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It is in an Acura CL 3.0 with auto trans.
The 1 – 2 shift is kind of harsh. Not horrible but I can feel it. 2 – 3 is sometimes that way too but not as hard. D4 light is NOT flashing but does work.I had the same problem on my 99 cougar with the 1 – 2 shift but it was harsher and ran that way for 18,000 miles at least. In that case there is a band that eventually lets go, causing 2nd gear and OD loss.
So with the acura, what part(s) cause the hard 1 – 2 shift? SHOULD that shift be seamless or am I just being paranoid? If something does fail, what would happen? Just lose certain gears or stranded? Even if there IS a problem, is it even possible to get lucky and it would still go for a few thousand miles like that?
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The 1999 had problems up to 2005 which was a redesign.
what happens is the clutch material breaks down and starts
clogging things. Unless you get a specific code which may
not help. All you can do is try changing the fluid and refilling
with Honda fluid. actually the harder it shifts the less clutch
wear. Unless its really hard/obnoxious.How many miles? The four
speeds has a little less problems then the 5 speeds.http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-transmission-problems
1. run can of Transtune by Seafoam in transmission for about 500 miles, and change ATF
2. Add ample amount of Lucas ATF treatment to new ATF. Substitute 1 for 1. As in add 1 qrt of Lucas vs 1 qrt of ATF.
I can almost guarantee you better shifts.[quote=”college man” post=112340]The 1999 had problems up to 2005 which was a redesign.
what happens is the clutch material breaks down and starts
clogging things. Unless you get a specific code which may
not help. All you can do is try changing the fluid and refilling
with Honda fluid. actually the harder it shifts the less clutch
wear. Unless its really hard/obnoxious.How many miles? The four
speeds has a little less problems then the 5 speeds.[/quote]Mine is a 4 speed automatic. BTW the car is a 1997.
The car has 261,000’ish miles but I have no history on service, as I am the new owner.
It is not “obnoxious” like say a failing CD4E (ford contour automatic) but it is not seamless. I am just trying to gauge if I am overly paranoid. New car jitters?If its a 1997 you are good. obvious with the mileage. 🙂 The cars up to
1999 did have a harder shift and people complained. so a softer shift was
deigned in 1999 which was a failure due to making the trans slip more for
that softer shift. which wore the clutches. In short the harder shift is
normal. You may want to change the fluid or drive it until it dies.I appreciate the feedback.
College Man –
That does make sense about the harder shift being less hard on the clutch packs. I guess the piston activates and the clutch grabs quickly so there is less drag on the frictions/steels.I do have a basic understanding of how transmissions work (even worked in a shop years ago) but the Honda ones are beyond my scope.
On a side note – It isn’t much secret that Hondas and Acuras are two favorite cars of “The Fast and the furious” wanna-be crowd. I wonder how many failed trans are a result of some kid trying to race one too many 5.0 mustangs?
Kind of the antithesis of the used Buick that Grandpa drove only to and from church and his doctor’s appointments. And never drove over 35 mph. You don’t much hear about THOSE transmissions falling apart. “The slow and the sickly” don’t kill their cars.Young people have endless energy. Combine that with the select ones born with natural mechanical ability and they can do amazing things to their cars. I remember a youtube video where a young man casually mentions that he has converted his Civic to AWD.
So it’s none of my business (and they run MANUAL transmissions on heavily modded cars in those movies) but I am simply curious – why would you rather consider exquisite failure scenarios, instead of doing simple cleaning and relubricating of your transmission? Is it “too simple” to consider? As I drove 91 Civic basically on Lucas, and she got me everywhere and did 38mpg.
Like I said, none of my business. It’s just strange, how folks tend to prefer complicated causes over basic maintenance. But it’s not just you, most folks in forums are that way.[quote=”ukrkoz” post=112496]…why would you rather consider exquisite failure scenarios, instead of doing simple cleaning and relubricating of your transmission? Is it “too simple” to consider? As I drove 91 Civic basically on Lucas, and she got me everywhere and did 38mpg.
Like I said, none of my business. It’s just strange, how folks tend to prefer complicated causes over basic maintenance. But it’s not just you, most folks in forums are that way.[/quote]With an automatic transmission routine maintenance is definitely a good thing. But what if you find yourself in the possession of an AT that has had enough miles put on it to get to the Moon, and never had the fluid changed? You may be surprised at what happens after you flush the fluid and run your can of
snake oilSeafoam through it. There’s a very strong possibility that you’ll now be in possession of a non-functional transmission chalk full of brand new ATF.[quote=”ukrkoz” post=112496]…Why would you rather consider exquisite failure scenarios, instead of doing simple cleaning and relubricating of your transmission? Is it “too simple” to consider? As I drove 91 Civic basically on Lucas, and she got me everywhere and did 38mpg.
Like I said, none of my business. It’s just strange, how folks tend to prefer complicated causes over basic maintenance. But it’s not just you, most folks in forums are that way.[/quote]Not too simple to consider. The fluid looks decent. Just trying to get an idea of things.
My last car was a 99 cougar and the trans crapped out on that one so maybe I have an anxiety hangover. Plus hearing about honda transmission probs is ALMOST as common as hearing about Liz Taylor’s latest marriage is in trouble.Digging a bit deeper, it seems the 97’s didn’t have as many problems, even considering they are so old that probably no one bothers complaining.
Why people imagine the worst and post about it on a forum – Usually if it’s a serious problem is when they seek advice. Not something like the cigarette lighter not working which is a small problem unless you are a smoker like me and your Bic lighter is out of fluid.
So since the fluid in the trans looks alright for now, I will probably quit worrying so much
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