94 honda civic ex transmission problem

[karenuhl]

My son drives a 94 honda civic ex has about 70,000 miles... the front end was popping so we had both front axles replaced because the boots were bad.... apparently something was wrong with the drivers side and broke ..... replaced it again car was doing fine for about a month

now.... son was driving down the road said it felt like the transmission was acting funny ended up pushing it to a friends they checked the tranny fluid and it was all the way up on the stick. I watched them drain almost 2 quarts of excess tranny fluid out of the car. J took it down the road the tranny still wasn't right and he said there was popping again... he said the lever was shifting fine but at one point he had to turn the car off roll it backwards get back in start it and it went down the road. Thinks it may be the tranny itself, he thinks the popping is coming from the transmission.

My son said on a couple of occassions it wouldn't go and that he floored it a couple of times heard a loud pop then it would go down the road... This was before the drivers side axle was replaced again.

Is it the tranny or is it the axles???? and how do we tell? I haven't heard the popping so I don't know where it is coming from.

Don't know if this has anything to do with it but last week someone in a jeep liberty pulled out in front of him and he hit her doing about 40 - 45 mph and the passenger side front end went partially under the liberty.

Can someone please give us some advice I don't want to go and buy another tranny if it isn't the tranny.

[civickiller]

when was the last time you replace the tranny filter, it sounds like an auto. do they know hwo to check the tranny fluid, you cant do it with the car off, the car needs to be at operating temperature with the car in park. because it sounds like they checked it while the car was off, if the car is off, it would read like its way overfilled. with the car on then the torque converter is filled up and all the lines and filled up, thats why you need to check it at operating temperture in park. i think you are tranny fluid is low.

you know it sounds like your son is doing more to this car then hes telling you. neutral dropping, racing, etc

we also need to know how the tranny is acting. its hard to give good info without that. he said its acting funny, how is it acting ?
when is there popping sound, when he shifts into drive, when the car shifts, when he gives it gas or brakes ?

you should get into the car and drive it yourself

[Plasmex]

As of very recently I have been having very similar problems.
97 civic lx auto 75000miles
Cold weather came in last week, (cold for us) and ever since then
The transmission seems to be taking a really long time to shift
almost feels like im in a manual. I have notices that if i give the car too much gas from a start (when it hits 2500rpm) the car sort of shakes and rattles. Ofcourse when it does that i let off on the gas and let it ease its way along. When shifiting from 1st->2nd The car takes its sweet time shifting No clanking or anything but it takes long enough for the car to slow down (almost like a manual shift) 3rd and 4th gear seem to be fine.

I went to get the transmission flushed
but the place i took it told me that the only place that has that sort of transmssion fluid is the dealer.. (oh god i hate the dealer) So before i practicly disassembly my car and take the aftermarket crap off (because they wont even look at it if they see anything aftermarket on there)
So it may be the transmission fluid ( which i hope so)
If i have to get a new transmission i may just say. Im not going to fix this junk, and get a new engineh22a/manual tranny conversion.

Anyone got suggestions?

[civickiller]

hey plasmex, does it happen even after you have been driving the car for like 20 mins ? you dont need honda tranny fluid, it is recommended but you dont need it. because it sounds like problems that happen when the tranny fluid is low, slow shiting, etc. but the cold weather would make the tranny fluid alittle more sluggish to get around so taht could explain, especially since it only happens like you said during cold weather

[Plasmex]

Acualy the 1st 5 minutes the car it doesnt do it at all
probably because the tranny is so cold it takes longer to shift
but it shifts smoother

after 5 minutes the engine is warmedup in the mid zone
thats when it starts acting werid

im just hopping its just the tranny fluid

[civickiller]

when was the last time you replaced your tranny filter ?

[Plasmex]

never replaced it
I bought the car used about 3 months ago

[karenuhl]

hi guys and thanks for the help.

never replaced the filter since we had it about 4 months....the car was not running when he checked the fluid but it was at room temp....my son was driving down the road and the car decided that it was not going to move anymore so they had to push it. The stomping on the gas and hearing the loud pop ...originally thought that the linkage was messed up because it wouldn't go into drive had to slam it into drive... but that stopped happening when the axles were replaced..... son did say that the popping sound has never really stopped.

I drove the car from the garage home..... it seemed to run fine for a little bit and then I felt it slip.....I asked someone if it could be that the fluid wasn't getting to the tranny very well (filter?????)

It shifted into 1,2, 3 kinda sluggish (didn't have very far to go probably wasn't warmed up yet. I did let go of the gas to get it to shift into 3rd - to me that was not enough fluid into tranny) did not know that it needed to be checked while running will go and check it.

Would it surprise me that he is dogging it no not in the least.....I think replacing the axles had to do with him playing in it. But my concern is that now that he has started college and doesn't live at home he will be stranded....well he is anyway because the car is here.... but he drove the car the 45 miles home and only made it 44 miles...

ok so I need to check the fluid

change the filter?

anything else?

drive it til I am stuck somewhere? lol

I appreciate everyone's help

[karenuhl]

Is there anyway that where the front axles go in that it got damaged and that is what is causing the problem?

[moondawgy]

first, you gotta check the tranny fluid when the car is off.... read the manual but make sure u have the car warm before shutting it off and checking the fluid (u have to check it 1-2 min after u shut off the car). the 94 civics dont need special honda fluids as the 96+ models needs them. if it's standard, it only need 10w30, and dextron III if it's automatic. your civic also takes about 1.5 - 2 L of tranny fluid, so u werent low the first time around.

check the tranny stick if it looks chewed up. if it were, means u're not putting the dipstick back correctly and it's being chewed up causing the metal fillings to fall inwards. if that happens, u prob need ur tranny flush.

if u just bought the car, shouldnt it still be under warranty??? i would go back and complain unless u bought the car "as is". no use buying a car and then pay to fix it.

p.s. u said ur son "floored" it testing it out, r u sure he's not redlining the car out? if your tranny is just "sticky" try some slick 50 manual trans additive, it would kick in a day or so after u put some in.