running after a major flood. That sound came from the fusebox, which we forgot to dry out before reinstalling the battery.

 

it will start without an air filter. air is metered at the throttle body.

 

rapid clicking of a relay is usually the result of a poor ground. check all ground connections. you probably threaded a bolt in but didn't tighten it. the thermostat housing ground specifically

 

Thanks! I checked the wiring again. Lo and behold, the grounding cable that was supposed to go onto the water pump was not attached. Car started beautifully after that.

HOWEVER, that opened up a can of worms. After checking everything is mechanically sound, we took the car for a test drive. On the road, she wouldn't do anything past 40kph (24mph). When you put your foot down, the engine revs hard but nothing happens speed-wise. We observed also that there is a vibration coming from the front of the car when we accelerate hard from a standstill, akin to the feeling of a sliding clutch in a manual car.

After a kilometer or so of driving, she decided to crap out on us. The car stopped engaging any forward gears. Good thing it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, otherwise, we'd have pissed off a lot of people. We pushed the car to the side of the road and waited around half an hour. It sort of drives again after it gets a chance to cool off, but after that, it was very intermittent. Long story short, we pushed the car home.

I shorted the diagnostic wire thing near the passenger footwell and got code 15 (Mainshaft speed sensor fault). My dad has very little experience with automatics so we're looking for suggestions on how to proceed. Do we go for a complete transmission swap (we can buy a used one with warranty--expensive) or do we troubleshoot by symptom and trouble code? We're currently just waiting for the engine to cool down a bit, then we'd be checking the sensor using a multimeter.

Thoughts?

 

what exactly was done with the transmission when it was out?

 

Apart from draining the ATF, nothing. My dad was sort of hoping to see a worn clutch plate that we could easily replace. Haha. To be fair though, the car was already acting that way before we removed the transmission.

We checked the solenoids and the sensors using an ohmeter and they all check out okay. The mainshaft speed sensor was okay as well. The manual says that code 15 could either be the mainshaft sensor or that the transmission is pretty much toast. I'm now leaning towards the latter.

 

it could also be a pcm issue. what were your exact methods for testing the mainshaft speed sensor? be descriptive, please
to me, this does not sound like a mechanical fault. more like a control issue

 

Tested the sensor's resistance. Checks out, as per the manual.

Anywho, the car is running now. We found a good deal on some surplus Japanese transmissions and bought one. The new transmission is weird though. The wiring harnesses are different, and there's a cable running from the transmission that's supposed to attach onto where the throttle cable is attached. The guys who installed it assured us that the one they have is compatible. Sure enough, the car runs now. Just finished road testing it.

The guys who swapped out the transmission were FAST. They were done with removal and replacement in just under 3 hours. They had to do some rewiring though, since the harnesses aren't the same.

Btw, here are pictures I took of the transmission before it went into the car.


and

 

so, all is good now?

 

Car runs well, yes. It's giving me a blinking D4 though. Error code 16 (linear solenoid) The transmission guys assured me though that it's nothing to be concerned about, just a minor difference in the solenoid used in the Japanese transmission.

Thanks again for the help! Next on the to-do list are all aesthetics.

 

right on.
it's so funny, cuz i used to work for a jdm importer. and his most common line was "yes, sure. it's fits it's fits".