Hey everyone.

I have an automatic 2001 Honda Accord EX V6 with about 148,000 miles on it. I keep it well maintained and had the transmission "rebuilt" (so they tell me) about 17 months and 15,000 miles ago.

The past few weeks whenever I start the car from a cold start and shift from Park into Reverse (passing Neutral), the car will jerk into gear and then get going.

When I let it warm up a bit, 50% of the time it does the jerking and the other time it doesn't or to a much less noticeable degree.

I was told that one or more of my engine mounts is broken/faulty by a mechanic some time ago, not sure if it's true or not or how I would even check. Wasn't sure if it's a transmission fluid problem either.

Any thoughts on to what could be the problem and if it's something I can look at myself to maybe narrow down what the problem is or is not?

Thanks for your help!

 

Check the mounts.....can we assume they inspected the car and came to this answer. Or did they give you an answer based upon your description?

 

How would I go about checking the mounts and how many are there? Are they just in the engine or the transmission as well? Sorry, I'm a novice when it comes to this stuff.

 

My way, need someone you trust. Open the hood and have your helper in the drivers seat. Brake on, have them shift the car to R, rev slightly as you watch for engine/trans to move. The have them shift to D and do the same....this is where the trust comes into play . Again you are looking for large movement/rocking front to rear or the other way around (rear to front) of the engine/trans.

There are like four total (?). Usually the front or rear...both....are the ones that give out based on the "twisting" motion of the engine/trans.

I'm hoping this is a mount issue and not an internal trans issue...so testing is needed.

 

Yea good advice ^

I think it is 4? One on the rear which is complicated and hard to replace. One on the front, which is non load bearing and is relatively easy to replace then two? on the sides???

 

There's 5 mounts on the V6.

Front & rear are both vacuum-operated (#5 & #6 in the picture). I don't know how either of them can be "non-load-bearing", because they're both needed to react the engine's torque. The solenoid that switches the vacuum is #12.

One at the "front" of the engine (#7), which is alongside the right-front fender.
Two smaller ones (#2 & #3) towards the end of the transmission, alongside the left-front fender.

 

Ah yes, I missed the V6 point. The front mount on the 4 pot is mainly for vibration isolation, not load.

 

I'll check the mounts today and update. If it's not the mounts, any other thoughts as to what it might be?

 

black magic? Small earthquakes? acts of god?

or maybe its a strong wind gust.

on a more serious note, I'd bet you have a bad engine mount, if it is not that then it could be a solenoid issue in the transmission.

 

I suppose the action of the vacuum-operated mounts on the V-6 is kinda like on the 4-cyl. They go to the "soft" condition when the engine is idling and the transmission is in Drive or Reverse.

So when you check out the mounts, you might want to watch for anything goofy happening when you shift from Neutral to Drive. Also check them to see if they hold vacuum. Got a Mity-Vac?