2002 honda accord A/T solenoids

[The_Jeff]

Talk to me about what shifts what in this car. Just got it. 2.3 Vtec 4, 4 speed auto.

140k miles, 2002, oil is full but getting brown. Have fluid on the way.

Sometimes is slow to go in reverse.

Is often caught off guard going from 2nd to 1st, like slowing down for a stop then re-accellerating. Seems like a solenoid hanging up. 1-2 shift also shudders occasionally. Doesn't flare, shifts firm, if not rock-hard. Rest of shifts are good enough. Hot or cold.

Seems the "solenoid C" is the highest suspect, but I'm seeing a lot of 2-packs of solenoids vended for this thing.

Ideas?

 

[pbm]

I had a 2001 Accord and those BAXA A/Ts were troublesome. Honda extended the warranty to 7 years/100K for that reason.
I don't know if the solenoids were the reason but I think t was just a bad design....I once read that Honda tried to 'smooth out' the shifts for American tastes and that's when the problems started (earlier Honda A/T's shifted firmly but were problem free)..

 

[The_Jeff]

https://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/honda/2.2L-2.3L/how-to-test-solenoid-B-and-C-page-2 again implies C. Part ordered. Will report back.

Owners manual calls for the "Z fluid" which was dino and hated by all. DW1 is its replacement. I've got a gallon of Castrol Transmax Import coming for 1.5 drain & fills to go along with this.

 

[Hall]

I had a '99 Accord and it had a flare between the 1-2 shift and it was slightly more pronounced when warm. It was also very RPM-dependent and I could actually avoid it or make it worse if I thought about it while driving. I replaced (2) shift solenoids (threaded type) with no success and also cleaned the screens on the bolt-on solenoids. Determining which solenoid, the A or B or C or whatever controlled the 1-2 shift or 2-3 or 3-4 and so on was a lost cause. Sooooo much conflicting information...

 

[meep]

I think my accord was a 2002 with the 2.3. It was a good, solid car. The 2.3 leaves a lot of room for wrenching too, and the hood is laid out very nicely. Mine had 1-2 shift flare but didn’t give any other trouble. There is no filter in these. the shift quality can be modulated using LG black in a dexron fluid. The more LG black added, the softer the shifts become.

the weakness in this transmission was not really revealed in 4 cylinder use due to the lower torque output. Seems like it was a shaft which involved 2nd gear, maybe an intermediate shaft? i wonder if this item is scuffed/worn a bit.

a magnefine filter would be a great addition here. And perhaps going with a thicker ATF and LG black to retain the shift quality. I used Mobil 1 synthetic ATF (dex III equivalent) with LG black in mine. It lost 1-1.5 mpg doing this, though became surprisingly quieter.

I hope yours is not the failing shaft. This is one where if it was in a v6 application, I believe they added a squirter onto the shaft thru the dipstick hole, sourced from a port somewhere else. Might be worth seeing if you could add one on.

 

[The_Jeff]

So the solenoid didn't do it. Things were looking dire-- I "confused" the transmission by braking sharply from 4th gear to 2nd then accellerating, even made it miss all the gears and dump into neutral. (I was bedding a new set of brakes.)

Through desperation I put 7 oz of Lubegard Red in there. After driving 10 miles it cured practically everything!

I still get a little shudder if I brake rapidly to 5 mph then hit the gas hard again. It takes time for it to "find first."

And the 1-2 shift sometimes has two distinct things happening... not a flare though.

I disconnected the battery hoping to start fresh with shift adaptives, if it's smart enough to store them. But that disabled my radio. But honda has a free website that gives out radio codes! Sweet!

LG red= the cats meow! The Castrol import ATF works well too.

 

[ctechbob]

Just keep an eye out for a rattle/whine in park/neutral. That's what sunk the 4 speed in my wife's 2000. I should have taken it in when I first noticed it, but we kept using it, eventually, the bearing that was making the noise let go and ruined the case. I knew the thing was going to have to be rebuilt, but I did have to pony up for a new case since the old one was ruined.

 

[spackard]

Some discussion of the Acura TL 6cyl AT:
https://acurazine.com/forums/third-...tion-my-transmission-builder-tl-721508/page2/

What he said is that it starts slowing down and of course instead of failing on the high line pressure/hard shift side, it fails on the low line pressure/slip side. The ones that he showed me that had failed looked extremely clean.

The way it was explained to me is these sensors were added to achieve soft shifts. They monitor many times a second how long it takes for one clutch pack to release (in miliseconds) and how long it takes for the one that's coming on to apply. The goal is to have one clutch pack applying right as the other one is releasing for a soft shift. Line pressure is based off of these inputs as well as shift timing.

When you experience shudder, that is a clutch pack slipping when it's not supposed to. It takes very little slipping to burn one up. It's not like a manual where it's made to slip. Just a second or two is all it takes to ruin an automatic clutch pack. If anyone is experiencing shudder, you should not drive the car until you replace the sensors.

When you ride in a performance car and you notice the firm shifts, that's not to make it faster, it's to make the transmission live longer.

Then, a good writeup at http://www.brisdance.com/Honda/AT3rdClutch.html
and http://www.brisdance.com/Honda/AutoTrans1.html

You can spend the weekend reading that website. I know it's for the 5AT in the V6, but some is applicable to the I4.