Auto.Tranny is shifting wierd at highway speeds,is this normal?

[blaze one]

When driving down the highway , above 60mph . The tranny shifts in and out of gears it seems . It happens sometimes by itself , then it happens if I take my foot off the gas pedal a bit , and the sometimes when i push the gas pedal in a bit too .

Is my tranny slipping and going to explode on me ?

BTW - it is a 1988 Lxi Sedan , Automatic , Fully loaded with 97,000 Miles .

[BITESIZE]

Adjust your cable to see if that helps.

[shepherd79]

you may need to do auto tranny flush.
take it to a good shop and let them hook it up to a flushing mashine.
i did that with my wife's 01 civic. boy it shifts much better.

[blaze one]

ok , I will give it a flush and see if that helps .

[Tailfin]

Yipe! I'm forced to disagree with the flushing option... Some may get lucky, but it's really not a good idea.

FIrst off, even if the shop has good intentions, many mistakes are easy to make and all it takes is one...not changine the oil of the machine every single car, hooking the lines up wrong, etc...and your car just gets the debris from the last car. Also, as as debris in the transmission forms, by definition, it collects in areas where there is low oil flow. Flushing it stirs up all the debris and makes sure it gets to all the parts where it can do damage on the way through...great idea...

The intent is also to bypass removing the pan and properly cleaning filters and/or screens. Flushing will just cram all the debris into those, and the shop gets to charge more for doing less work by saying it's "better" whien it's actually worse.

I don't know about these Hondas, but some transmissions actually have to have the drain pan taken off to get to yet another drain plug in order to get to all the fluid...so on some transmissions, a flush won't even touch half the transmission. Not to mention most of these places boast that normal fluid changes don't get all the fluid out...well neither does the flush, despite claims to the contrary. However, if you're really bent on getting out all the fluid, there is a safe way to do it, without gutting your tranny. Disconnect one of the oil cooler lines and let it run into a bucket. Start the engine...it will pump the fluid out of all areas of the transmission. While it's doing that, pour some cheap fluid in so it more gently and proprely "flushes" out the old.

If your transmission is newer, you might have a bit better luck, since there is not likely to be much to gum it up, but if a transmission flush does you good, it is just that...luck. Sometimes debris througout the system will pressurize areas and temporarily provide relief, but it's definitely not a good choice. Some people trying to scam sell cars put fine wood chips in the transmission fluid to give the car a stay of execution. If you really want to, flush it...but erghh... I advise against it.

I just had this problem...and it was just slack in the throttle cable... If ya wanna read that too, it's the "Fickle Transmission" thread. Good luck.

[blaze one]

thanks , maybe I will check the cables and other sources of the problem , before i go for a flush .

I have a bottle of transtune that works very well in past cars . I try that too .

[TdotWarrior]

BTW - it is a 1988 Lxi Sedan , Automatic , Fully loaded with 97,000 Miles .

97k !! nicee
:wtf:
:violin:

[blaze one]

97k , I know , low isn't it . It was a 1 family car , and hardly ever driven , The interior is mint too , Rusty around the wheel wells , but a solid car .
I throw some pics of it up later , have to find my camera .

The plan is to just put a decent sound system in it and just use it as a commuter car for a couple years , then ( I hate to say this on a honda forum) but ..... I will be upgrading to BMW , I just don't like FWD .
But I will say that Honda does build some of the best cars out there , fit and finish is great .
This accord is 18yrs old and has hardly a rattle anywhere .

[DBMaster]

These cars do not have a pan, nor a serviceable filter. I would recommend just trying a regular fluid change. Drain at the drain plug and refill with 3 quarts of Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. I have found it to result in firmer shifts. You could replace part of the last quart with a can of Trans X. It is about the only additive I know of that does any good.

[Accordaone]

The Honda service manual calls for draining all the fluid you can, replace it, run the car for a while, and repeat four more times to get all the old atf replaced.(most of it is in the torque converter, which doesn't drain too well without running the car.) I have to say that I had good luck with Lucas at fix-it bought me a year or so before a rebuild. I'm sure a lot of people have had good or bad experiences with several different brands. My bet would be that they are all similar in makeup and the results depend on what is actually wrong with the tranny. Good luck.

[DDRaptor]

I actually have the same issue, i once thought it was just because it's a 4speed auto, but it goes back and forth, 3rd and 4th between 65-75, guess i'm not the only one, The only thing i was'nt able to change for my tune was the atf cause i don't have the slighest clue where the plug is at, and plus the dipstick is a pain in the *#^ to reach, do i have to run it to get all the fluid out?

[Tailfin]

Running it is the only safe way to get all the fluid out, and pour some in while you do it so it doesn't go completely dry. You'll only get about half of it out just draining. I'm about to do this, but I haven't yet. My service manual shows the drain plug on the tranny housing on the passenger side... Sort of the lower-right "quadrant" if you're looking at it from that side. In the manual, it looks like a square or hex thing to get it out...but I have to look at mine before I say anything for sure.

As I mentioned, just increasing the slack in the throttle cable (NOT the throttle control cable) fixed this problem for me. Give it a shot before panicking. By giving the cable slack, you delay actually pulling on the throttle arm until closer to when the throttle control cable pulls, thereby altering the shifting behavior.

[blaze one]

where is the throttle cable ? and how would I adjust it ?

[Tailfin]

The throttle cable is from the accelerator (the TV cable is as well), and it comes out the firewall, looping around the front of the engine, going back over the valve cover towards the carburetor. It is the one that attaches to the throttle arm/carburetor. Underneath the air housing, you'll see a bracket with two nuts that can be loosened and tightened to adjust it. If you press down on the cable right before the carb, you should feel about 1/8" of play in it, or possibly a tad more. You can tell if you have some by pressing the accelerator. You'll feel it be really loose for just the first bit of travel, then it will catch. With the car running, it should travel just a little bit before catching the throttle arm...basically, it should not increase the engine rpm with just the slightest touch of the pedal...it should "catch" after that 1/8 inch or so.

If it is ok, then you might want to check the TV cable out. There is a good how-to on that in the how-to section of the forum.