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Comments
Mrbill
I've never took it into the mechanic as phone quotes to "crack the case" was starting at $1500 just to get into the tranny. The dissapearing 5th gear occured 3 years ago - and i've never had an additional problem with the transmission since. I simply drive it as if it was a 4 speed.
Im also extremly curious to know if anyone has resolved this 'broken 5th gear'..and how they fixed it. The car has too many miles on it to spend thousands to fix one gear (it's at 309K ) and drives great still!).
The constant power wire is now powerless and the electrical switches for the A/C, INside air circulation-outside air circulation, and fan vent switches (defraust, vent, heater, hi-lo) do not work (it is stuck on vent). There must be something common electrical to the radio and the fan air direction switches (fuses fine btw) -but what??
thanks for any help or ideas. Perhaps a box or relay on the fuse panel was blown? or some unknown fuse under the dash? help )
me thinks the best way to do an aftermarket radio is to get the proper wiring harness / connector for the vehicle. nobody cuts and wraps these days do they?
get yourself familiar with the fuse box locations and visually check them all. use a VOM meter on Ohms if you want with the fuse out. a VOM / multimeter can be had at a autoparts or Lowes or HomeDepot for very little money.
next time, use a VOM to check for power.
still, you don't want to be grabbing at any wire to power your device. there is a circuit for it. better to go with a harness.
p.s. look online for a wiring diagram or in a Haynes/Chilton manual.
Glad to find this forum. Recently bought an 89 DX. It's in amazing shape except for a couple issues.
1. When starting from a stand still car will stall. It does end up going but I do not take any chances when merging into another road. It has a carb. I have checked the vacuum lines and changed the air filter.
2. Trans shifts very hard. To the point where you here it "clunk" into gear. It will also seem to staty in some gears to long.
3. Is it normal for the radiator overfill container to have boiling hot water in it after stopping. I have literally heard it bubbling. I did have the radiator flushed because of brown sludge in it. It did the boiling thing before and after the flush.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Rich
Older Honda autos always shifted very "firm", but if you think it is abnormal, you might get the transmission flushed...it isn't cheap though, so I don't know how badly you want to get the transmission running smoothly again.
Did you check the PCV valve? Mine actually lost the ball inside, which caused a big vaccuum leak. The valve is on one end of the upside down U shaped line under the front bracket for the air cleaner.
Mrbill
Next question: If it is gone, what trannies can I put ito it? Must it be from an accord and of the same year? Does anyone know what is interchangable without modifications?
Thanks
Deb
It has to be a true honda dealership center. Not a "We carry parts" but more like "We are a honda dealership"
As a fair warning. The part is not cheap at all but they can get it (I got one and it was about 156 dollars.)
I tried rewiring it also and it did not help. Unless you know how to soder chips you are basically stuck with getting a new one.
It warms up in under 2 minutes so I wouldn't really worry about it (or basically after your fan turns on twice it is totally warmed up).
Mine even idled low. So i tweaked the screw a tiny bit to get it to idle at 500-700 rpms and have had no issues since.
Mrbill
Thanks
Deb
I didn't have any of the oher problems you mentioned. But for the bubbles in the radiator overflow, there may be a leak in the system that is letting air in (and pressure escape, thus the boiling water). I would check the radiator cap first.
Good luck. Mine was a good car--I sometimes wish I still had it.
All i know is when i added even a little coolant, the bubbling stopped. Also, a local radiator specialty company suggests only distilled water in with the coolant, due to the different metals, it will protect much longer and better, without the corrosion.
Jeff
Thanks,
Jeff
I have an 89dx that has a squealing water pump. I have flushed the radaitor and the water pump is new. It squeals when you first start it...usually after sitting overnight or all day at work. It stops after about 2 minutes. What causes it?
My guess is one of your drive belts is a little loose.
Mrbill
I just got my tansmission serviced (oil change) a few days ago and told the mechanic there that on the highway going 100km/h.. probably around 60mph, that the car sounded like it was changing to a higher gear and back constantly, even though it was already in 4th.
He adjusted something so the car would hold the gear it's in for longer. Now the car changes gears at higher revs and also jerks a bit, however on the highway it stays in "5th"... which I also found out was some kind of converter, not an actual gear. It used to change gears at much lower revs but was smoother... perhaps you can get yours adjusted.
That's your torque converter, most conventional automatics come with them these days.
It's just a bit of a hassel and I'm wondering if anybody else is experiencing this and what they did about it.
(#2)Has anybody noticed that Honda ball joints wear out fast?
(#3)Does anybody own an accord that has gone through more than 1 engine rebuild? How long do they last? According to my grandmother's records (excuse the pun).. mine recieved a new head gasket after a mere 85k miles and soon after a new ring & piston set. That was 9 years ago, when it was 11 years old and it's showing signs of needing a new engine soon.
It sounds and runs smoothly and economically, however it's using about a qart of oil per 600 miles or a litre per 1000km. With 5 people and A/C... the engine can barely move it. The compression must be pretty bad and I've found there's no point in using a lower gear up hills or to overtake, as the car loses speed. After 2.5k revs, the power doesn't really increase. It reads about 170'000 miles now and I'm just wondering how much might be left.
I'm very interested to know how other accords are running at the moment and how they go after a rebuilt engine. I know this car is getting old and I can't expect much more, but my car fascinates me.
Thanks a bunch for your input!
One more thing! I was wondering how high the manual revs in 5th gear at say 60mph. The auto is about 2.4 k.
Here's an explanation from "howstuffworks.com:"
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling, which allows the engine to spin somewhat independently of the transmission. If the engine is turning slowly, such as when the car is idling at a stoplight, the amount of torque passed through the torque converter is very small, so keeping the car still requires only a light pressure on the brake pedal.
If you were to step on the gas pedal while the car is stopped, you would have to press harder on the brake to keep the car from moving. This is because when you step on the gas, the engine speeds up and pumps more fluid into the torque converter, causing more torque to be transmitted to the wheels.
In addition to the very important job of allowing your car come to a complete stop without stalling the engine, the torque converter actually gives your car more torque when you accelerate out of a stop. Modern torque converters can multiply the torque of the engine by two to three times. This effect only happens when the engine is turning much faster than the transmission.
At higher speeds, the transmission catches up to the engine, eventually moving at almost the same speed. Ideally, though, the transmission would move at exactly the same speed as the engine, because this difference in speed wastes power. This is part of the reason why cars with automatic transmissions get worse gas mileage than cars with manual transmissions.
To counter this effect, some cars have a torque converter with a lockup clutch. When the two halves of the torque converter get up to speed, this clutch locks them together, eliminating the slippage and improving efficiency.
This "locking-up" is what feels like a final shift or an "extra gear"; this makes your RPMs lower and improves your fuel efficiency.
In reply to my sqealing water pump and boiling overflow...I replaced the radiator and everything is working great. I put 400 miles on the old car this weekend. Running like a champ...or atleast like an old honda with a 2b carb.
Rich
I called the place that fixed the fuel pump and they thought it might be the vacuum hose, but it was something he had never heard of before. Any help? Thank you.
Lately, feel a more noticable slip during first upshift when accelerating. Not consistent, maybe every 9th, 10th acceleration. More often at first start up in AM but not consistent there either. Just dumped a good amount of money into vehicle in hopes of making it last another 100K.
Any advice on what do do? Called Honda Service Advisor and they said "no major problems with that transmission / 108K miles. Usually would get a light indicating malfunction. Make sure fluid correct level" which I did...
Any advice would be appreciated - am I on a slow boat to transmission failure?
Thanks
Thanks,
BNicck :confuse:
So far, I have replaced all belts and the fluid is up to the full mark. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am poor college student who does my own repairs and I would like to know if it is something I can fix on my own. thanks a bunch
The clicking is a failing CV joint. A complete axle isn't that bad to replace, and rebuilt units are well under $100
Mrbill