Hello,

I have a 2002 Accord 4cyl Engine and Auto Transmission with 140k. The transmission was rebuilt about 2 1/2 years ago at about 115k miles by the previous owner's mechanic so I'm not sure if they replaced the torque convertor or not. About two months ago my wife started smelling an occasional burning smell coming from the engine after driving it.
Then about 6 weeks ago the CEL came on. It was a 740 code. The mechanic initially reset the code and told me to come back if it comes on again. It did a couple days later, he said it was fine to drive in the mean time until he could take a look at it again. I didn't tell him about the occasional burning smell and it wasn't smelling burnt at the time.
The transmission didn't seem to have any issues at that time shifting while driving. Last week I was driving on the highway and after I exited the transmission started reving really high before shifting late into second gear I presume it was. (This was the first symptom other than CEL) After a few stop lights it would not shift into gear at all. I restarted the car to see if it would shift since I was blocking the intersection and it shifted into 1st gear and started going and then slipped out of gear and I coasted to the side of the road and had the car towed to my mechanic since it would not shift into gear after that.
The Mechanic found that the transmission fluid was very dirty so he flushed the transmission and reset the code. He drove it around on highway and streets and the code didn't come back on.
I drove it afterwards for about 20 miles mostly highway on Saturday and noticed it shifts into gear a little more abruptly then it used to and not as smooth. On Sunday I drove it on 2 short trips, and then on about a 20 mile highway run. After exiting and as I got close to home it twice reved high before shifting into a higher gear while in heavy traffic crossing a bridge.
My mechanic doesn't rebuild transmissions or torque convertors, they only will replace the whole assembly. Was wondering if this sounds like a problem that would require a complete new transmission or just the torque convertor? If it's just a torque convertor I'll have to go to another mechanic for the job.

Thanks,

 

Without tearing apart the transmission, it is hard to tell the problem. I hear many explanations of why the 98-02 transmissions had such problems.

I would find a reputable place that re-manufactures the Honda transmission and have yours swapped.

 

OK Thanks for your input.