I recently bought a v6 coupe to use as a dirt track car. When I bought the car I knew the transmission was not right so I got it cheap cheap, $300 cheap to be exact. The previous owner stated that he was going down his driveway and the car just stopped as if he slammed on the brakes and that the car would not move in any gear. He got his uncle to pull him to the house, down the driveway, and listed it for sale. When I went to look at the car the PO put the battery on it and if fired right up and the engine ran as smooth as you could please BUT the engine wouldn't rev past 2,000 or so rpm in all gears and sounded like it was under a load when revved.

I bought the car, winched it on the trailer, got it home and put it in the shop on stands to start diagnosing the problem. I started by looking at all the solenoids and making sure they ohm'd within spec, which they all did. The trans fluid was brownish red and had a hint of burnt smell to it. I started messing with the solenoids (plugging in and unplugging) when the trans was in gear and engine running. After a little while of fooling around with the solenoids and running the gear shift through all of the gears , I got some movement out of the wheels. I changed the trans fluid three times (drain plug magnet was covered with a layer of fine metal on initial drain and less and less the other two times) and got the transmission where it would put power to the wheels in all forward gears and reverse.

Took the car out for a 2 mile test drive and the trans was shifting through the gears, not perfectly but it was shifting on its own. The drive was cut short when I turned off in a driveway and proceeded to pull out on the road and the car came to a complete abrupt stop, of course in the middle of the road, just as the PO had told me what happened to him. I got my neighbor to come pull me back to my shop. I put the shifter in N, with engine running, while being pulled and everything was fine. I dropped the shifter back into D, while being pulled, and noticed a light grinding noise and the car acted like it was trying to slow down so I put it back in N and went back to the shop.

I got the car back on the stands and now back to square one. Engine turns over and starts right up and runs perfect. In Park the engine wont rev past 2000 or so rpm and sounds like its under load, Reverse = same thing as park, Neutral = same thing as park, D4 = same as park, D3 = same as park, 2 = same as park, 1 = same as park. All solenoids ohm within spec, pressure switches ohm'd within spec, and solenoids come on and go off like they should in each gear. When the car is in neutral, with all four tires on the ground and engine off, and I rock the car back and forth I can see the engine and trans torque up each way and the car is hard to push even on level ground. It's acting like a manual transmission that's stuck in two gears. I haven't been able to get the trans "unstuck" like I did when I first got it.

The obd codes were hard to follow due to me unplugging and plugging back in the solenoids, pressure switches and speed sensors. I am leaning towards just ditching this trans and going with one from Pull A Part (I know the reputation with the 98-02 trans and if i go the salvage yard route I'll probably go with the one with the least amount of shavings on the drain plug magnet). I really dont want to risk this trans locking up on me during a race but if anyone has any insight or has had the same problem and its a stupid simple fix come on with it! Thanks for the lengthy read!

 

It's say clear the codes with your scanner and see which codes return. Just based on your description, I'll guess the fault is not an electronic component and something internal in the transmission. Swapping in a used or rebuilt transmission is likely the fix.

You can also purchase a shop manual for your accord from automanualsource.com for $22. You might find some hydraulic pressure tests for different ports. I still suspect the transmission needs replaced.