My 2001 Accord, EX, Vtec 4, auto trans, seems to have "sticky shift valves" or some such. It shifts, but late, with the result that, though it does not over-rev, it does experience torque converter lockup on shifting, and thus shifts hard. It is not all the time, warmer does not seem better nor worse, and when I'm towing my popup or my light utility (<500lb GVW) it does not change. Same in all regimens, including city, highway, and mixed. I'm told I can't change filters with any good result, because the only one that would help is internal, and requires destroying the body of the trans to reach it. So, is that true? If so, is there a "cleaning fluid" that will clean out the sludge and "make it all better"? The car has about 100K miles on the trans, which was replaced in the torque converter failure recall about 7 years ago.

 

Have you checked the transmission fluid level? It might just be low on tranny fluid. This generation of Accord is legendary for being finicky about the transmission fluid that is used, and for transmission failures, and it is generally agreed that only Honda brand transmission fluid should be used in these transmissions. If it was me, I would drain and fill the transmission fluid several times and use only Honda brand fluid. The reason to drain and fill several times is that not all of the fluid comes out when you drain it, only about 1/3. So if you change it several times, driving it a few minutes in between, you can mostly replace it. I did it 4 times on my 2000 accord and it has 200k miles on the original transmission. The reason not to flush it is that the flushing is done with so much pressure that it can cause any deposits in the transmission to clog the tiny passageways in the transmission. If it doesn't help to drain and fill it, then the transmission is just on the way out. Drive it as conservatively as possible, even letting off the gas when you want it to shift, and it will last a little longer. Don't tow anything, and don't ever floor it if you want it to last. If you absolutely need to tow with it, I would look for another car starting now.

 

I have the same issue with my 2002 Honda Accord EX, V6 transmission. I recently had it rebuilt and the shop owner informed me that instead of using Honda ATF, they used a Dexron III with an additive to make it compatible to Honda. I call Shenanigans because my transmission started hard shifting from 1 to 2 and sometimes from 3 to 4. I'm going to take the advice of user456101 and slowly drain my transmission. I really want to take it to a transmission shop and have them completely drain the tranny and replace it with Genuine Honda ATF-DW1. Now I have understood that ATF-Z1 is now obsolete and DW1 is the replacement. It's supposed to be compatible with Z1. I'll update this soon to let you know the r

 

Hello, My Accord v6 3L VTEC 1998 is also remarkably picky about the AT juice, it's like it can read the side of the bottle. I have the same performance issue: it will not change fast enough - to the extent that it can over-rev so much the limiter kicks in. Not good when half way through an overtake with a lorry bearing down on you. All power lost.Nowhere to go.

However the car and I have come to an agreement: as long as I use the most expensive fluid in Halfords, and I top it up to precisely 2mm above the MAX line on the stick, she behaves perfectly. I haven't yet down the repeated flushing trick. But I guess this works just like when I have drop the kids off at the pool: it takes a few goes.

Cheers

DAve