[Citka]

My 88 Auto makes nasty noises when it is cold. When I shift from a drive gear to a non drive gear (D, S, 2, R to Park or Neutral) it makes a TERRIBLE grinding noise....but ONLY when it is cold.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there a solution other than a trans rebuild or replacement?

Thanks.

-Furball

 

[Nate90LegendLS]

The only noise i will ever hear is an occasional click when i go between non-drive gears and reverse.

 

[jessealan]

My does this to when it is cold. I just warm it up for a minute in the winter. I was told not to worry about it because it is the way the tranny is designed. As long as it shifts good and your fluid is clean your fine. It is an annoying sound though and It it bugs me during the winter. No weird sounds in the summer though.

 

[legend88ls]

I have the exact same problem, and for years. It has not affected the integrity of the transmission, but I always wondered why and never got a straight answer. Some people think its a clog from a hardened seal that becomes partially unclogged when the seal warms up. It could be a maladjusted or sticking shift cable, or bad tranny fluid circulation when cold due to sludge or gunk build up in the syncro gears. It may also be a badly worn rear engine mount (some call a tranny mount). I've tried removing and cleaning the solenoids, flushing the tranny and replacing with Honda ATF, but these things have not worked for me. I still will attempt to fix the other nagging issues shortly....

It will happen when the engine generally idles at above 1100 RPMs or so. Once the idle comes down, the shift noise is much less apparent. I usually let the engine warm up for a minute or two, longer during the winter, less during the summer.