A little problem?

[JTM]

So tonight I was heading out to the movies with a buddy of mine in my 91' Accord Lx Auto w/ 101k. It was driving fine and the car has driven fine since my purchase a year ago until today. I was driving on a long main road that has no bumps only little inclines and my car just started to struggle, at some points I almost had my foot to the floor and it was only going about thirty. I checked my guage and the oil was fine car wasn't overheating. It seemed as if the Transmission wasn't engaging, but when it did it did almost nothing. Like I felt it upshift but nothing propelled me. I got to my friends house parked it and took another car to the movies.
I then got back about three hours later, the car ran fine all the way home? any Idea. My friend said on his Ford Escort something similar happened and it was the Air filter or something.

Any insight on why this would just happen? and then be fine? could it be low tranny fluid IDK. (cant check its night).


And also there was a check engine light on but im not sure if that was from starting the car(it hates to start normally in the cold, I don't think its a bad CEL just too much gas getting pushed before it fires up). So please help.

AS always thanks,
JTM

[Losiracer2]

So tonight I was heading out to the movies with a buddy of mine in my 91' Accord Lx Auto w/ 101k. It was driving fine and the car has driven fine since my purchase a year ago until today. I was driving on a long main road that has no bumps only little inclines and my car just started to struggle, at some points I almost had my foot to the floor and it was only going about thirty. I checked my guage and the oil was fine car wasn't overheating. It seemed as if the Transmission wasn't engaging, but when it did it did almost nothing. Like I felt it upshift but nothing propelled me. I got to my friends house parked it and took another car to the movies.
I then got back about three hours later, the car ran fine all the way home? any Idea. My friend said on his Ford Escort something similar happened and it was the Air filter or something.

Any insight on why this would just happen? and then be fine? could it be low tranny fluid IDK. (cant check its night).


And also there was a check engine light on but im not sure if that was from starting the car(it hates to start normally in the cold, I don't think its a bad CEL just too much gas getting pushed before it fires up). So please help.

AS always thanks,
JTM

When was the last time you did a trans fluid change? or have you done one at all since you purchased it? Check the condition of the fluid via the dipstick, and see what color it is....also smell it, and if it smells burnt, then I'd suggest a couple drain and refills w/ Honda ATF to get all that gunky dirty/burnt fluid out of there. That would be a good starting point I'd think. Just to get a baseline of what condition your trans is in.

[southsidecb7z]

When was the last time you did a trans fluid change? or have you done one at all since you purchased it? Check the condition of the fluid via the dipstick, and see what color it is....also smell it, and if it smells burnt, then I'd suggest a couple drain and refills w/ Honda ATF to get all that gunky dirty/burnt fluid out of there. That would be a good starting point I'd think. Just to get a baseline of what condition your trans is in.

auto trans. fluid always smells burnt does it not?

[PUMASTi]

Find out what the check engine light is about.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...&highlight=CEL

[batever]

. I checked my guage and the oil was fine car wasn't overheating.

For your future info, if your car is stock (no add-on gauges), the temperature gauge is for coolant temperature as sensed at the temperature sending unit on the engine, It is not an oil temperature guage. That's good to know.

one question: you wrote that the car was going maybe only 30 mph and you had to floor it to keep it up to speed. When you floored it did the engine rev real high, or did the engine struggle and keep the same engine speed?

That would be important for a diagnosis.


I will agree with the others, first thing is to check the transmission fluid.
If it's burnt, drain the old stuff out (normally preferably when the tranny is at operating temperature, but since you're having this problem I'd say it might be a good idea to drain it cold, then fill it. If you do it hot like you usually would when changing the ATF, watch out for the hot tranny fluid).

If it was really burnt, I'd say run the car for a week with the refilled ATF, then drain it again hot and refill it again with fresh ATF to get as much of the old burnt crap out as possible and replaced with nice fresh new Honda ATF.

Refill with Honda ATF ONLY.

Also yes, check out the engine light. You can read the code off the ECU and it will tell you something about what's going on.

Hopefully it is simply a problem caused by low or old automatic transmission fluid and will go away after you drain and replace the fluid.

good luck

[JTM]

I don't remember actually looking at the RPM's. I do know that the car was just struggling. It wasn't over reving.

[J-specCb4]

check the auto kickdown cable as well... id say the car just didnt downshift and was struggling, much like when u drive a manual car in 5th gear at low speeds....

id say its the tcu or the kickdown cable being out of adjustment or something silly.... have u installed an intake or anything around the throttle body recently?

[JTM]

Can someone show me a DIY on how to flush/change the tranny fluid? I've used search and got no such thing. Is it easy to do? I can change my own oil but that's about it mechanically. So I'll need to know where the bolt is, how much to add, and what exactly is flushing. Thanks guys.

[JTM]

check the auto kickdown cable as well... id say the car just didnt downshift and was struggling, much like when u drive a manual car in 5th gear at low speeds....

id say its the tcu or the kickdown cable being out of adjustment or something silly.... have u installed an intake or anything around the throttle body recently?

No, totally stock.

[cvc7chris]

Can someone show me a DIY on how to flush/change the tranny fluid? I've used search and got no such thing. Is it easy to do? I can change my own oil but that's about it mechanically. So I'll need to know where the bolt is, how much to add, and what exactly is flushing. Thanks guys.

hope you fix your problem and
but maybe it's your TCU

my friends car had semething like that
it wouldn't shift out of 2nd or 3rd gear
and struglled all the time until he replaced it
x2 on the DIY Auto tranny flush and fill (i need to do this on my gf's cb7)

i've done manual flush before

[batever]

Can someone show me a DIY on how to flush/change the tranny fluid? I've used search and got no such thing. Is it easy to do? I can change my own oil but that's about it mechanically. So I'll need to know where the bolt is, how much to add, and what exactly is flushing. Thanks guys.

flushing is just that--draining the old fluid out as much as possible. To really do it thoroughly you have to have the tranny at running temp so the fluid is thinner, and you also might have to run fresh fluid through it. Hence the suggestion for doing this job 2 times to thoroughly flush.

It's one of those jobs that should be easy but instead it's somewhat tricky.
because of where the fill and drain hole are located.

Since it sounds like you don't do a LOT of work I'll dwell on some safety basics, no offense.

I have a manual tranny, so I don't know the auto procedure but it's similar.

i would download a manual from the site and take a look at the transmission section, it will show you how. Then scope out your own vehicle after reading this to get a sense of the geometry required to do the job.

I like to take the right wheel off just because it makes it easier to get in and out, but it's not necessary. If you want to remove the wheel and don't know how to get it on and off properly, write back in.

you need a jack and jackstands and blocks for the rear wheels. A bottle jack will work fine if you don't want to spring for a floor jack and a cheap bottle jack will last longer than a cheap floor jack if you're on a budget. They are a little more inconvenient to use though. Hammer the wheel blocks in good with a 2x4 and use jackstands up front. Get a drain pan for the oil. If you have a nice unstained driveway, I would suggest a BIG pice of cardboard (4' or 5') or plastic on the ground to catch the nearly inevitable spill.overflow, or you can get what I have which is a 3x4 foot shallow metal drain pan with a 1" lip all around--nice!)

just using carboard is fine tho.

the hard part will be undoing the drain bolt and the fill bolt. you access them from the right side of the vehicle, they are roughly behind the right wheel.

jack the right side of the car up and put it on jackstands, then do the same on the left side so the front of the car is level. block the wheels thoroughly, then try to push the car forward and back while standing to the side of it (push an the A pillar right to the left of the driver's seat while the door is open. If the car did roll, it would move fast so keep body parts out from under the car until you know it's secure) to see if it is secure. Now put the parking break on for good measure. ( you can use a 2 foot lengh of 2x4 on the side rail of the car just behind the jacking point to put the jack head on, that will keep the side rail from bending when you lift the car. That's how I always do it on my car--others may not. That will leave the jacking point free for you to put the jackstand on once the car is lifted. Place the jackstand, then lower the vehicle onto it. Again, once the car is lifted and on two stands, check to make sure it won't roll at all when you press hard forward and back on it. BEcause If you are exerting force on the vehicle with a wrench or whatever when you are under it, you want to make sure that it wouldn't have the smallest chance of shifting/ pushing the car off the jackstands. Having a friend nearby is always best of course in the event that something happens, but I've always gotten by on excessive caution and paranoia.

Ok, enough with that, sorry to be so pedantic but I want to make sure you know that stuff.

now the vehicle is lifted and when you are on the ground you will be able to access the bolts--they will be facing the right wheel (you'll need a diagram). the drain bolt I believe you just put the square end of a 3/8 inch ratchet or breaker bar in and turn counterclockwise. It will be difficult to turn if my car was any test. You might want a short length of pipe to put on the breaker bar/ wrench to give leverage. Just break it free, don't open it yet.

Then also break free the fill bolt which will be like 5 inches above the drain bolt, and is an actual bolt head--maybe 15mm? but I don't remember. Use a six point wrench on it if possible, 12 points might start rounding the bolt if you have to crank on it.

again, just break it free, don't remove it.



Ok, now remove the drain bolt and watch out if the tranny is hot, the stuff can shoot out in like a near- horizontal stream. . adjust your drain pan accordingly and be ready to slide it closer as the stream quickly slows down. I would suggest wearing gloves for this part to help protect your hands from hot oil.

put the bolt back in i believe to 33 ft-lbs--TIGHT if you're just feeling it by hand and don't have a hand torque wrench. The torque doesn't need to be exact, just in the ballpark for this. 33 ft lbs means 33 lbs of force exerted on a 1 foot lever, or 16.5 pounds on a 2 foot lever. If you didn't know. The manual will give the suggested torque level, so check it.

Now the harder part of this job--finding a way to get the new tranny fluid in.

A long flexible nozzle is usually necessary to reach it from above.

once you get the manual and see the diagram and find the bolt on your car, see if you can find a funnel that has a long flexible hose on the end that will fit in the hole. If you can't find one, you can try this: I think a 1/4 inch internal diameter tube would work you can get it at the hardware store. GEt maybe 4 feet of it. If you look in the HOnda manual it will tell you the actual bolt diameter size so you can see how small the outside diameter of the tube needs to be. you can duct tape it securely to a funnel and it should work for you. then you can thread the hose down thru the engine compartment and to the tranny fill hole, while filling the tranny from a standing position.

Fill up! I believe it's maybe 2 quarts. check your manual. put the bolt back in.

Drive.

That's an outline of how to do it. There may be details as to which gear to be switched into with an auto, the manual will say that part.


good luck and if you have more questions ask.

[JTM]

Thanks Alot! I might just take it to a Honda Dealership. It shouldn't be more than a hundred right?

[batever]

I would estimate 80-100 dollars to flush the tranny. Will save you a lot of time and potential mess.

But if you're going the "pro" route, just tell them the whole story first and ask them to diagnose it for you. Be very detailed as to the exact thing you experienced. Ask them to drain and flush the tranny as part of it, as you don't know what condition or age the fluid is. Then have them call you with the info if they diagnose anything further.

good luck.