Hey all

My 2000 EX auto has 262k miles (yeah yeah I know, past its time, I still wanna fix it).

It has no codes as far as I'm aware, no MIL, but it has the following symptoms:
- Poor gas mileage, I get 20, 22 mpg if I'm lucky in mixed city/highway. I'm sure this is just to be expected from a car this old with an auto but just including it for completeness
- VERY slow and somewhat erratic kickdown at freeway speeds.It's almost a full second between flooring the accelerator and the downshift. A two-gear downshift takes even longer
- TC lockup seems to not always be happening when it should (but that's based on nothing really, just my assumptions, I've been puttering along at a steady 40 mph and it's still clearly not locked up)
- When idling after cold start (I'm guessing this happens during open loop) the idle rpm speed will sometimes go up and down between 1-2k. I don't mean the normal cycling with the AC on or similar, I mean it will do it every half second or so.

Could this be as simple as a bad throttle position sensor? The lack of any codes makes me unsure if that is a possibility. I'm expecting the answer is no and the transmission is just on its way out but I'm crossing my fingers.

 

More info:
- Engine burns oil, about a quart every 2k miles (which isn't that much as I understand)
- I changed the spark plugs and plug wires soon after I bought it, about 1-2 years and 30k miles ago
- Has an aftermarket cat installed by previous owner
- Has new O2 sensors
- When I took it to a mechanic after buying it they changed the transmission fluid and said it had likely never been changed as it looked pretty bad.

 

what's the trans fluid level and color? was the correct fluid type used (Honda ATF-Z1/DW1)?

Is there soot on the rear bumper, especially near the tailpipe? (running rich)

do all four spark plugs look the same? how to read a spark plug

I can't say i would recommend purchase of a replacement/reman-ed transmission as it's probably worth more than the whole rest of the car. But if you like new challenges and own or are willing to purchase a factory service manual, doing a rebuild yourself could be worthwhile. (looks like you can pick up a rebuild kit for less than $200)

 

I would be so down to restore this car if it didn't have significant body damage that would not be cheap to fix. I've been thinking of looking for another one in better condition with a manual

 

Update: I'm a doofus.

I had bought 3 qt of transmission fluid thinking I was going to replace a CV axle. I ended up not doing the CV axle replacement but figured it was time for a transmission drain and refill anyway.

ATF came out dark purple. It totally didn't occur to me that when my mechanic "changed" the transmission fluid a year or two ago, they only did a drain and refill and so ~2/3 of the fluid in the transmission was the same fluid that was in the car when I bought it which clearly hadn't been changed in ages.

Immediately after the drain and refill there was a striking increase in the kickdown response. I'll probably do another drain and refill when it's oil change time or just in a few weeks.

 

make sure you check the levels properly