Please forgive me, as this may be a long post, but I will shorten it as much as I can.

2 Years ago I bought a 1990 Honda Accord LX from a long time associate of mine. He was the only owner and it had around 130K miles on it. I have all the service records for the car. He took it to the same shop for years.

One day I was driving and my transmission starting freaking out, I was in a lot of traffic. The car wouldn't run in 2 and 4th, but I realized while trying to get the car back home I could manually shift it from 1st to 3rd gear.

I had it towed for them to replace the computer. I payed in excess of 600 for the part and labor. I picked the car up and the 2nd day I had it, my transmission wasn't working again. I parked the car and called them, they said that perhaps it was my transmission (well, my father owns a shop states away and had sent me a rebuilt transmission with less miles than mine and we put it in in another shop and it had the same exact problem) I took it back again, they said it was the computer (same shop) I get the car back and same problem all over again. it was actually acting up on the drive home, I don't know how on earth they test drove the car without the problem. The sports gear light comes on and flashes after it's warmed up. I keep driving it to the gas station in the evening to keep the battery up to par. Tonight I tested it yet again and If I stay in 3rd or overdrive it will not shift properly and slips out of gear, yet manually shifting to 1st out of a dead stop -- and then to 3rd is fine.

I have had to pay for this repair twice. I am at the point I want to fix the thing myself. It's a good running car. If anyone has any questions, let me know. I've read what transmission threads have said in the forum, and I almost think they have been resetting my computer and leaving it be. The car honestly just acts as if it doesn't know which gear it should be in.

Also, when starting the car:

No lights come on at all, no D4 and no S light. The S light only comes on if I've let it warm up and driven it a bit and it flashes. The first time I had the problem it was solid when it came on. Every time I've taken it and paid them to fix it, it's gotten worse. This time I wanted to do a bit of research before dropping it off again. I feel they should fix it properly, or give me my money back.

Thanks, I am just so frustrated! Please help! My father is in Ohio and I'm in NC, so I can't take it there in it's condition.

-Stephanie

 

sounds like that whomever is working on the car may be using the same shift solenids and torque converter which may be the source of the malfunction and not the transmission or the TCU.

 

Thanks for your reply... Would that be expensive to replace? I have a feeling when I take it back yet again, they will want to charge me and say it's something else just so I will have to pay them again.

Heck, last time I had it in they wanted to sell me a new battery, resurface my rotors, and put in a new main exhaust fan. All the while the car cannot really be driven anyway with the transmission acting up. I still don't think they even test drove the vehicle.

 

MOST SHOPS IF NOT ALL HAVE A 1 YEAR OR 12K MILES WARRANTY ........

if they did the work less than that and you are still having the same issues and you paid them in full, they should do the work under warranty and not charge you..
I would take it back and POLITELYDEMAND that they fix it free of charge ....

 

Yeah, perhaps. They do have a warranty, however the last time they said they fixed it and it happened right away again, when I called they claimed it was probably my transmission. All they will do is make something up and say it's something else so they can try to charge me. I've gotten so paranoid I want to take pictures of everything under the hood and mark it somehow. They may just say.. "it's possible both your transmission and computer went out at the same time"

The car isn't worth putting all this money into, especially when I can't even drive it. I'm tired over getting screwed over. Sometimes I feel since I'm a woman they can take advantage of me more thinking I'm a complete idiot when it comes to cars.

I'll call them and let you all know what they say this time, it's probably the same exact thing they said to me a year ago about it being the transmission itself. I was so pissed, I let the car sit for a year (I had the car in 2 different shops for months before I took it to them trying to get it fixed)
It's been a nightmare.

 

You may want to try a honda dealer the next time.They usually know hondas better than your average mechanic because theyve seen the same problem over abd over with these hondas

 

You can get the trans code and post it here if you'd like, check the link;
http://members.troublecodes.net/hond...ice%20conn.jpg
Instead of watching the CEL you can watch the 'S' light and count the blinks.
A common sign of a bad Trans Control Unit is the S light or D4 will stay on if you turn the key to the on position. It should come on for the unit self check and then go off.

 

Thanks for the input, but I had the car in the shop by then... On my way to drop it off the check engine light came on... the transmission was getting so bad not shifting, I didn't think I would make it there. That was also the first time the check engine light has come on. I had the owner go with me to test drive the car and he stressed that the car had not done that when he had driven it and it seemed my transmission was losing pressure and it wasn't a computer problem. I then asked him why I had payed to put in 2 different computers the past 14-15 months, and each time the car didn't work properly when I got it home! He really didn't give a straight answer.

Well they called me to let me know the reason the transmission was having the problem this time was because the computer has a bad connection and was a bit loose. (hell, the had just put it in days prior for the 2nd time) I stressed to him he should probably drive it quite a distance to make sure, as I couldn't believe how anyone there could have driven it that past 2 times I had it worked on since there was still obvious issues.

Now, here's the new additional problem... He says O2 Sensor is causing the check engine light. 350.00 to replace it.

Each time i have had the car in there, it's gotten worse. Keep in mind there was not one problem with the car before the original transmission problem where it only worked in 1st and 3rd gear. Since the first time I had it there, I have driven it 2 days and it's been almost a year and a half now since then.

Doesn't this sound fishy to anyone else? I am at my wits end! Sorry it took so long to respond. I was waiting on them to call after I heard what they had to say.

Again, thanks everyone who took the time to reply

-S

 

You need to take your car to a reputable place that specializes inHondas - even a Honda dealership - to obtain a reliable diagnosis.

Once you have that diagnosisin hand, and ifit is indeedsomething that the first place supposedly fixed (I hope you stillhave the receipt), you can then go backto the first place and demand that they fix it under warranty or return your money (considering their record so far, hope and pray it's the latter). If they refuse, then, afteryou get the car fixed at a place that knows what they're doing,you must go tosmall claims court to recover your money.

Good luck. You're going to need it.