I have an 02 Accord Sedan 3.0 V6 that has a transmission issue. The transmission failed after 92,000 miles and was rebuilt. I removed the failing transmission and replaced it with a rebuilt one. The problem that I am having is with the gear selector and indicator. When installed and ready to put back on the road I noticed that the D4 and N was not lighting up in the dashboard. I wiggled the gear selector and I could get both of those to light up eventually. I unplugged the Transmission Range Switch/Neutral Safety Switch and checked the continuity between #3 prong & #9 prong and had continuity. I also removed the console and followed the 98-02 Honda Service Manual, V6 Supplement to adjust the Shift Cable. I now have noticed that when manually going thru the gears with the gear selector and the engine off, that the Gear Indicator lights work intermittently. I can wiggle the gear selector and get park thru first gear to light up on the dashboard. Same issue previously but now occurring in all gears selected. I still have the car on jack stands with the wheels off, and I have also noticed that I can turn either front wheel with the car in Park. That just doesn't seem right since the parking gear should lock the front wheels. I am of course trying to find out what is causing this problem so that I can fix it. I would like the advice of an expert to determine if it might be an internal issue with the rebuild or an issue outside of the transmission. Further information is that the torque converter was also replaced. I also notice a faint whine initially when starting the car that lasts about a minute then goes away. Sounds like it may be coming from the torque converter but I can't positively confirm that. May be of no concern, may be? One other thing is that I removed the transmission while it was in park, and installed the rebuilt one with the transmission set in Neutral, but the Gear Selector inside of the car set in Park. Maybe this is where I messed up but I have a car that I can't drive until this issue is resolved. I wonder if it was a Bad Rebuild or if it can be fixed without removing the transmission again. If anyone can kindly give expert advice on what might be wrong it would be greatly appreciated. All suggestions are welcome by me :-) Thank You!

 

You need to properly adjust the shifter cable.

 

Verify your shifter linkage is correctly adjusted so when the trans is in every gear the shifter matches. And again that the selector switch is adjusted to light up every gear.
If any of these are out of adjustment the transmission will not be in the desired gear and the PCM will not know which gear the transmission is actually in.

The wheels will turn with the car in Park, but both wheels will not turn in the same direction. Rotate one wheel forward the opposite wheel will rotate backwards/reverse, this is due to the differential housing not moving but the spider gears are free to turn. Through this gearing with the locked housing the gears will rotate in opposite directions. This is the same principal on how transmissions with planetary gearsets are able to have a reverse function.
If they both rotate in the same direction with the trans in Park then there is a problem with the parking pawl or the transmission is not fully in Park.

Is the transmission full of fluid? Did you prefill the converter before installation?

 

Thank you for your advice MAD_MIKE. I have adjusted the shift cable as instructed in the Honda Service Manual. I went through the procedure again just to make sure that I did what was called for. What has changed is that Park does not light up at all now. Another thing that I have noticed is that going from Park to 1st the symptoms have changed. This is what I'm experiencing from Park, (no light) to Reverse, (lights up) and (reverse lights come on) to neutral (lights up). When going back from neutral to the reverse position, the Reverse doesn't light up in the dashboard now nor does the reverse lights come on. It's the same with the other gears also. I can go from neutral to D4 with neutral Not lit up and D4 light up. Then I go back into neutral and the D4 is still lit up. It's the same scenario going through all of the other gears. I can go from one gear up or down and the light doesn't correspond to the particular gear that the gear selector is in, depending if I'm going up or down through the gears. Like I stated earlier that I did a continuity check on the Transmission Range Switch #3 prong to #9 prong while in Reverse and I have continuity. I set the gear selector to the Reverse position, disconnected the shift cable after removing the console, pushed the shift cable until it stopped, pulled it back one position, inserted a 6mm pin in the positioning hole, installed the socket holder onto the shift lever bracket base, and properly installed the shift cable on the mounting stud as illustrated and instructed in the manual. I'm at a loss as what the problem is. If it matters the car was disconnected from the Battery for more than five months.

As for the wheels turning in park, I checked and one wheel goes forward and the other front one goes backwards, so that doesn't seem to be an issue. Also, I did fill the New Torque Converter with about a 48 ounces or maybe a little less of ATF before installing. I also have checked the fluid level several times and it is dead on the money. I let the engine warm up until the cooling fans cut on, and then shut the motor off. I waited about 10 minutes and the fluid level is exactly at the top hole on the dipstick.

I really do appreciate you giving your time and expertise in helping me get my car back on the road. It really does mean a lot and I Thank You! I've not been able to drive it in almost six months and I need it badly. I have no other choice other than to stay on top of it until I get it fixed. Thanks Again!

 

Thank your for your advice but I'm still at a loss since I've adjusted it more than once with no positive results. I'm following the procedure exactly from the Honda Service Manual. It's the 1998-2002 V6 Supplement. I'll get it fixed, but sooner would be better than later :-) Thanks Again!

 

I'm going to see if anyone might have an idea what may be the problem with the gear selector not being synchronized with the actual gear it is in. I replaced the Transmission Range Switch/Neutral Safety Switch with a brand new TEC one from the Honda Dealership. I'm going to exactly explain what I'm having issues with. First I have the gear selector cable disconnected from the gear selector inside the car and where the console was until I removed it to try to adjust the cable. I installed the new NSS with it in neutral and the transmission in neutral. When I turned the ignition on, the indicator light in the dashboard indeed showed it was in neutral. I then pushed the cable up one click and it displayed it was in reverse and the reverse lights were on. I pushed the cable up into park and the park light indicator did Not display and the car wouldn't crank either. I pulled the cable out one click, and again was in reverse and it displayed correctly. Pulled again one click out and it displayed neutral correctly. Went down through the gears and each one displayed the correct gear it was in. So I'm in gear 1 and going to go back up through the gears by pushing the cable back up, one gear at a time. When I go from 1 to 2, gear 2 does not light up in the gear indicator display but it still shows in gear 1. I'm actually in gear 2 at this time. I go up another click and it displays gear 2, but I'm in gear D3. I go up another click and it displays D3 but I'm in D4. This remains the same all of the way up, one gear behind what is actually displaying. When I get back into Park it does not display. What are the chances of it being a damaged gear shift cable causing this problem? There is no cable adjustment because I have the cable disconnected and I'm manually pushing and pulling it through the cable sheath to change the gears. I know it's not the Transmission Range Switch/Neutral Safety Switch because I just replaced it with a brand new one from Honda.

If anyone may have a solution since I've given detailed description of the problem, it would be much appreciated. I know that there is a fix, but I've got to find the problem first. Thanks again for any good advice

Dan