ok, i got a 94 lx with a automatic. when i was driving this home today, it wouldn't shift from 2nd to 3rd. after a little research, i found that the at fluild circulates in the radiator for cooling. now i understand that i will have to replace the rad, but the question i have is, will this take care of the tranny if i change the fuild, or am i going to have to replace or rebuild the tranny? i have tons of honda exp. but not with thier automatics.

 

Replace all the AT fluid. This requires continously draining fluid from the AT trans fluid supply line to radiator(disconnected and routed to drain bucket) while adding trans fluid to the reservoir, or intermittently draining/filling about 1/2 qt at a time. Coolant in AT is not good and should be replaced w/o further driving. You may have to experiment to determine which trans fluid line to radiator is supply.

You could also get an AT shop to perform a complete drain/refill.

good luck

 

well ok, so i ordered a new rad today, so i am not to worried about the trans supply line as i will just blow out the lines with commpressed air. now i am wondering if any of you ever had this problem and if so how much damage was done to your tranny?

 

also thank you texashonda for your responce

 

It's not the trans supply lines that are the problem. It's the 4-5 qts of contaminated AT fluid in the torque converter that can't be drained via the drain plug. This AT fluid must come out as I described to avoid potential damage to trans. The coolant would dramatically change the clutch friction and could cause damage to clutches.

good luck

 

Have you read what he wrote texas honda?... all he described was that the tranny fluid was going through the transmission cooler that in hondas is built into the radiator (OEM stuff)....

He then described his problem....

What you need to do is get a complete fluid exchange, do not do this is there is over 100,000 miles on the car, if there are greater then 100,000 miles on the car do drain and fills every other oil change around 4 times.

There is no need to order another radiator that is not the problem at all... your tranny is just on its way out probably because of clutch packs.

 

From his description, I inferred that coolant had contaminated the fluid. I agree he needs to clarify if that is the case or not. However, a bad radiator would have no affect on trans, except if coolant was leaking into the trans. That's why I responded as I did. I agree that changing the radiator will have no affect.

regards

 

Yeah he should clear this up, i can see what you mean... It does sound like he put coolant in it according to the title...

OP: Can you verify the information and save your money on the Radiator, it will be useless.

 

i put the fuild in the rad, from there it seaps into the transaxles. i have stated that i am not at all familiar with automatics in honda. here is what i have done today.
i drained the atf as much as i could from the tranny (discolored and a little foamy). i refilled it back up. then i check the rad and it was a little low, so i topped it off. and for good measure i checked the oil the make sure coolent was not present.
so i take the car for a little drive around the block (i live in the sticks, so around the block is 8 miles) just to heat things up a little. as soon as i get the car home, i check the atf level right away. it is way up over the full mark. next i check the coolent level and it is low again. with the car running i top the resivor up with water and run the engine, but do not drive it. everything is fine. i will not drive it any further bc i do not want to damage the tranny any more then what is allready been done.
now with what little the haynes manual has told me is that the atf cirrculates somehow into the radiator for cooling, and that the is some sort of leak is causing coolent to seap into the atf fluid causing problems in the tranny. if i am wrong i am sorry but that is the way i interpeted in the haynes manual. i do really appreciate your imput so far.
so my question is is the haynes manual correct, and if so, changing out the radiator would be good bc if i have the tranny replace or rebuilt, wouldn't the sme problem occur?
also, i will try and clarify my origanal question. i guess what i want to ask is, have any of you ever encountered this problem, and if so, how bad was the tranny damaged?
one more thing, i have owned over 20 hondas (i am a civic guy, but i did once own a 85 accord) and all have been 5 speeds. the only reason i have this car is it was free (not exactly, i know i am going to have to put money into it) whereas if i were to buy it i would seek out a 5 speed. after driving this car home, i have decide not to part it out, but to keep it. i loved the way it handles and it is really comfy.

thanks again for your imput.
jon

 

From your description coolant has entered the trans and only source of coolant is the radiator ATF cooling loop. Replacing the radiator is certainly indicated.

My earlier statements stand. Replace all the ATF in the trans. It would be a good idea to "over replace" until you get absolutely pristine ATF returning.

How much damage? I doubt anyone can answer. This is an unusual problem. Probably caused by extremely poor (none) maintenance of the cooling system; very old coolant probably very acidic. This would suggest you might expect problems in other areas; heater core, water pump and coolant passages.

Sounds like a real "fixer-upper".

good luck