Automatic Transmission rattle

[sageuvagony]

Sometimes when I'm high up in the RPMs, my transmission starts to kinda rattle. Not only when I'm high up in RPM's but also sometimes when I am crusing and a normal steady speed, you hear kind of a rattle in the gears or something. This is a type of rattle that ive heard in MANYYYY other cars including our old 1988 Hyndai Excel 5 years ago.... Could changing the fluid help any? Would it also help it from banging into second gear from first? When I first bought my car it used to bang from first to second gear all the time then I changed the fluid, then it went away. Its kind of back now. Do you think replacing the fluid would help? and what would cause it to bang into second gear?

Thanks

[BullShifter]

Are you sure its the trans making noise, not the exhaust heat shields, which is very common among Hondas.
Its also very common for those tran's to have a harsh 1st-2nd shift. If there is damage to the trans, changing the fluid will not fix propblems already there, also in some case new fluid will make problems worse.

How is the fluid level - when checked with the engine off on a level surface? What color is it? Does it smell burnt/bad? How many miles on the trans?

[sageuvagony]

The tranny oil is RED and the level is above normal... perfectly red. Got the car with 76,000 miles and now it has almost 98,000. Its a 92. Why would new fluid make things worse? I've heard of it being bad because new fluid can crystalize something or I dunno.. I dont remember. One thing I like about my car is that it chrips from 1st to 2nd gear when flooring it. Its an LX auto hehehehehe. Do any of those liquid transmission treatments work? Are there any additives I can add to make it at least a lil healthier? How much would a tranny be if mine busted? Thank you so much for your help

[BullShifter]

Red is a good sign, above the full mark is bad & may cause harsh shifts(as you described). Auto trans fluid should be changed at least every 30K or 2yrs(which ever comes first - fluids/oil will break down over time) Changing auto trans fluid on a honda is simple & cheap - depending on driving condition you may want to do it every 15K. Your trans hold 5.7qts, when you do the normal drain/fill, your only changing 2.5qts. Theres also trans flushes which flush ALL the fluid using the trans cooler lines. I'm not sure on the exact reason why new/old fluid shouldn't be mixed, I'll ask our trans guy for his answer.

Dealership auto trans replacement - $2-3,000 - independant shop half that - yourself half that.

They say the treatment work, I wouldn't waste my money. No additive will fix problems that are already there

[IH8SPM]

I have the same sound. I thought it was my engine but it checkd out ok. Here is some background on the car. It has 18000 plus and I recently had the inner trany seal done be because it was leaking. The car never made this noise prior to having this done. I think the muffler maybe lose as well since it came down during the seal job. The tranny and most likely had been changed since the convertor was marked with a yellow marker like the salvage yards do. I am really not happy with this car any more since it is a noise maker. Oh one more thing the lower front and rear control arms are worn which makes me think the previous owner had some heavy rims on the car. Everything else is stock and it is a EX 93 .