I was looking to buy a civic until I heard how bad the auto trans is on the 90s models, but I just wanted to see if that was really the case and how bad are they really?

 

Depends on how much they were maintained

 

Really bad.

 

The '92 - '95 models are reliable enough and passing gear works well if the TV cable is adjusted correctly. That said they're still horribly slow on the take off, there's no support for engine swaps, turbos, or ECU tuning for the most part and they don't take well to having much over stock power put through them. The '96 - '00 models are a lot worse. Hold out for a 5 speed model.

 

buy one and do a manual swap, the autos are crap,

 

Well my answer was based on day to day commuting like they were designed..

Performance is totally out of the question.

 

Automatic Hondas are incredibly boring and slow. Most are very unreliable (even new ones) They always seem to have issues.

With that being said, I had a 98 EX auto with 200k on the original transmission. When I purchased the car with 180k it was neglected so I changed the fluid 3x3 and then once more a month later. No issues with it. I sold it and it's still going strong. It's hit/miss.

I recently purchased another 98 Civic but this is an HX with the 5MT. The CVT model barely exists anymore because those transmissions were horrible. These are great cars in MT form. Avoid the autos even if they are still running well.

 

mine was a 4 door LX, boring daily driver, transmission crapped out with just over 100,000, they lose line pressure, clutches start to slip and burn, and fill the transmission with crap, starts a vicious cycle. I looked into getting it fixed, and no one around here will even touch them, they just fail again. It was a POS anyway, all the power window motors failed, another issue with a bad design, the paint had the signature peeling clearcoat stripes, interior plastic was starting to split and crack, engine ran great, but that was the only thing good about it

 

I can guarantee you the worst year for Honda automatics was 1997 as for some reason they outsourced them to Mitsubishi. I found out first hand @ 126k. Stay away from them completely but yes to the answer. As a whole they have proven inferior all thru the mid 90s into 2001 when they again outsourced to who? Mitsubishi lol for round 2 of complete **** auto transmissions. The risk is too high for my comfort, so like the above said go manual, be happy

 

Just for clarity, the TV cable is the cable running from the throttle body down to the transmission? Not sure what TV stands for so not the easiest thing to google.

 

I had a 98, same shitsubishi transmission

 

I disagree. it's from 96 on that the reliability went to ****. All to appease customers who thought they shifted too hard.

Never heard of reliability problems prior to 96.

As for performance, well no automatic of the time was performance orientated due to the "torque converter" design of all automatics. It wasn't until direct clutching was established in the automatic that performance could equal and surpass manuals. Current day performance orientated automatics put manual transmissions to shame for performance. Humans just can't shift as fast and perfectly as a machine.

Any civic automatic prior to 96 is a solid transmission with the usual power losses inherent with fluidic power transfer of a torque converter. When it comes to rush hour stop and go driving, rainy hilly terrain and intimacy with your significant other while driving, the automatic is superior for ease of operation and gentleness on the body.

Each system has it's strengths and weaknesses, and not all years are equal.

Sometimes it's very nice to drive my wife's 93 automatic and it's going to last a very long time unlike the 6th gen auto's. Some days I wish my daily driver was an automatic.

The best setup is a Daily Driver as a 5th gen or prior automatic, and the evening, weekend warrior as a manual for fun. I'm sure bogging a 5th gen manual to putt along in first gear at idle rpm is a little hard on the motor, while the automatic handles that slow of a speed easily with light braking and without the excessive clutch wear associated with that kind of super slow stop and go crawl hour driving.

 

I speak of cars from 96-01 as those I have experience with and own

 

You didn't specify that, you said all through the 90's which would include some 4th gen and all of the 5th gen while you are wanting to only speak about the 6th gen.

Need to be a bit more specific to avoid confusing others and avoid providing false information.

 

Meant to put all through the mid 90s into 2001. That's why I backed my info with examples and reasons for those generations. Never spoke of the 4th or 5thgens cuz I don't know. Left a simple word out that caused confusion and I went back read it and realized u were right. Fixed now thanks now its clear to those who read in the future.

 

Yes.

Throttle Valve.

 

Meanwhile the rest of the world calls it a kickdown cable.


The auto transmission Civics are great OP, you'll love it. It's got plenty of power to pull yourself out of your own driveway most of the times, it's got lots of get up and go, stock auto trans Civics run 1/4 mile times at or near the 20 second mark which is unbelievably fast if you didn't know. I can think of dozens of examples (give or take a dozen) of auto Civics making it to or near the 250k mile life span with only minor transmission slipping during open loop driving. The lack of a transmission filter coupled with Honda's low viscosity transmission fluid combined with the high load due to lower engine power output is a combination for maintenance free success. With a transmission cooler half the size of a normal cooler due to the Civic's famous half radiator, the reliability of these transmissions can only be surpassed by the infamous 99-03 TL transmission.

These truly are remarkable vehicles. If I wasn't hell bent on rowing my own gears and getting from point A to point B hassle free, I'd choose an auto Civic in a heart beat.

 

if God forbid you get one rebuilt, I would say insist on them leaving out the internal filter, add an external spin on one, rig up a large cooler, and hope for the best, there are supposed to be better clutch packs made aftermarket to fix the issue, plus some other internal parts, but I would just go manual, it's a pain in the *** on these cars, but worth the effort, I would have swapped mine, but my civic was a piece of **** lemon, and I was tired of ******* with it

 

That is exactly what went on my 97 was the clutch packs and once I had them replaced with aftermarket I took the car from 126k to 208k with no more transmission issues and sold it. So I'm guessing you are correct about the aftermarket packs being superior to the OEM of this generation(96-00). If you can't do it yourself its an expensive overhaul as I found out but was eventually worth it after nearly another 100k of trouble-free miles. But, had it not been for the wife it would have been a 5spd like the other 6 I've owned in the same generation and would have avoided that expense altogether. But as the saying goes, "a happy wife equals a happy life".

 

You point out a very good point.

I should add that my wife's 93 auto is going to last a very long time due to me adding a magnefine in line transmission filter after the cooler as the cooler is not new. The fluid will be cleaner over time than it ever was even after a fluid swap. Which in turn will clean out and keep clean the transmission valves and channels as well as not eat up all the soft parts with ferrous materials.

It was the first thing I did along with the 9 liter transmission self pumped fluid flush I did on it.

Without the filter, I would suspect the life span to be decreased significantly as you are sarcastically, but probably accurately, implying.

 

My 00 Civic auto transmission has been great since doing 4-5 ATF drain-refill cycles after purchasing it in 2008. This works magic on the Civic auto transmission.

 

Maintenance can keep some 96-00 trans alive and will most definitely give it a better shot at keeping up with the superior motor. I feel like a good comparison is these transmissions(96-00) are like no name parts. Hit or miss. I had success with a 96 auto and total failure with a 97 auto. If you find a well maintained auto of this generation it has the potential to last, problem is most people didn't do this preventive maintenance and its too late once someone who knows/cares to stop the inevitable. Kinda like a smoker, they can stop smoking but the damage they've caused up until that point is irreversible.

 

We had a 94 Auto Integra LS NEW back in Oct of 93. 3 years later with 65k on the clock the auto trans failed. As I stated in my earlier post my 98 Civic EX auto had over 200k, and is still going (with new owner) on the original trans.

I'm always on CL looking for cars, deals and just curious. I do see a few 96-00 autos for sale with bad transmissions. I truly feel its 50/50 and that's not a risk I'll ever take again.

I'm hell bent on shifting myself from now on. OP go for a MT you won't regret it. The options for the car are endless. The autos hold you back.

 

I feel your pain.

As for regret manual or auto.... It is really dependent on the OP's daily commute environment.

I'm telling you, a manual sucks in LA rush hour commuting, as well as most NW mountain terrain large city commuting. Couple major inclines with massive slow or stop and go slow traffic, you will definitely appreciate the automatic even with the performance and fuel economy loss of it.

South Florida or the great plains on the other hand.... Nothing but a manual would do typically.

I've had the opportunity to commute in both mountain and flat lands, plain crosshatch grid work as well as winding twisty roads. There are times when an automatic is preferable for a daily driver. I suspect though, the majority of people don't live in areas which that is true though. I just so happen to do so.

 

i have a 99 auto civic hatch. bought with a p0740 at malfunction code and all it needed was new fluid and cleaning of the solenoids/replacing gaskets. they're pretty strong transmissions if maintained correctly. mine is at 140k miles and has no issues.