Hello everyone. I've read several threads on this website as well as other forums and websites regarding 93 civic ex auto transmissions.

I bought the car last year in September and the major service that was done was on the head gasket so I figure the engine is half way rebuilt and in good condition. However, I've been having a couple of issues with the transmission in my civic lately and I was hoping to get some insight from some of you.

First I have already done two drain and refills on the civic, I've used 3qts Valvoline Dex/Merc III fluid each time to refill. The first drain the fluid was dark black and smelled burnt and there were a good amount of shavings on the drain plug bolt.

There was one minor change after the first drain and fill, I had to let the car warm up for at least 5-10min before driving otherwise it would not shift out of second gear. After warming up it shifted but it was hard and it was this way with 3rd and 4th as well as downshifting from 2nd to 1st when slowing down and coming to a complete stop. Also when driving the car cold it would grind hard back into first from second.

After the second drain and fill the issue with shifting from 1st to 2nd when cold went away. Now the shifting isn't as hard however when the gears shift it feels like the car is being jerked forward a bit, not intense but noticeable. Also when downshifting from 2nd to 1st the jerking is noticeable and the RPMs hit 2-3000 for a few seconds before settling.

I have never seen the D4 flash and the check engine light isn't showing up. I pulled out the TCU and visually inspected it front and back and there are not burned our resistors or relays, nothing is leaking, and it looks brand new. I recently purchased an inline filter for the transmission and will attempt to install it to see if that may help a bit. I also plan on draining and refilling the transmission one more time and this time using genuine Honda ATF.

So far from what I can tell the problem appears to be mechanical and not electrical. I haven't tested the solenoids because I'm not 100% positive as to the exact location, although I do know what they look like. Any thoughts on what I may be doing wrong or what could possibly help solve these issues? I'm hoping the genuine Honda ATF helps and will drain and fill in the next couple of weeks and report back.

At this time I've tested and tried all that I am aware of and I'm hoping someone here can point me to test other parts electrical and mechanical that I may be missing.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Cheers!

 

You're gonna have to baby it if you expect to keep using it for a while. Sounds like it overheated, and if **** is grinding and chipping/shaving then you're gonna need to pull it apart to fix it sooner or later (thousands of dollars of labor lol)

I personally recommend that you source the manual transmission parts for that swap since it'l be more resilient.

you might have loluck with a used automatic too and that should prolly be cheaper, but its literally gambling unless you want to pay more for a guarantee vendor

 

A. your car does not have an independent tcu.
B. a headgasket does not make your engine anywhere near halfway rebuilt.
C. you used the wrong transmission fluid
D. it is very inadvisable to flush a high mileage transmission with an unknown maintenance history.

 

Actually it claims to be compatible with honda z1 fluid, just throwing that out there.

 

It doesn't matter what fluid he used or uses if its already ripping itself apart from the inside out. New Honda fluid sucks, almost all aftermarket fluid sucks. Use race fluid or old new-stock-ATF.

earmark funds for repairs, your trans isn't just acting up its trying to kill itself. Someone probably hurt it badly and now it just wants to die. Maybe burn outs, maybe the wrong fluid, who knows.

and honestly a head gasket really should include new gaskets all around. Besides that what else needs to be rebuilt lol? I mean its possible they left crap seals in there, but they shouldn't have and that's really the biggest issue as far as freshening up a head.

 

You may want to try 3 drain-refill cycles with Castrol Import ATF, which is less expensive than Honda ATF yet works very well in my 00 Civic EX auto.

 

are you aware of a filter on the older Hondas? My J trans has an external filter inside of a removable fluid passage that sits on top of the trans. Replacing the filter or cleaning the screen will help alot if there is one

 

My understanding is that the internal filter is not easily accessed.

 

It is not a serviceable item.

 

Thats why when I buy a car an external filter gets attached to it.

edit: yes it won't help with the unknown going on inside of a used car but it will help prolong it. That filter gets changed out every 30k.

 

By the sounds of it, your transmission is near death. The three drain and fill method may buy you some more time as well as adding the inline filter but I'm thinking it may not be as much time as you would be hoping for.

I'd be preparing to source a used 92-95 ex auto transmission for when it does give up the ghost.

Good luck and wishing you all the best with your transmission problems.

 

Time to convert to 5spd.