engine mounts and transmission

[gp02a0083]

ok so ive noticed that my auto trans that was just rebuilt clunks or grinds when going from park to reverse, reverse to park, and reverse to neutral. the guy at the transmission shop said this is "acceptable noise" noted by Honda, i also remember that my 89 HB did the same also with a slipping 3rd gear auto trans. Has any other members auto trans do the same. I checked the sluid level and its right on, also i noticed while looking at the engine it shifts forward and back a decent amount when shifting it from reverse to drive and back again, im thinking my engine/transmission mounts might be shot due to excessive vibration when stopped in D4 , the steering wheel even gets a bad vibration and shakes a bit. The idle is set right, stopped in D4 its around 600-750rpm.

every time i keep looknig at this auto transmission i keep thinking of the words mark said " oh its a auto transmission , but we can fix that" more and more i wish i had the resources and money here to swap this over to a manual *sigh*

[Dr_Snooz]

Definitely doesn't sound right. I'd say check the shifter cable adjustment, though it's kind of a long shot. Check all the obvious stuff but if the problem is in the case, I'm not sure what to tell you. Have you checked the mounts? Are they cracked and nasty? Did the vibration problem start after the rebuild? I hate the "within tolerance" defense of shoddy workmanship. If I wanted a pile of crap, I'd have saved the money and left it broken.

[2ndGenGuy]

Uhm yeah, I've driven Honda automatics from as far back as 81 and as new as 2000. None of them have ever made any grinding noises or clunking. I could see maybe a nice new transmission having a good firm shift into gear, but no matter how bad your mounts are, it shouldn't grind...

[gp02a0083]

i checked the mounts there not that great, being there the original ones from 87, those will get replaced soon , i played with the cable adj. for the trans and i still get a grinding/crunching sound from reverse to park or reverse to N. im kinda pissed , it did this before i had the trans redone, i thought it might have something to do with the sun gear in it. lie i said my 89 lxi hb did the same thing. I agree this isn't "acceptable noise" its like a grinding sound like f you have a MT and try putting it into gear with junky syncro's. I had them give the trans a full overhaul, and still this is happening. i doubt something like putting honda ATF in it will help

[LX-incredible]

I've had this problem on both of my autos. Lowering idle to the correct range, allowing engine to warm up and get out of high idle before shifting solved it.

[gp02a0083]

nah tried that , i does it more when its cold, but it still does it when its warm

[Dr_Snooz]

I'll tell you what I think happened. There are hard parts in the tranny that wear out. These aren't things included in the rebuild kit you buy, so you have to buy them separately. Honda tells you what to look for on each part to determine if it's too worn out to re-use. The rub is that when you find a worn out part, where are you gonna get it? There's no aftermarket for them anymore, if there ever was one. The dealer won't sell you the individual part. They might still sell you the entire component that the part is in, but that will be at a cost of $1800. So you're stuck with a worn out part. Now if you're a home mechanic, you'll go to various junkyards around town, crack open trannies and find the least worn of those parts you can find. If you can't find the part, then you'll spend time on the internet learning how to make the part work. You'll spend time sanding off the rough edges that keep it from moving freely, etc. If you're a shop, you're probably not going to go to all that trouble. You are probably not using the Honda manual, so you don't really know when something is worn out, nor do you care because you aren't going to buy an $1800 part to fix a tranny you're getting paid $1000 to fix. Nor are you going to spend any time online looking for a work around, because again, you're getting paid $1000 to fix the tranny. The guy rebuilding it is making $40/hr. and after enough hours, you are no longer making any money on the job. What you will do is slather that part up with a big gob of grease, stuff it back in and hope for the best. If it causes a problem, you'll say "within tolerance" and hope you don't get sued.

Anyway, all that to say I suspect you have a worn out part that got put back in the trans when it should have been replaced. I hope I'm wrong for your sake, but that's what I think. Good luck with that.

[Dr_Snooz]

Not sure if this helps any: http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70666

[markmdz89hatch]

I'm with Snooz on the rebuild issues. ...also as John said... ...grinding is not a good problem and is just about always an issue of something inside that case. Based on what you paid, I'd go banging on the door of that tranny shop and insist on a warranty repair. ...and insist that you'll just keep coming back until they get it done right.

On to the mounts... ...Yes, those are probably shot too. Replacing them should help reduce that 'clunk' when you shift into and out of gear. It should also help considerably on the vibrations that translate to the wheel. Check out the bottom mount that fits to the center bar connecting the lower crossmembers (most likely a cause of the vibrations). Then check out the front mount and the dogbone for the clunk issue.

Now onto the real meat&potatoes of this... ...that swap. IF you don't get anywhere on that auto tranny warranty repair thing, maybe we can work something out. The swap is really not that difficult, just time-consuming. I need a car repainted, and you need a swap. You're a painter, and I've done the swap on my car and assisted the swap on another. ...see where I'm going here?

[zildjian102]

my 1988 accord lx has the same problem. it has that grinding noise when shifting from park to reverse, reverse to neutral, or reverse to park. It also slips when going into third gear. And when i'm idling the steering wheel shakes alot