3rd Gen Accord Auto Tranny Failures-Need Info.

[BigDaddyJC]

It seems that the auto trannies in my area in the 3rd gen. Accords are going out left and right. I was wondering if anyone knows what might cause these trannies to simply quit pulling when they get hot.
I have one car that will pull just fine when the engine first starts up, but after the fluid seems to warm up it simply just stops pulling altogether.
When its cold, it will shift hard enough to chirp the front tires though. This acts to me like an electronic control part is bad, since the tranny pulls fine at first, then just acts like something drops it back into neutral after a few minutes of driving.
I have a friend with another 3rd gen. Accord that his has started doing the same thing.

Just wondering if any of you guys know what might be doing this, and if there is an easy sensor or module or relay that may fix this problem without going into the transmission for a rebuild?

[shepherd79]

our auto trannies are totaly mechanical. there are no relays or computers controling it. On some trannies there are solenoids but no one knows what they are for.

one of the reason most auto trannies died is because they have been abbused and never had oil change. oil flush can actually help. the other thing is that oil cooler and radiator are made together. So tranny oil simply overheating. you can mount aftermarket oil coolers to keep it extra cool. it will prolong tranny life for sure.

[Vanilla Sky]

i'm with shep on this for sure. it's all because no one never replaces the trans fluid, and there's the flaw in the cooler. old overheating trans fluid will kill your transmission. don't use any additives or anything, either. they will just make it worse, not better, especially additives that claim to stop leaks and that claim to stop slippage. there are some that are meant to be used when you flush your trans, like you use seafoam in your engine oil. you may have good results from that if you're bucket flushing or drain and filling at home, otherwise, just get your trans flushed professionally at a honda dealership.

there's a reason people swap to manuals around here. most of us have had at least one auto trans go out on them. i'm limping around on my second (albeit in another car) until i can swap over to a manual.

[MessyHonda]

autotragic trannies

[skycam_313]

A.T. (A.sking for T.rouble)

[BigDaddyJC]

Sounds like its a really good thing my 89 Hatch has a 5 speed manual tranny in it factory then.
I'll tell my buddy to try flushing out the old fluid and replacing with new fluid and install an aftermarket cooler also and see if that will at least give him a few more miles out of his car.
Its also an 89 LX-i Hatch. If it dont fix the car, he is going to let me use it for parts.......

[shepherd79]

one of the best auto tranny flush additives is made by a company called BG. http://www.bgfindashop.com/bgservices/transmission.htm

most Honda dealers use their products to clean the trannies before they fill them. The stuff really works.

[njpeter]

I started using honda tranny oil a few years ago..of course bating on the tranny doesn't help much... change it a couple of times a year too..not too hard..tranny work is a pain..and expensive too, some are just destined to fail so roll the dice and hope you don;t see "it" at the wrong time.

[2oodoor]

Having the throttle control cable adjustment on the transmission helps it live longer too. It can easily go out of whack by the engine slowly getting out of tune thus you have to open the throttle more to go, then the cable adj. is not accurate anymore. Also the cable can stretch and the ambient temperture also seems to affect both throttle cable and transmission throttle cable lengths ( i know that sounds wierd but i have found it to be true when you have fine adjusted things)

[njpeter]

yeah a big second on that..after I managed to adjust the tranny cable on my 87,it was almost like a new car again..real tricky however, be prepared to have at it a few times

[njpeter]

while on the subject of auto trannies....

somebody tell me I don't have to pull the tranny to change the shift cable ..on my gray 88 , the cable is stiff ( from the 2002 carb cleaner was my iginiton coil the entire time catalytic converter meltdown), I bought the cable a few years back and now I may be in a position finally to install it, but it sure looks like from the parts books that the cable connects inside the tranny case itself, I've had a look under the little cover, but no joy there. that's gonna really suck, might go ahead and pull the engine too, or strip it and use the bits to get my LXi project car on the road.

[POS carb]

the accord transmission is purely mechanical, the only connections to the transmission are 2 coolant lines (pressure and return) a throttle cable (aka kickdown, throttle valve), and a gear selector.
Make sure the gear selector cable is in good order. Make sure you have the proper fluid level (car off). Try setting the gear selector inbetween d4 and d3 or d4 and N see if it improves. Adjusting the trhottle valve cable will only affect the shift behavior (it will want to downshift a lot more readily)

You do not have to pull the tranny to change the TV cable

[BITESIZE]

5 speed swap!