Slips in 4th and reverse when warm, 2001 V6 4 Door
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Slips in 4th and reverse when warm, 2001 V6 4 Door
I have a 2001 Accord V6 with the dreaded transmission issues.
When I bought it, it was leaking horribly from what turned out to be a destroyed output bearing allowing the axle to move in the seal and oil to get past. It also had various shifting issues: lurching, not going into gear, etc.
I rebuilt the trans with a full rebuild kit (transtar 80006G) including clutches and steels, a Superior shift kit (STL-HO4-388), and new bearings. I cleaned, inspected and checked everything I could, and while it wasn’t perfect the pump checked in spec, and I flex honed the bores for all the shift shafts until they moved freely and easily (Superior BB100 brush set). I also installed an external cooler and an inline filter as well.
I did NOT set the clutch end clearance using shims, since I didn’t want to buy a pile of them at something like $16 each. I did measure it, and while I don’t recall the exact numbers I remember it being close to or in spec.
It has a new filter, new fluid (Valvoline MAX Life synth), and I have replaced both pressure sensors with non-OEM replacements.
Now the problem:
When cold, it shifts great, if a bit slowly. All gears work, no slipping, converter locks up, no issues.
However, once it gets warm, it will either not shift into 4th (it attempts several times, but then errors out) or it will shift into 4th but then slips as soon as you do anything other than drive steady speed on a level road. All other gears work great when hot, converter locks up solid in 3rd. Reverse also slips when warm as well, which leads me to suspect the 4th clutch pack…but if the clutch pack is an issue, I feel it shouldn’t work at all rather than only when cold. If the pump was bad, none of the gears should work. When it’s slipping, if you drop into 3rd everything is instantly fine, no slip, pulls hard up hills, etc.
So either the 4th clutch pack isn’t getting enough pressure when hot, or it somehow it has more end clearance when it heats up than when cold. I suspect it might be a shift solenoid, an internal spool valve sticking or perhaps a pressure sensor? All I know is that I REALLY don’t want to pull the trans again, and I just want to get it working well enough to sell and get it out of my life.
Does anyone have any ideas on what to try, or what might be causing the issue? Even if it’s internal, I’d rather know then lay awake at night wondering which of the dozens of things it might be!
If you got this far, thanks for reading my wall of text, and let me know if I'm missing any important info!
When I bought it, it was leaking horribly from what turned out to be a destroyed output bearing allowing the axle to move in the seal and oil to get past. It also had various shifting issues: lurching, not going into gear, etc.
I rebuilt the trans with a full rebuild kit (transtar 80006G) including clutches and steels, a Superior shift kit (STL-HO4-388), and new bearings. I cleaned, inspected and checked everything I could, and while it wasn’t perfect the pump checked in spec, and I flex honed the bores for all the shift shafts until they moved freely and easily (Superior BB100 brush set). I also installed an external cooler and an inline filter as well.
I did NOT set the clutch end clearance using shims, since I didn’t want to buy a pile of them at something like $16 each. I did measure it, and while I don’t recall the exact numbers I remember it being close to or in spec.
It has a new filter, new fluid (Valvoline MAX Life synth), and I have replaced both pressure sensors with non-OEM replacements.
Now the problem:
When cold, it shifts great, if a bit slowly. All gears work, no slipping, converter locks up, no issues.
However, once it gets warm, it will either not shift into 4th (it attempts several times, but then errors out) or it will shift into 4th but then slips as soon as you do anything other than drive steady speed on a level road. All other gears work great when hot, converter locks up solid in 3rd. Reverse also slips when warm as well, which leads me to suspect the 4th clutch pack…but if the clutch pack is an issue, I feel it shouldn’t work at all rather than only when cold. If the pump was bad, none of the gears should work. When it’s slipping, if you drop into 3rd everything is instantly fine, no slip, pulls hard up hills, etc.
So either the 4th clutch pack isn’t getting enough pressure when hot, or it somehow it has more end clearance when it heats up than when cold. I suspect it might be a shift solenoid, an internal spool valve sticking or perhaps a pressure sensor? All I know is that I REALLY don’t want to pull the trans again, and I just want to get it working well enough to sell and get it out of my life.
Does anyone have any ideas on what to try, or what might be causing the issue? Even if it’s internal, I’d rather know then lay awake at night wondering which of the dozens of things it might be!
If you got this far, thanks for reading my wall of text, and let me know if I'm missing any important info!
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street_ride14
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Apr 29, 2018 04:07 PM