Hello all. Well I nearly killed my AT moving from VA to TX and now it's sort of limping along, and I want to know if I can swap it for the AT out of a '96 Prelude. My Accord is a 94 EX, 2.2l Vtec F22B1. I'm not yet sure of the Prelude's details.

History: When I bought the Accord last year it had 170K(maybe more, no speedometer/odometer) and shifted rough, so I did several rounds of draining & refilling it w/ Honda ATF and it seemed to be doing very well, despite a some gook on the drain plug magnet. I had the engine's main seal replaced before I left and apparently they filled the AT a quart shy, which I never bothered to check because I trusted them. I found out about it being a quart low about 1,000 miles into the trip, when it started bucking and not wanting to shift at a truck stop. Long story short I threw a bottle of Lucas treatment in there and finished the trip successfully, and have been driving it to and from work(24mi) daily ever since, although I did another refill/lucas when I got to TX.

Most days it does fine but others when I do more around town/stop & go, as it heats up it starts hiccuping and not wanting to shift into 1st or 2nd. It doesn't default to Neutral or anything but it feels like something's suddenly holding it back when I take off at stoplights, like I've engaged the emergency brake or something. The only other thing I could possibly imagine this being is a clogged catalytic converter, which I have dealt with before and it seemed to manifest itself as tranny troubles initially. Despite a full tune up including O2 sensor it actually gets crappy mpg - 15 in town & 18 hwy. Which is another problem I've been chasing for some time. So I'm not ruling out a clogged cat just yet, and it would also explain the bag mpg, but I don't see why that would only show itself when I'm doing more around town driving/when things are heated up. Also it should be noted that the D4 light hasn't been illuminated at all since I bought the car about a year ago.

Long story short I'm preparing myself for the idea that this is the AT taking it's final breaths, and from what I've read a rebuild isn't the best option, and considering the age & condition of the car, a salvage AT might be the ticket. I found a salvage yard near my home that has the AT from a '96 Prelude for $250. Are these AT's compatible?

Thanks in advance!

 

I think that you should do some diagnostics before doing a transmission swap. Did you use Honda ATF when doing the fluid change?

Check for D4 codes. I think there are some TCU codes that do not cause the D4 light to turn on. This is a quick test and my lead you to a solution. You also may want to adjust the throttle cable going from the throttle body to the transmission. There are links in the common diy thread on top of the gen tech help forum for checking codes and downloading a 94 shop manual that will help.

Also, unbolt the shift and lockup solenoids and clean any gunk out of the screen and the solenoid.

The TCU or maybe the ECU could be the problem, because more posts of cars of that vintage have been showing up in these forums. It wouldn't hurt to pull the TCU and look for any signs of bad capacitors, burnt resistors, etc...

I think that swapping the transmission using an identical transmission takes a lot of variables out of the repair. Check out car-part.com and sort by price or distance to get an idea of the cost for a 5th gen transmission in your area.

BTW, welcome to Texas. Where did you move to in Texas?

 

PAhonda -- Yes, Honda ATF throughout. Even the shop that did my main seal used Honda fluid.

I always assumed I couldn't access any codes because the D4 light has never worked altogether. It hasn't been illuminated since I bought the car.

I read about that throttle cable adjustment and it seems taught enough, although I'm not totally sure, it's sort of subjective from what I was reading.

The TCU/ECU stuff definitely seems feasible, not only because of the car's age and that it seems common - but I later found out that before I bought the car it sat undriven for a year or two in the sun(it's also painted black), so all of those variables alone sorta made me shudder to think of how many cold/cracked solder joints I may be dealing with throughout the car based on the weathering it's seen. I've definitely already had my fair share of leaky seals to replace. Almost everything rubber or plastic has dried up, hardened, cracked, and leaked.

And thank you! I'm just outside of Austin.