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Need help with mysterious tranny issue

868 Views 10 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Neveragain55
Ok Gang,

I guess the dreaded tranny issues have finally caught up with me.

I have a 94 Legend LS Coupe with roughly 162.000 miles that I’ve taken meticulous good care of. I never hammer her (that’s what the bike is for) and I have about an hour commute back and forth to work each day that I always do with the cruise control set at 75 mph.

I change the engine oil every 3 thousand miles religiously but I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t changed the tranny fluid at all since I bought the car three years ago.

The previous owner took even better care of the car than me and I’m sure he changed the tranny fluid at least twice before I purchased the car.

Lately she’s been acting really funky when I exit the highway. I come to a stop, and as soon as I start to take off she jerks really violently and slips a little before she catches. Note she only does this when I come off of long stretches on the highway, once I’m in city driving, she’s fine…………… until tonight.

Tonight she started rumbling intermittently from the transmission while going down the road at about 45mph and I believe that whatever was causing the violent jerking at the end of 70 – 75 mph runs on the highway has evolved into something worse.

I was planning on getting the fluid changed by a reputable transmission shop that I’ve used in the past but I think the problem has graduated into something more sinister.

I read through a lot of post’s and I did a lot of research but I haven’t seen this same issue so I’m hoping one of you have some experience with this and can steer me in the right direction.

As always, thanks………….
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It sounds like it may be time for a new transmission but before jumping to that is the CEL on or D4 flashing?

Also what's the condition of the fluid. color smell?
Neither one of those lights are on, and the fluid level was full & the color wasn’t burgundy the way fresh fuid would be but it wasn’t black either.

The fluid didn’t have a "burnt" smell to it but of course none of that will tell us what’s going on with the filter.

I’m hoping a simple fluid change & new filter will solve all the problems but my logic tells me it’s something a bit more serious.

I dropped her off tonight at the transmission shop and after they do a diagnosis I should know for sure what’s going on by tomorrow evening.

I‘ll post everything I find out, as I’m sure it will help other’s that may be going through this and it will give all of us that much more insight regarding these tranny problems.

Thanks Big Boy, you’re the same cat that helped me with some other issues a while ago, good looking out man…….:thumbsup:
I'm happy to help, it's not recommended to do a power flush on our cars. Please make sure not to let them do that!

It is recommended to do a drain, flush and refill. There's a DIY on the process. Also don't use The new Acura/Honda fluid. (it's to thin for our cars.)

It is now recommended to use Castrol Import synthetic fluid. (thanks for the tip Matt.)
Thanks Big Boy, will do.............
Prognosis from the transmission shop…………….nothing wrong with the tranny.

The mechanic took the car out for an 8 mile test drive and the car didn’t display any of the symptoms that I had explained.

The owner of the shop explained to me that chasing down intermittent tranny problems are very difficult to do unless owners make a log of exactly what the car is doing, when and how.

He also explained to me that the best thing to do would be to try to get the car as close as possible to the shop and bring it directly in while the issues are happening so that they can properly diagnose the problems.

Apparently our cars weren’t equipped with the OBD code reader in 1994 (which is the year of my car) so the owner told me that it’s next to impossible to tell exactly what’s going on without one.

I asked about changing the fluid and he explained that because of how the transmission works and the function of the fluid, it wouldn’t affect or change how the transmission currently operates (no beneficial gains to changing it)

I asked about a possible dirty filter and he explained to me that in that model year car a dirty filter would completely bind up the transmission so he believes the best thing to do would be to leave it alone since it's not bound up.

The shop owner ended the conversation by telling me to log everything the tranny was doing, and “if possible” get it into the shop the moment it was behaving weird, otherwise – drive it normally and don’t worry because he seems to feel its fine.

I’m no tranny expert but I’ve been around and wrenched on too many cars the last 32 years to know when a transmission is having issues. Either what I’m experiencing is normal for these cars and I’m reading too much into it, or the owner of the tranny shop is off his rocker.

Stumped on this one
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Our cars can't be read by the scanner which is true, he how ever is wrong on the filter and fluid change.

The DW1 which replaced ATF-z1 wasn't intended for our cars. (to thin) I'd follow the tranny flush DIY and swap to either the Castrol Import synthetic ATF or look on ebay for the ATF-z1.
Well she was perfect coming into work today but I’m still not satisfied that everything is ok so at the very least I will do the fluid change as outlined in the DIY you suggested using the fluids you mentioned.

I’ll post back in a week or so and let you know of any changes or improvements.

You know…..this is my fourth vehicle made by Honda and the second automatic, and I gotta be honest here….

Honda can’t seem to make an automatic transmission to save their lives (IMHO):confused:

My mom had an older accord that was riddled with transmission problems, my 86 Accord had tranny problems, and I know quite a few more people that owned Honda’s with automatic tranny issues.

Look on consumer reports and almost all Honda models have some sort of transmission glitch.

Their standard transmissions are fine, but Jesus you would think they would have their act together by now as far as their automatic transmissions.

Ok, I’m done, just had to get that out…..:grumble:
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The real problem with any transmission is proper maintenance. If the fluid isn't changed when required it causes all kinds of issues.
I hear ya, and your definitely right...........

I sure hope that once I change my fluid all of my issues will go away....
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