Ok, I have a 1991 Accord LX and reading through previous threads it seems that the transmission acting up is not an uncommon problem. Well, the sport light is coming on and off very randomly. What i want to know is, how do i get to all the stuff i need in order find what the exact problem is.

I know all the electronic stuff i need to look at is on the passenger side, but having looked there i cannot find the the two cables i need to hook together in order to get the blinking light(if possible) and the carpet is preventing me from gaining access to the TCM underneath.

Can anyone give me some really detailed instructions on what i'm supposed to do to get to each of these and what i'm looking for? I don't want to mess up the car becuase i don't know what i'm doing and if the procedure is really complicated i'll know to not even attempt it.

Also, is it weird for me to be able to push the automatic from freely between Neutral, D4 and D3? For some reason i can just push the stick into any of those positions without touching the brakes of the button on the stick. Another oddity, a light doesn't show on the dash when i shift into D4, but it does for all the other ones. Is the light malfunctioning?

If any of you can help me that would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the big post.

 

I have a car just like yours lx accord 1991.
ok, sounds like you have a electrical and tranny problem. You want to do a diagnostic troubleshooting the codes right. Basically checking the ecu, and see what codes pop up right. Well here is a detailed instructions for you buddy.

First make sure your engine is off. And the key out of the ignition.
On the passenger's side, look under the glove compartment. You do not have to lift the carpet up. To the upper right hand corner you will see a blue circuit with only two wires connecting to it. Nothing is connecting to the circuit except the two wires. The circuit is connected to a black wireloom. If you still can't find it, put your hand up there and feel for it. A flashlight also helps. When you find it, the blue circuit should have two holes. Use a paper clip or a set of short electrical wires and tap both of them together with the one paper clip or electrical wire. I prefer paper clip. Anywayz , once you have that done make sure the each end of the paper clip is touching the metal inside the circuit and make sure it has a secure connection. Once your all done. Take your key only to the accessory position only. Accessory position is when your engine does not turn on, but could play radio and your seat belts go up. Then , you will see a blinking light if something is wrong with your car. Those blinking lights are codes that tell you what is going on with your car. I can't tell you what every code is on the top of my head, but I do know that one long blink is in the tenth's place and a short blink is in the ones place. For example:
one long blink and two short blinks = CODE # 12. I hope this is detailed enough for you.

My car never had this problem before. How many miles do you have on your car??
The only problems that I had was the distributor and a leaking radiator. Other than that, it runs perfect. I have 155k on it and counting. Well I hope this helps you.

 

cool, i'll see if I can do a little more searching for those circuits.

Also, my car has almost 170,000 miles on it.

Anyway, thanks for the details. Anyone know where to find a place to translate the blinks?

 

http://hybrid2.honda-perf.org/tech/codes.html

edit: https://honda-tech.com/zerosearch and search for ecu codes in the archived threads...theres a few threads about grabbing the code if you're still having trouble.

 

the site is very much appreciated, thanks.

 

I agree with Conartist. Great site. Please update with any more info concerning this problem because I'm going through the same thing as I write. Thanks

 

As many of you are aware, early 90's Accords regularly have transmission shifting problems (eg. S light flashing or on steady, D4 light flashing, trans takes off in 2nd gear). The most common cause of this is a burnt out TCM.
I have been rebuilding these computers for quite some time now and have some in stock ready for shipping, or I can rebuild yours.
For pricing, or more information, please email me at: cmrvi1@yahoo.com
Below is some info on how to check for codes, TCM location, and most IMPORTANTLY, how to check your TCM.


Behind the right hand corner of the dash on the passender's side (just below the glove compartment) you will find 2 connectors taped to the wire harness with blue tape ( unless someone previously removed the tape). One is a three wire connector (data link connector) the other is a two wire connector. By jumping the two wires on this connector, you check for engine and transmission codes.
With the ignition switch off, connect the two wires together. Have a pen and paper handy. Turn the ignition switch on. The S light (or D4 light if your car doesn't have the S light) should start to flash a code. Might be a combination of long and short flashes. A long flash stands for 10, and short flashes are 1. For example, if the light blinks: long-short-short-short, then that is a code 13. When you find out what code it is, post it and I can tell you what is going on. BTW, 90-93 Accords have a bad habit of burning out the trans computers. So sometimes you won't get a code. The light will just stay on steady when you jump the connector.
If the light doesn't blink when you jump the connector, then your TCM (transmission control module) might be bad.
To verify this, remove the TCM ( it's located under the rug on the passenger side bolted to the firewall. You will find two modules bolted to one bracket. The TCM is the smaller of the two, on the right.
To remove it, you'll need to remove the 4 bolts securing the bracket. Then, unplug both computer modules, and gently remove the bracket.
Next, unbolt the TCM from the bracket.
Remove the four screws that hold on the cover.
Look at the board carefully. If it is bad, you will find a burnt out resistor and a leaking capacitor. If this is the case, I can rebuild it for you.
Email at cmrvi1@yahoo.com and I'll give you more details.


This is the TCM


With the connector pointing down, the bad spot will be in the lower right corner


This is what the damaged part looks like up close

 

this is from http://www.cb7tuner.com. its a site only for cb7(4th generation accords)
u should check it out. it has a lot of useful info on 90-93 accords
http://home.earthlink.net/~mic...s.htm


i have a question.
i swaped the tranny on my 90 ex. but the second gear it takes to long to change. i have to take it up to 2900rpm and let go the gas pedale a little so it can shift. if i keep the gas pedale it will go up to 3200rpm in order to shift from 2nd gear to the 3rd one.
is this a tcu problem?????????????

 

Check the adjustment on the trans throttle cable. Sounds like it might be too tight.
When correctly adjusted, the throttle plate should just open slightly before the throttle control arm on the transmission starts to move.

 

thanks dude. i have them set that when the throte plate moves then the throttle control arms moves at the same time.

thanks for the help.

 

Mine was doing the exact same thing. I bought a good used TCM from another poster on this board, (THANKS BRO!) and all is well. RAWK!

 

250,000 mile 91 LX here without any tranny problems...*knocks on a huge piece of wood*