[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?