I am glad to see this thread. I just bought a 97 lx sedan auto. I drive 40 miles each way to work. I used to tach 2700 @ 70. I have noticed that it has taken as much as 10 miles to lock the convertor, the other morning, I drove all 40 miles home and it never locked. It tachs 3000 @ 70 when not locked. I am wasting gas and need to get it repaired asap, any thoughts.

 

Two things I would try; Change the thermostat. There is a service bulletin about that. The ECU/TCU needs a signal of a fully warmed up engine, to lock up. The other is to do a couple transmission fluid drain and refill with Honda ATF. Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks Wunderbra, I have noticed it not locking, more in cold weather.In warm weather it works fine. The temp gauge sometimes, reads very cold, in cold weather. I bet your right, Thanks again. I`ll visit the Honda dealer for oem parts.

 

what does locking the converter mean please.. thanks

 

I'm not an auto trans expert or an expert in fluid dynamics, but here is my best shot. The converter is a fluid pump. Inside there are "fins" that pump the fluid, they usually spin independently of the actual outside case of the converter-when it "locks" up they do spin at the same rate-lowers rpms by @200~250. Saves gas-the 95 EX 4 cyl Auto, while running at 65 mph the rpm’s will be at 2500 while the converter is “un-locked”, once it “locks-up” the rpm’s drop to 2250…or on fresh trans fluid it runs about 250 rpm’s lower in all situations. The ECU uses inputs from many sensors (coolant temp, ign coil, tps, throttle control cable, ect) to determine when to lock the converter, using the lock up solenoids to control this-the 5th gens can actually do partial lockup or full lock up.

 

simply speaking, when the TC locks up, the transmission shaft turns the same speed as the engine. They are "locked up " together. As poorman said, saves fuel and engine wear.

 

Thanks Wunderbra !!!!!
The stat fixed my problem. It locks the convertor every time now. It heats up fast too. The rubber was no longer sealing, it was completly gone. Thanks again.

 

Glad to hear it. And thanks for posting the results. That's how we learn. Any chance you would like to post a message about how changing the thermostat went for you? You know with the details of the little things you learned while doing it, like for example, how this little bracket will snap off if twisted wrong, or remove this before that? On these old cars this info is very useful, especially to other noobs. You could start a new thread with the info.

 

And if it's a nice set of instructions, I'll move it into the DIY section.

 

wooh wait, just test my speed this morning and after 15-20 mins of city driving and hit the hway check my rpm against the speed, i stay on 65mph and rpm stays also to 2500. i think by that time it is fully warmd up. does this mean converter its not looking up?