Hello,

I have a 1993 Honda Accord LX that the transmission is stuck in 2nd gear and will not shift into any other forward gear no matter which of the 4 gear numbers I put the selector into, D4, D3, 2, or even 1. When I start the car the P and D4 lights are continuously illuminated and no matter which gear I put the stick in, the D4 light remains illuminated.

I've been doing a lot of google searches trying to figure out what the problem is and I found this site which told me about the known bad capacitors and resistors in the TCU. I replaced the capacitors first, and here's the wierd thing. When I started the car after replacing the capacitors in the TCU, it ran absolutely fine, shifted through first thru fourth absolutely perfectly... until I shut the car off and restarted it, when it reverted to stuck in 2nd gear. I replaced the resistors next, and it repeated the above. I've since tried disconnecting the TCU and/or the negative battery cables but has not had that effect since.

I've priced a rebuilt TCU at about $170 or so and replacement shift solenoids about $150 each (ouch) but I'm rather hesitant to spend that kind of money until I'm absolutely sure it's the only way to fix this issue. I did try to pull the codes from the TCU but I've been unable to locate the 2pin connector I need to short to get them.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. This problem first manifested about.. oh, a year and a half ago, but it started out with the transmission stuck in 3rd gear and I could force it into first by shifting the selector into 1, but 2 thru D4 was all 3rd gear.

 

Check your AT w/ the following link. The 90-93 Accords are prone to TCU failure. This should help confirm failed TCU.

Honda Electronic Transmission Problem- Troubleshoot, Inspection, Repair, Replace.

good luck

 

Welp, I fixed it. At least for the time being. I looked up salvage yards and went to one that had 7 '93 honda accords, only one of them still had the TCU in it but it was a 4 door EX... I didn't think it made that much difference whether it was an EX or an LX I pulled the replacement from. It cost $35 from the salvage yard. I brought it home, stuck it in my car, and the transmission started working perfectly again. Shifts into all the right gears, but it's a little sluggish.. probably since it's EX vs LX. It'll work until I can get the old TCU rebuilt, assuming you think that's recommended.

 

I would guess your Check Engine Light is on and a VTEC fault stored. This would cause the car to run in "protected" mode and RPM is limited. However, this may be OK until you can get your TCU repaired.

good luck