91 accord ex problem

[Duval21]

First of all, wanna say wassup everyone, new to the forums and pretty much to cars lol.

Now to my problem, it has something do with the transmission I think, but I don't know what. I've read that the TCU's are known for going bad on these models but I'm not sure if that's the problem. It seems like the car sometimes has a hard time shifting gears. Like sometimes when I'm at a complete stop and start going when I press the gas the car doesn't do anything right away. The car moves automatically moves because my foot is off the gas, but it doesn't respond to me giving it gas. It also does this sometimes when I get to around 40-50 mph. I'm pressing the gas but it doesn't do anything right away it takes a while for the car to recognize it and it seems like it jumps into gear. Trying to be as specific as possible but like I said I don't know a lot about cars.

Thanks to anyone who can help

[jeffcoslacker]

Need to understand:

Is it a slip (engine revs high quickly, car doesn't move, suddenly "catches" and begins moving)?

Or wrong gear range (engine feels boggy and flat, revs slowly, car feels like it's towing something heavy)?

[Duval21]

seems more like a slip than the wrong gear range

[jeffcoslacker]

Slippage is going to be a mechanical rather than electronic control problem.

You've checked the tranny fluid, yes? Was it bright red and full? Low or burnt smelling?

Has to be checked with the engine warm, running, and in park.

A slip between gears or on initial engagement is usually spent clutchpacks or low fluid pressure due to pressure bleed-off, blown accumulator, etc. Stuff you need a tranny shop to diagnose. But just low fluid level will make them slip also. Overfull will make them do strange things as well, including foaming the fluid so the level on the dipstick is unclear and unreadable, this aeration causes the hydraulics to not work properly.

If the fluid checks OK, next time it won't pull from a stop try pulling the shifter all the way down to the first gear position and see if it hooks up.

The tranny has two control systems, one hydraulic, input speed based, called a valve body, and one electronic, the TCU and solenoids that it uses to override basic hydraulic operation to tailor the shifts better for performance and fuel economy. A bit complex and takes some specific procedures to see which is the problem.

I sometimes disconnect the TCU on the older ones and see if the valve body provides the correct basic shift patterns and engagements without it, if so, that points to the TCU or malfunctioning solenoid, wiring problem, etc...

Usually TCU faults involve the tranny not being in the correct gear, starting off from a stop in second or third, etc.

[dustin7905]

both my speedometer and odometer are not working got any ideas

[dustin7905]

having problems with speedometer and odometer keeping a constant reading with check engine light on!!

[jeffcoslacker]

Offhand, I'd suspect the VSS (vehicle speed sensor)

What year?

[jeffcoslacker]

Here's some info...

http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1i/bl845i.htm

[Duval21]

I took it to a tranny shop this morning and had one of the dudes there drive it so he could see what was wrong. He said he didn't think it was the transmission, but the motor. I guess when I thought it was not shifting gears it was actually "missing" the motor, and that it wasn't getting power to the wheels because when I press the gas it does nothing. It feels like the car is in neutral and just cruising, then all of a sudden it starts driving regular. He said it could be as simple as a tune-up so I'm going to get one probably Thursday and see if that fixes the problem.

[jeffcoslacker]

That's good...so the motor is just falling on it's face under load then. That's easier to deal with than tranny problems. Air filter, fuel filter first. Either could contribute. Start cheap and work your way up...