I am new to the forum but not to working on cars or forums.

My girlfriend has a '93 Accord 10th anniversary edition and we have had some transmission problems and it has been sitting since I only have certain weekends I can actually work on it.

We have had numerous issues with the shift quality and then with the transmission shifting erratically.

I have replaced the TCM and the solenoids with Honda OEM parts but the problem still perstists.

Right now, while in drive, it will start out in first gear but then skip second and go right to third causing it to bog down and want to slip, then it will not go into 4th.
If I manually shift the transmission it will start out in second gear, never first, but then will shift into all the other gears just fine.

For now the car just sits because she is afraid of it leaving her sit or doing more damage to it.

We would use the D4 light to help if we could but it has been out for the longest time and we honestly never gave it much thought until this transmission problem cropped up and we found that it was for diagnostic purposes (we never had a problem with this car over the 230k miles).
Is their a way to change the D4 light or does the whole cluster have to be replaced?

I don't want to throw a ton of cash at this thing trying to figure this problem out since it has already cost us a fair amount for these parts and we just had it painted, new struts, and new tires put on thinking it would continue to serve us well.

Please help us get this thing back on the road!

 

Pull the cluster out, and open the front half, don't remove the gauges or unbolt them, leave them alone. With the front display removed, pull a Lamp from D1-D2 or D3 and place it in the D4 spot. Reassemble/reinstall the cluster.
Jumper the two wire blue connector and check for codes.

If the CEL light works, check for codes stored in the ECU.

BTW do NOT disconnect the battery when working on the cluster, if you do the stored codes in the ECU/TCU will be cleared.

Keep in mind that the transmissions operation is greatly affected by the engines sensors. If the thermo sensor, TPS, or MAP sensors are faulty this will affect how the transmission shifts.

 

Wanted to add that we also changed out the temperature sensor and checked the fluid level and color...both are fine and always changed by the Honda dealer.

I just cleaned up the ground connections tonight but haven't tried it out just yet.

I checked the line pressure with a pressure gauge and it showed 120 psi, which basically means the pump is pushing out properly.

I need to check the pressure at the solenoids but the description on where to hook up the gauge is incomplete on every link I found, it just states to hook it up between solenoid A and B, if you only have one gauge (which is all I have) then you can test them one at a time...but I don't know where to test them, the only port is the line pressure one and the three bolts on each solenoid just hold down the solenoid to the transmission.

Please help if you can.

 

Thanks Mike, the transmission would not throw a code for the longest time and that is when we ordered the first TCU (a reman. one) and that didn't work (well it did for two weeks but then had problems so we returned it) so we then bought two new solenoid packs to replace both sets and that still did not work. So we decided to bite the bullet and buy the real deal OEM TCU, but still no change...well some, but not completely fixed.

We had the computer checked at the dealer and it showed no codes stored, we have driven it since and yet no code. Just had the battery unhooked today while working on the car's grounds and cleaning the IACV and a few other things.

 

I checked the TPS and it fell within the parameters in the manual and had a constant/relative change in voltage throughout the range of motion.

Upon checking the MAP sensor the voltage was 5.0 on the red wire, but the blue was only 4.1, I then pressurized the line with the required 10Hg of pressure and probed the center pin to note any change in voltage, their was none, it stayed right at 4.1 and never dropped.

I had the ignition in the "on" position during the test, rechecked it and still got no response...it seems the MAP sensor is bad and unfortunately nobody carries it in stock, not even the Honda dealer.

AutoZone has it at $157.99 as well as O'Reillys, but Advance, Napa, and Honda all have it at $350ish...crazy price difference.

 

Can usually snag a MAP sensor from a yard for ~$20. Bring your voltmeter and vacuum pump check for changes in the resistance when applying vacuum. This won't be accurate, but if there is a change in resistance then you can assume the diaphragm inside is still intact. Use your busted one for comparison, it should not change resistance as you have noted that it is hung up on 4.1 volts.

 

why do people seem to think the tps causes any faults ? .. they rarely EVER go bad unless broken off

it sounds like your tranny is going out

 

Worked on switching out that D4 bulb, what a p.i.t.a. that was! I always admired how tight the panel fitment was on the dash and how it rarely made any noise for a 21 year old car...it's no wonder with like 20 screws holding the panel together and then having to remove the console to get access to some of them, somebody needed their *** kicked for making a design like this just to get out a cluster!
Would it have killed 'em to make the the cluster and surround separate from all the other stuff?!

 

I replaced my distributor,rotor,cap and the coil that sends charge to the ditributor. i get no spark from any of the wires goin to my motor but i do get a spark to the distributor cap. I was sitting in my car letting it warm up one day and it just died ant hasnt ran since. I am having trouble figuring out the issue. The motor turns over when i try to start it it just wont start. before this happened i had transmission shifting problems and sometimes my car would try to run when i disengaged the ignition.my car is an automatic 89 accord 2barrel.my fuel pump still engages i just dont understand how id lose all power to the plugs but not to the distributor. i also had red residue in my old distributor if that means anything. my timing may be off i would think i should still get some kind of a spark to the plugs though.

 

When you say igntion, do you mean your key?
If you are having running issues, the ignition switch in the column may be damaged/worn. Check the connections and verify voltage at the switch.
If the pickup or igniter are faulty there will be be power to the distributor, but there may be no power switched on to the coil(spark).
Red residue may be rust, usually from a bad bearing.

If you have replaced the distributor was it a new/rebuilt unit? Or used?

 

Every thing i installed is brand new.If by igniter you mean (ignition control module) that came with the new distributer. The coil is new and i receive a spark from it.It just doesnt continue on to the plugs through the distributor.I could turn off my car and pulled the key out and it would sometimes struggle to run for like 20 seconds or so before combustion ceased.Since my car was shifting weird and then the car died I did research and thought that the ignition control module was bad (since one of the symptoms was inconsistant shift points). I wouldnt think it was my main relay since my fuel pump works. Im kinda lost.

 

Keep in mind my car is an 89'.

 

Just because a part is new does not mean it is not faulty.
Click on the TECHAUTO link in my sig and look into the ignition troubleshooting section.

 

Didn't get a chance to work on it for a bit, but this weekend we will know if the MAP sensor made a difference or not.

 

Put in the new MAP sensor yesterday after work (Auto Zone had it for half the price of Honda, Advance or Napa...and it was a Denso!).
Unfortunately their was no change in how the trans. is shifting.

I jumped the code wire and got seven short flashes.