xaungg

ok i have a 96 accord lx with a four speed automatic, the problem that i'm having is with the tranny. I would start up my car and put it in gear and it would run fine (fine meaning it would shift into every gear). But soon as the tranny get warm it would shift in drive but doesn't seem to want to into second,third,or fourth gear. I had the same promblem before and change the tranny and it seem to fix the problem. Then four months later the same problem happened again. Also the engine light came on and i did a self diagnostic and it had something to do with the TP Sensor (Throttle Position). The tranny also makes a funny whinning noise when i start up the car. Somebody told me that when you change a tranny your also supposed to change the tranny computer is there any truth behind that. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciate from anybody

quaddriver

say no more....the words honda and automatic say all I need to know....

the tranny is gonna likely need rebuilt - honda autos are odd in the fact that they are hydraulically shifted manuals and after a while, slivers start getting knocked off gears and come to rest in clutch pack seals and the like resulting in fuild pressure loss. when you change the fluid or first start it, the fluid is thick and gooey, once it heats up, it aint and the bleed down is enuf to start missing shifts

ivymike1031

are you talking about a particular kind of honda automatic? The 4-spd auto transmissions in 96-00 civics certainly aren't "hydraulically shifted manual" transmissions, unless you're just trying to say that they don't use planetary gears. Can't say for sure about accords, but I'd be surprised to find that they're much different.

Power transmission path in a civic 4spd auto:
Engine spins torque convertor
Torque convertor spins trans input shaft
hydraulic clutch pack for a particular gear locks it to the input shaft
(all gear pairs are always engaged with each other, and except for reverse, there aren't any shift forks, synchro rings, etc., that you would find in a manual tranny)
whichever secondary shaft gear is being driven drives the secondary shaft via one-way clutch

Is that what you were trying to describe, or did you think something else was going on in there?

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xaungg

what do you guys think is cheaper rebuilding a tranny or buyin a used on, cause the other day i went to see how much one was and it was like 375 thats includin shipping and handling. I don't know how much rebuilding one cost.

quaddriver

Just trannys that honda uses that are not GM...their automatic is indeed the manual with a few changes made, where the syncros would be there are clutch packs, honda uses a ton of O rings and hollow shafts to move the fluid. Except for reverse, there there are 2 forks that engage low range and reverse on straight cut gears - it is these gears that over time lose metal which heads right for the clutch seals. also, the bolts that hold the shift forks use a metal tab to keep from backing out and these things break off often and wreak havoc when they get loose.

Of note....if the tranny is opened up and one of the sliders or the fork keepers are indeed broken, honda often warrants the repair typically 5-6 years back - its worth a shot.