so im having problems on my trans skipping on my 1988 DX civic its auto trans lately its been skipping not wanting to change gears did a transmission fluid change and added a trans additive and its still skipping any ideas ?

 

yea additives are really just a way that companies steel money from people they really do more harm than good

on your auto trans you need to use honda trans fluid
any other fluid you buy at any parts store is not going to help no matter what the bottle says

what ive found to be the problem when a trans starts to slip is normally two things
#1 fluid level is low
and #2 the shift solinoid is getting clogged

since you already have fluid in there again
cleaning out your shift solinoid is the next step in tying to figure this out

it comes off with some 10mm bolts
when you look into the mating surface of this thing youll see a screen in there and it may be clogged with microscopic sized metal and really old fluid making it look like this




now thats not your solinoid in the picture
this is one from a honda pilot
but you can see the screen and how its clogged

once you have yours removed
you clean it out using brake cleaner
the spray bottle kind
and then this is where most people get pissed and leave haha

you wait about 30 minutes or so for the brake fluid to dry or if you have compressed air you can blow that thing dry

once dry youll need to get a new gasket or get a little rtv on there before you reinstall the peace

now 9 times out of 10 when you start the car it still wont shift
but this is only because the fluid hasnt made it to the solinoid yet
you have to go and take the car around the block a few times
not trying to go fast not trying to get it to shift
just let off the brake peddle and let the car move on its own
let that fresh fluid cycle and warm things up
coast back home turn the car off

do that drive again in about an hour
this time give it a little gas
and see if you have results
if it shifts great ^_^
you fixed it

but if it doesnt then that means that when it was slipping it slipped for too long and too much damage was made
only thing to do after that is replace the transmission
or get it rebuilt


let me know if this was helpful

 

Alright will definitely be doing this later today see if it helps out

 

yea man i did everything and i tried and it shifted for a good couple turns around the block but then eventually it just stopped shifting and like my lights from dashboard and headlights got brighter and wouldnt shift at all

 

follow up so it shifts now but after a good while of driving it starts slipping again dont know what to do at this point give me suggestions

 

This is indicative of a bad voltage regulator on the alternator, and likely is a separate issue from the transmission issues. You should have the alternator checked by an auto parts store and replace if bad.