I have a 1992 Honda Accord LX (US made) with a four speed automatic transmission, model APX4. When I select reverse, there is an awful grinding noise with no engagement. Initially the transmission would engage reverse gear then violently pop out, followed by the grinding noise, followed by the engine revving way up. After performing a whole litany of maintenance; including a complete rebuild, the transmission still does the same thing when reverse is selected.

I removed and opened up the transmission to find nothing loose, bent or broken. The fluid was dirty but there were no metal shavings in the sump. The shift fork was neither bent nor broken. The splines on the reverse selector, reverse selector hub and the countershaft reverse gear appeared to be in great condition: no burrs, chips, etc. I was able to manually operate the shift fork shaft/servo valve while rotating the countershaft. Everything felt smooth: no binding or dragging. The ball dentents were in good condition and held the servo shaft at its respective shift positions.

I bought a rebuild kit, completely disassembled the entire transmission, (including all the valve bodies), thoroughly cleaned everything with brake cleaner followed by compressed air.

Although I replaced all the O-rings, none of the old ones were broken or exhibited any signs of damage. The bore in servo body was smooth (like a mirror finish) as were the bores in the accumulator bodies. I replaced all the clutch fibers but not the steel plates. The steels all appeared to be in good condition. I dusted them off on 400 grit emery cloth on top of a true flat steel plate. Their respective thicknesses all measured within spec.

Upon reassembly I used the official Honda service manual for this transmission. I am a stickler for detail and double checked everything as I went along. I am also a strong advocate of using a torque wrench. I bought a remanufactured torque converter and prior to installing it, filled it with about a two quarts of fluid. I flushed the cooler out with clean fluid prior to reconnecting the lines then refilled the system with Honda transmission fluid. The filter was replaced in the rebuild process.

I inspected the four solenoids and they all seem to be okay. Their coils were within spec (12 to 24 ohms). All four energize when hooked up to a car battery.

Someone posted a good article about a problem that occurs with Honda Transmission Control Units from this period where one or two particular board resistors burn up as a result of failed electrolytic capacitors. For the heck of it, I opened the case of mine and found one burned out resistor. I carefully removed and replaced the resistor and five electrolytic capacitors with new ones of the same values.

The last thing I did was raise the car, disconnect the shift cable from the lever at the transmission and operate the lever manually with the engine running only encounter the same noise in reverse. This was to determine whether the cable was stretched or binding. It wasn’t.

In a post-rebuild road test the transmission shifted great in all forward gears. My son commented that it shifts better than ever in forward, so I suppose my efforts amounted to something; just no reverse.

So, even after all this I am right back to the original problem: that awful grinding noise with no engagement. My brother, who was a Honda technician for over 25 years, said that he never encountered this problem in all his experience. A professional transmission shop wants anywhere from $1200 to $1800 to fix this transmission. I only paid $1000 for the car for my son and cannot afford to replace it at this time.

I would be most grateful to anyone who can offer any guidance that would help me resolve this reverse problem.

 

I assume you have no TCU codes, since you don't mention any. IF D4 light is flashing, these codes need to be downloaded and addressed.

There is a symptom-fault chart in the Honda shop manual. Have you cross referenced your problem? My chart addresses "ratcheting noise when shifting to reverse" w/ numerous suggestions to investigate. Were these investigated during rebuild?

good luck

 

I have the exact same problem with my 1992 Accord LX. Today was the first day reverse wouldn't engage, but it has been sporadically making the noise and jerk for some time. You caught me right before I pulled the tranny...

What did you find was the problem? Thanks!!!

 

trannys broke...cheapest way since it's already out is to find one in a salvage yard with some kind of warranty, usually 7-30 days.

 

Craig, the problem turned out to be damaged internal spline teeth on the reverse selector ring and damaged spline teeth on the underside of the reverse gear. If you look at the internal spline teeth on the selector ring and the external spline teeth on the underside of the reverse gear, their ends should look somewhat like saw teeth. The ends should be sharp. If they are rounded over, then they are damaged. I missed this the first time around until an expert pointed out this detail to me. I was fortunate enough to find a local repair shop who happened to have the parts I needed and sold them all to me for about $100. They came out of a used transmission but they were in mint condition. Not to discourage you but I discovered that the reverse gear (new) is no longer available. I went to a local Honda dealership and they couldn't find one at all. I ended up replacing the reverse gear, selector ring and shift fork (this was worn on the sides that ride in the groove of the selector ring). You may do what I did and call around to a few local transmission repair shops who specialize in Hondas. After I completed the repair and got it all back together that tranny shifted into reverse like brand new and has been good ever since. So what caused this damage? Answer: shifting into reverse while the car is still in motion. Also rocking back and forth as when you get stuck in snow or mud. This car is my 20 year old son's. He doesn't take care of anything. I read him the riot act about abusing this car and let him know that if there is a next time with this particular abuse he's out of luck. Please keep me informed as to how you make out on this and if I can be of further assistance.

 

A+ to HYDRALUX for follow-up.

Please stay around the forum, we need peeps like you.

 

Thanks for your response. In my search for answers I found the following which is the most accurate and insightful information I have found on "our" problem. I will have my transmission apart soon. This bulletin: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/PE...442_accord.pdf
makes me think you repaired your problem in two stages. The first was to fix the primary cause (sticking servo or 4th clutch) with the rebuild. Then you repaired the secondary problem - damaged gears - the second time in. I will have to hand it to you for perseverance! Craig

 

Craig,thank you for your kind words. You are correct in that I went at my attempt to fix the problem in two stages. In reality, I had to put the transmission twice. The second time was a lot easier though. Also, the first time was a total overhaul the second time was just a replacement of the reverse gear parts. If you are going to go at this I would suggest that you inspect the fourth gear clutch fibers and steels. I found that one of the fibers was worn out. Also, if the steels warp from overheating and the clutch drags you will have problems.