Auto transmission problem

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... imagine that the fluid change it had before you bought it was the first fluid change it had in like 100k kms, and replacing all fluids so they were fresh was a sneaky way to make it look like it was maintained...

Heh... the 6 year old tyres on the car was a good clue it's been a bit neglected of late!!

[Jasemas]

Hope you got it cheap

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Hope you got it cheap

Yeah, under 3K so didn't do too bad.

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Ahoy, just a quick update...
Not looking good, i'm afraid. Currently tossing up between a 2nd hand tranny ($400 parts only with 3mth warranty), or just biting the bullet and forking out to have mine completely reco'd. Either way it's gonna cost me almost as much as the car (but warranty will cover some of the cost). The dilemma is 'cheap fix, sell car' (which i am morally against anyway) or try to keep this one going... ARRGH! >

[Jasemas]

Whats happening with the tranny now?
Is the car a DD?

[Brumm]

Whats happening with the tranny now?
Is the car a DD?

DD? Dead Doornail? haha.
Well, after yet another trip back to the dealership for something unrelated (so far it's been the air intake hose, dodgy battery, leaking PS pump, spark plugs crapping out... awesome, right?), hopefully the next step is to take it to an auto trans place, so they can assess roughly how much life it has left. Dude there seems pretty honest and helpful.

Transmission dude told me that replacing fluids won't solve the problem of a clogged filter (which is the root cause of the slipping and sticking), so save my pennies for a bigger fix. It's still the original transmission, so it's done ok to last this long i suppose. Bad timing for me though!

Once i know roughly how long i have till it dies, i can figure out what i can afford. Sadly, i've put in too much already to just write it off, but don't quite have the $$$ for the reco just yet.

Considering this was a serious design flaw (that i didn't know about), i fail to see why Honda didn't address it earlier. Seems most of the 90's models are affected. I just don't know if it's a 'luck' thing, a symptom of neglect, or just a matter of time. (Hence why i don't want to spend all my money on the gamble of a 2nd hand tranny)

[Jasemas]

DD? Dead Doornail? haha.
Well, after yet another trip back to the dealership for something unrelated (so far it's been the air intake hose, dodgy battery, leaking PS pump, spark plugs crapping out... awesome, right?), hopefully the next step is to take it to an auto trans place, so they can assess roughly how much life it has left. Dude there seems pretty honest and helpful.

Transmission dude told me that replacing fluids won't solve the problem of a clogged filter (which is the root cause of the slipping and sticking), so save my pennies for a bigger fix. It's still the original transmission, so it's done ok to last this long i suppose. Bad timing for me though!

Once i know roughly how long i have till it dies, i can figure out what i can afford. Sadly, i've put in too much already to just write it off, but don't quite have the $$$ for the reco just yet.

Considering this was a serious design flaw (that i didn't know about), i fail to see why Honda didn't address it earlier. Seems most of the 90's models are affected. I just don't know if it's a 'luck' thing, a symptom of neglect, or just a matter of time. (Hence why i don't want to spend all my money on the gamble of a 2nd hand tranny)

DD - Daily Driver
The only design flaw with the 89-99 4 Speed Hondamatic is that the filter is not serviceable unless you pull apart the transmission and rebuild it
The most probable cause is that it has worn out/clogged filter and bad particles getting into the gears
Now.. before you blame Honda on a 'serious design flaw'
Was your car's Transmission services every 30,000kms like it says in the logbook?
If not, then it's the last owners own neglection and maybe yours for not doing the service earlier
The transmission in our car's (of this particular generation) are pretty reliable
When you reverse and put it into D4 without stopping - Bad stuff happens
When you floor it when it is not warmed up - Bad stuff happens
When you put the wrong ATF in - Bad stuff happens

What im saying in regards to Daily Driven - is if it isn't you can put it aside for a while

The 5 speed Automatics release in 99 - onwards are rubbish

Regular servicing/maintenance and no abuse will keep these transmission Kosher
You cannot expect a car of almost 20 years to be perfect in the engine/transmission area
I'd suggest changing fluids and see how you go
Have you looked at the TCU? - transmission control unit

[Brumm]

DD - Daily Driver
The only design flaw with the 89-99 4 Speed Hondamatic is that the filter is not serviceable unless you pull apart the transmission and rebuild it
The most probable cause is that it has worn out/clogged filter and bad particles getting into the gears
Now.. before you blame Honda on a 'serious design flaw'
Was your car's Transmission services every 30,000kms like it says in the logbook?
If not, then it's the last owners own neglection and maybe yours for not doing the service earlier
The transmission in our car's (of this particular generation) are pretty reliable
When you reverse and put it into D4 without stopping - Bad stuff happens
When you floor it when it is not warmed up - Bad stuff happens
When you put the wrong ATF in - Bad stuff happens

What im saying in regards to Daily Driven - is if it isn't you can put it aside for a while

The 5 speed Automatics release in 99 - onwards are rubbish

Regular servicing/maintenance and no abuse will keep these transmission Kosher
You cannot expect a car of almost 20 years to be perfect in the engine/transmission area
I'd suggest changing fluids and see how you go
Have you looked at the TCU? - transmission control unit

Ah, Gotcha. DD. Yeah, unfortunately it's my primary mode of transport.
I figure i'm reaping the rewards of a previous owner that took no interest whatsoever in the car, and therefore did as little as possible to keep it going. I've only had the car 2 months, and so am still getting to know it.
I went with Honda because everyone i have spoken to said that they're reliable and well-built cars.
Despite all the problems i've been having (and continue to have) i certainly still love my car when it's having a 'good' day. And i've been lucky in that my car dealership has been kind enough to replaced all the faulty / failing parts with no cost and minimal complaint. (Should have done that 1st time, though!)
I don't expect a high-performance car for what i paid (+ 20 years old) but i do expect it to work... in the sense that a dealership should not sell a faulty car and claim nothing is wrong.
Anyway, i am aiming for the reco tranny (after weighing up the options), because personally i prefer to maintain and repair for surety, rather than replace and hope. I haven't looked at the TCU. Can you give me some more specific info on that?
I am booking in for a service in the next few weeks, so hopefully they can tell me whether it's worth fixing, or if it's a dud.

[Brumm]

Update time:

So took the car to a Honda service place, and got them to check out the tranny. They told me the same thing as everyone else... that it needed a replacement transmission. Dammit.
Anyway, i decided to check for error codes, just out of interest. (Why i didn't do that earlier; i don't know.) It came up with an error code for the TCU. So i replaced that with one from the wreckers. Ran the error codes again, and this time got errors for both of the sets of solenoids. So back to the wreckers, and pulled off a set of those. I reco'd those while i kept driving round, and chucked them on. That was a bit of an ordeal; had to take off a bunch of radiator hoses, as well as the air intake hose and the fan that sits over the radiator.
That fixed the flaring problem. Huzzah. Next port of call is why the car seems to decelerate sometimes until finally picking up power. But i think there's something iffy going on with my fuel pump, so the fun continues.

[Fredoops]

next thing thats gonna go are the clutch plates.

[Jasemas]

Just buy a new auto transmission from the wreckers and be done with it mate
Or go manual

[Phanta]

Ditto. 94 VTi. Shit tranny, if I "try" to shift @ 2 - 2.5k but it struggles to accelerate and just holds it there. Got a mind of it's own and shifts @ 3k for it to keep up with traffic. Downshifts way too hard when accelerating out of corners and jerks when it shifts, so gotta ease off on the throttle when it's gonna shift. Managing 9.4l+ conservative driving.

Driven a 98 2.2 Camry accelerates and shifts smoothly and effortlessly @ 2 - 2.5k. So it's why I'm trying to get it to shift @ that.Not worth touching the tranny IMO when the car's only worth 2k. Nice looking car, shit tranny & air con.