Hello, I was driving normal today, and turned a corner, when I pressed on the gas, I had no acceleration. I tried to shift the transmission into a different gear (auto) and still nothing. I pulled over and cut off the car, I looked under the hood, and didn't see anything obvious. I started it back up, and the transmission engaged, but only for a short while. then back to nothing, no reverse, no anything. Shut it off and started it back up in 5 minutes, I had reverse, but then when to shift into D4, and back to nothing, I couldn't even go back to reverse. Any suggestions? 1997 Accord DX value model , 4 speed auto. 219K on it. everything else runs like a champ.

 

How does the tranny fluid look/smell?

 

Level, looks OK, Color, also looks OK, Smell- well smells like ATF. So nothing out of the ordinary.


Towed it home a couple of minutes ago. So it was cold when I started it up. 1st start, nothing (forward or reverse), second start nothing (forward and reverse), third start, reverse kicked in and it felt pretty good. backed up 1/2 mile or so to get lined up for the tow home. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

maybe your shift solenoid is bad

 

Did you check the fluid level? It should be within the hash marks.
When was the last time the transmission fluid was changed?
The common slow yet instant death of the H4A trans is that no service is done to the fluid. A slurry of metal and clutch material builds up in the sump and sump pickup, which then blocks the pickup. This starves the transmission of fluid and the hydraulics are no longer able to function.
An even bigger problem is that the sump pickup is not readily serviceable, there is no pan to remove.

When the car does not move while in gear, can you hear a whining from the torque converter area?

Was it a right hand turn that you took? Was it a bit faster than normal?

First things first.
http://techauto.awardspace.com/transmission.html
Check that there are any codes stored in the TCU. Jumper the blue two wire connector below/behind the glove box door. Record any codes from the CEL or D4 lights.

Verify that there is fluid between the hash marks while the engine is running. Place the transmission in gear again and pull the dipstick again, wipe it clean, reinsert, pull back out and check again. Is the fluid level still between the hash marks?

Purchase a gallon of Dexron II ATF and a transmission cleaner such as Sea Foams Trans-Tune, you ONLY want a solvent/cleaner not a 'shift improver/leak fixer'. Drain the sump, clean off the plug(it's magnetic) and refill the transmission with cleaner first then DII. If there was a large amount of slurry, use a flashlight and peer into the drain hole, pull the dipstick out and put a flashlight over that as well to light up the sump. Look for any slurry that may still be in the sump. You will want to remove as much of this as possible.

 

I honestly do not know when the last time the transmission fluid was changed so that could be it. I know it hasn't been changed in the last 75K. The Previous owner did everything by the book, so I am guessing it was changed at 90K so I am a little over due.

There was no noise at all, just stopped. It was a left hand turn, and I might have been going faster than average but nothing to bad. It was a green light, and no traffic coming, so I just went through it like I normally would. There is no noise when I try it once I start it, and while in reverse, it sounds like a normal reversing car.

If there was a noise, what would that mean? Pump Starvation?

I will check the codes this afternoon, I did not know you could jumper the TCU since this is an OBDII car. I also thought the TCU - ECU were one in the same. I will report back. Thanks again for the help.

 

A bit more than a little.
That's what I've seen. Noise, and low or no pressure on the test port as the sump is clogged with slurry.
Up until ~'06 or so Honda/Acura still supplied the two wire OBD jumper. It will only net you the basic OBD codes but is a start. If several codes pop up, it may be worth while to beg/borrow/steal a proper OBDII reader.

 

When I cranked it up today, I initially heard a little wine. But after about 30 seconds, it went away. Dont know if I am hearing it now because I am listening for that type of noise or not. Went in reverse fine, no issues.

Since I am not a transmission expert, Any reason reverse works fine until I attempt to put it in drive and once it is put in drive (and does nothing), reverse no longer works? Only way to get it to work again is to turn off the car for a minute and try it again.

Once again, thanks for the help.

 

time to junk it.

 

OP, you need to check for codes. If somehow none come up then this is a mechanical issue with the tranny and you will need to either rebuild it or get a used one.

 

Well I did what Mad Mike suggested. Drained the tranny fluid, cleaned out as much of anything possible (hard to see in those little holes), and filled it up with some SeaForm trans turn and ATF. Of course the drain plug had stuff on it but no big particles. I started it up, it had the high pitched wine but then it went away. I let it warm up and then backed it out of the garage. All was looking up when I placed it in drive and it went forward. I drove around the back yard for a little bit and then it stopped like before. I cut it off as before and cranked it back up, I still had forward momentum.

When I found out I could more forward, I tried to get it to shift to 2nd. Every time it went to shift, it was like shifting into neutral. I did the routine (cut of the car and start it back up) but eventually it would not linger move forward any more.

I drained the fluid once more to hopefully remove some dirty fluid, and replace with some clean, but after the second change I could not go forward anymore.

At time point, I think the trans is shot, unless with the above information, there are any more suggestions?

If there are none, I would tell anyone who reads this, change the transmission fluid. It is easy to do, and with it being that easy, I should have done it. Also it only take 2.5 quarts to do the change.

Thanks for the help.

 

That seems to be the main death of Honda transmissions, a lot of people either never think about it, or wait too long to change it. Something similar happened to me a while back, it can happen to anyone.
At this point, I think all anyone can suggest is sell the car and be disappointed at how little money you'll likely get, get it rebuilt, put in a replacement, or convert to manual. The manual transmissions really are better built and will last you much longer if you don't constantly abuse it