Hello all, new to the forum. I've searched a bit before posting but couldn't find anything specific to what i am experiencing so i started this thread.

So I just bought a 97 Prelude in what appears to be excellent condition considering the year. Car has never been in an accident, has factory paint and i purchased it from the second owner who just so happens to own a auto shop that has been in business for over 30 years.

This was his personal car for over seven years.

Everything works and for the first time in my life there are no lights lighting up on the dash, like check engine, ABS or anything like that, i was very impressed. Ac could use some charging as it gets ice cold at night but struggles a little in the hot summer mornings in Florida.

Anyways, he did say he had the transmission rebuilt some time ago, i hadnt researched any issues for this particular year and the tranny seemed to be working fine so i paid it no mind.

As i drove it for a few weeks i started noticing something weird, to me, about how the tranny shifts sometimes after braking and I'm not sure if this is normal or indicating a problem.

When I first noticed the weird shifting i looked up 97 prelude transmission issues and i was blown away by how often these trannys fail for this particular year, so i am very paranoid.

Ok so here are some things its doing right, i think, before i explain what i am questioning.

Shifts from park into drive and reverse fine, no problem. No jumping into gear, no hard initial shift, it just falls right into gear.

Same can be said from drive to reverse or vice versa.

Under normal driving the tranny seems to be shifting fine going from lower gears to higher gears, my weird issue is this.

Lets say I'm coming to a red light and I'm doing say 40, as i slow down and approach the red light it turns green so i ease off the brake, doing between 5MPH and 15MPH and look to ease back on the gas, this is where it gets weird. When i let go of the brake coming from a slow down and i attempt to re-accelerate, without forcing the gas pedal down, it sort of "pops" into gear again.

Not a big jump into gear but not a smooth transition like what you get when coming from a complete stop and climbing in speed, without braking every shift is smooth and there's no jump at all.

Let me explain this way, (sorry its not easy to convey this thought text). I can tell when the tranny should shift, and it does shift when it is supposed to, to explain this another way, i can force the "jump" into gear i am talking about.

If i am coming from a complete stop and just ease on the gas pedal and let go of the gas just before the tranny should shift into a higher gear, and then apply any force to the gas pedal, it will "jump" into the appropriate next gear.

To me, it seems like letting go of the gas immediately shifts the car into a lower gear and applying gas after a slow down sorta forces it back into the higher gear instead of allowing for a smooth transition. Is this normal?

*note, the previous owner did replace the calipers in the front, i only mention this because i know my rotors may be warped as the car shakes under braking, i dont think this would effect how the tranny shifts after breaking, but just to throw that out there. Other than that no issues at all with the car. Paid $2500..

Any help would be greatly appreciated.