Hi guys, I'm new here and have a couple questions maybe someone could help me out with

I have a 99 honda accord ex v6 (automatic trans) 161,000 miles. I just bought the thing from a street dealer about a year ago at 150,000 miles, it was in decent looking shape, only thing about it before I bought it was it had been sitting for awhile, like maybe a year, and wasn't driven ..
now my question is when I got it, he mentioned that the transmission might be bad and I had noticed it shifting late and hard at times but figured for $3000 it wasn't a bad deal - now almost a year later and it's still running however the shifting has gotten progressively worse and it's now noticeably clunking into the next gear (only the first few gears seem to have the most hard time shifting). It's kinda like a delay shifting but it clunks when it shifts... i really have not enough money to replace the transmission but is there anything I could add to the transmission fluid to make it any better or prolong the life as I rely on this car heavily... I stopped at autozone and one of the clerks suggested that I pour some lucas transmission fix into it and he mention that I don't have to drain the fluid, just pour and go, will this over fill my transmission fluid level??? is this any good?

Also allot of people say that if the transmission is in bad shape that a transmission fluid change might not be a good idea since the fluid that is already in there is adapted to the worn transmission and new fluid might not settle well?? could I just do a transmission fluid change and treatment.. i'm so scared this thing is going to quit on me i'm desperate at this point

and it does seem to shift better once it has warmed up like a good 20 minutes or so but if you drive before then it's like really loud clunks to the next gear

anyway any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

Draining the fluid and refilling is worth a shot, because 3 qts of honda fluid will run about $25. A new/used transmission is much more expensive.

If the fluid helps out, then you can repeat two more times, because you only drain ~1/3 of the fluid out each time. The rest is stuck in the torque converter.

I don't buy into the old fluid has adapted to the transmission.

 

Auh ok, thanks

so it wont hurt it to trans change? is there a specific kind of transmission fluid that is good for honda's? and also can I use the lucas trans-fix stuff or is it bad? is there a recommended treatment that is good for Honda's ? aslo whats the best oil for high mileage Honda's? Thanks

 

I'd use Honda ATF (from a dealer). It IS different and people have told stories about transmission problems that get better with that fluid. That said; it's fluid, it's not magic. If something is really broken, fluid won't fix it. But it's worth a shot.

Honda automatic transmissions don't like to be power-flushed. Drain & fill is the thing to do.

 

Check the adjustment of the cable that goes from the throttle to the tranny (assuming they kept that in 1999). I'm not sure I like the idea of Lucas, sounds like it would negatively affect fuel economy.

 

Starting in 1998 there's no cable from TB to trans. That function is done with software inside the PCM.