Hello everyone. I hope I'm not posting on a subject that has been flogged to death in some other part of the forum. I did read the "read this first" sections and tried to do some searching before posting a thread. Several weeks ago my mother had her 1995 Accord LX (4 banger) in the shop as the air conditioning wasn't working. They tore the entire dash apart and replaced the evaporator. When she got the car back, she noticed it was shifting 1500 rpm higher than it ever had before, and the shifts were very hard compared to the smoothness she had come to expect after 15 years with the original automatic transmission. I came up for a visit, and drove her car finding the same results even with a gentle application of throttle. After some searching around various Honda forums, it seems that we got terribly lucky and actually have a decent transmission in the car. I also found some good info on resetting the ECU. I pulled the Hazard light fuse for a couple of minutes, then reinstalled it. I let the engine idle with all electrical systems and A/C off for 10 minutes to let the ECU "re-learn" the engine parameters, then took it for a gentle test drive letting the transmission work up through all four gears. The transmission definitely responded better, but the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts still cause a noticeable forward jerk in the car. I also notice this in the first 5 minutes of driving the car before it is warm. My question to the guru's out there would be is there any connection between the air conditioning system and the transmission? I know that's a stretch, but are there any temperature controlled valves, solenoids, etc. in the transmission that could be affected negatively if someone did a lousy job in the evap swap? Any vacuum actuated parts I should check hoses on, or mounts I should check for wear and bolt torque? At this point, I'm open to any suggestion. My mother has 130K miles on this car and plans on driving it till she's in her grave (which will be a while) and I want it to feel and perform like she expects it to.

 

Did you check the fluid level for the trans?

 

couple of things......
First off there is no need to take the entire dash apart ( as you put it ) to replace the evaporator,, if a shop did that , they did not know what they were doing,, i would stay away from that shop

Second.. i cannot think of a connection between the 2 ,, but than again i got no clue what they got their hands on.. I would do as Kris suggested ,,first chk the fluid..

 

Checked the fluid twice (warm engine/cold engine), and it is touching the full mark on the dipstick, and looks clean. I was changed within the last few months. The place my mother took her car to was the local Honda dealership.

 

BTW, I've also advised my mom to stay away from that dealership. They told her there were no way to pull codes on the engine or transmission in a pre OBD II vehicle. Apparently they don't have a paper clip and the ability to count a blinking light.

 

No offense,,,, but i find it hard to believe that a Honda dealership would say that......Unless it was a service adviser that told her that , and again no offense to any service adviser out there but some of them all they are is pencil pushers and sales persons.. ,..

you might want to have the tranny checked out ,,if it was ok before the evap job and acting up right after, you might want to have those guys take a look at something that they might have done ,, but it could also be a total coincidence

 

Mom took the car back to them the day after they did the evaporator because she knew the moment she drove the car that it wasn't right. They test drove it and told her it felt just fine to them. I could grant them that if they had never driven the car previously, but mom has had 15 years with that car and knows it intimately. That certainly can set some expectations. I haven't discounted at all the possibility that something simply broke at the same time something else was being fixed.

 

Is there any chance someone added some trans fluid? I have the same car and had to add a quart of trans fluid but the parts store no longer had the “Dextron 2” I flushed it with year ago. One quart of the current just for Asian vehicles made the shifts much harder like night and day. I had to top it off after a Radiator change.

 

Kris, thanks for the insight. Does anyone know what the Honda equivalent of Dexron II is?

 

Your 1995 would probably work best with genuine Honda ATF from the dealer.