99 Tranny Troubles

I have a 99 Accord. When I stop for a light or stop sign, I can feel the car shift into 1st gear. This takes about 4 seconds after the car stops rolling. If I try to make a quick start, sooner than the 4 seconds, the car wants to shudder. The faster the takeoff, as in more power, the harder the shudder is. the car has 140,000 on it and has been doing this for 5000 or 7000 miles. I had the fluid changed when it first started but didn't help. Most of our miles are HWY. So far I've babied the car and gotten by. Any help on this one?
Thanks Charlie :screwy:

you might have a bad torque converter take it to aamco or a reputable shop to check it out.. is there a check engine light on as well??

TCC will cause shudder, but it's usually felt when the car is cruising comfortably in high gear, then it will begin to shudder or buck as the TCC locks and unlocks rapidly...if the TCC remains locked as you come to a stop, the engine will die, same as if you were to forget to push the clutch in with a manual trans...and when you restart it, it will kill the motor each time you attempt to put it in gear until the TCC pressure bleeds off and the mechanism unlocks...

So I don't think you are feeling a TCC issue...it doesn't fit the typical scenario...plus a '99 should code with a check engine light and hold a code if the TCC malfunctions.

It sounds more like clutchpack shudder to me, the pack that makes the 2-1 shift when you stop is getting hung for some reason, and chatters if you take off before it's able to fully engage first.

See if giving it a little gas as you stop (basically just raising the idle a bit) makes it drop down to first quicker, without the delay you mentioned. If it does, then for some reason the fluid pressure to the 1-2 clutchpack is too low for it to function correctly. It works fine on upshift because fluid pressure is higher when accelerating (high engine rpm)...

See if you can get first by manually selecting it with the shifter as you stop also...tell me what happens...

Thanks for the replies! It has a code stored now but didn't when the problem 1st happened. I'm downloading the manual for the car now so I can pull the code. I'll try keeping the car a little above idle as requested and post the outcome. Thanks for the Knowledge

You'll need a scanner to pull codes from it, it's OBD-II...You can go to AutoZone and they'll hook it up and retrieve the code free...make sure they give you the actual code, should be "Pxxxx" (P followed by four digits)...then we can look it up and see what it thinks is happening...

The car will shift into 1st quicker if I hold it above idle. It also shifts quicker from Rev. to 1st if I hold it above idle. Haven't had time to pull the codes yet. Will as soon as I get a chance. Thanks

make sure u check ur shift solenoids located on the side of ur transmission

The car will shift into 1st quicker if I hold it above idle. It also shifts quicker from Rev. to 1st if I hold it above idle. Haven't had time to pull the codes yet. Will as soon as I get a chance. Thanks

OK...My best guess from that is you are blowing off fluid pressure somewhere...sounds like what I said, the 1-2 clutch isn't getting sufficient pressure to apply fully at idle.

If this turns out to be the case, fixing the cause of the pressure drop will get it shifting right again, but the 1-2 clutchpack's plates and discs are probably getting pretty fragged from shock and heat if it's been going on this long...

See what your codes say, but I'm betting you'll need a tranny shop soon...

I have 2000 Accord 4 cyl and I had the same problem/situation on my car. I was ready to have a mechenic rebuild my tranny. Before I sent my car to the shop, I spent $25 on Honda ATF Z1 tranny oil (2 quarts) and 1 bottle of lucas transmission oil treatment.

Note: I never have any OBD2 codes related to transmission.

I changed the oil (My last change at Jiffy lube was at 105k mi and now its 120k mi. "I wasn't convinced that they used Honda Z1 oil like what they had told me.") I know it wasn't quite the time to change tranny oil yet but I went and did it myself anyway using Honda ATF Z1 oil (2 bottles) and half bottle of Lucas treatment. Drove around for 2-4 days. My tranny was alot smoother. Still have little kicks and tuds but 90% better than before.

Give that a try before spending $1000-$2000+ on a rebuilt?

OH by the way, You can shift the gear as if they were manual. That helps too.

When I'm below 40 mph I shift it down to D3, 20 mph or less to shift to 2 and eventually 1 at 5 mph or less to a complete stop. Wise-versa for accellerating.

I know it's odd and not practical but that really prevent shuddings and crazy kicks.

Sorry I'm giving you mickey mouse advices lol
I'm trying to become a mechenic soon so hopefuly I can give you more intelligent advice!

I have 2000 Accord 4 cyl and I had the same problem/situation on my car. I was ready to have a mechenic rebuild my tranny. Before I sent my car to the shop, I spent $25 on Honda ATF Z1 tranny oil (2 quarts) and 1 bottle of lucas transmission oil treatment.


OK DO NOT TRY LUCAS TREATMENT(no offense Stealthsonic, just dont want him to make the same mistake i did), IT BOGGS YOUR ENGINE DOWN, and its really bad for your tranny, i fucked my car up that way and had to get a full tranny rebuilt on mine, Its your shift solenoids, if you get new ones and replace them now, your car will start running as smooth as ever, but if you keep delaying this problem(Experience talking) you WILL need a full rebuilt. here's some pics on where they are located.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Hardyparty/accordshiftsolenoids.jpg
<a href="http://photobucket.com"; target="_blank"><img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/Hardyparty/accordshiftsolenoids.jpg"; border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

Good luck, and do let all of us know how it turned out.

Don't use the whole bottle of Lucas... The BAXA tranny only holds 2.53 liters of oil. You didn't emptied the entire bottle of Lucas into tranny did you?

I used 2 liters of Z1 and 0.5 liter of Lucas Treatment.

If you pour the entire Lucas treatment into the tranny it will mess up the tranny. It's too thick...

How much are the shift soleniod btw?