The auto tranny on my '97 Accord went out while Jr. 1.0 had it at college last year. I had a local shop put in a JDM tranny since it didn't make sense to have it towed home, which is about 300 miles away. Anyway, I didn't get to drive the Accord until about 7 months later. I noticed that there was a flare of about 500 - 1000 RPM on downshift from 4th to 2nd, which happens when you slow down for a light or turn and then get on the gas to accelerate (but not hard). I was out visiting Jr so I took it back to the shop. They said it was normal and that those transmissions are pretty bulletproof.

When Jr came home for the summer, I also noticed that the torque converter seemed to be in "half lock" at freeway speeds. When I got on the gas to accelerate from say 60 to 65 or 70 MPH, the RPMs would drop about 200 RPM as the torque converter went into "full lock". When I got to my desired speed and let off the throttle to stop accelerating, it would go back to half lock and the RPMs would go up by about 200 RPM.

I checked the throttle control cable adjustment and it seemed to be per the shop manual, i.e. no slack. The shop manual says you can adjust the cable by 2 mm (~.080 inch). I have no way to know how to measure this other than by number of turns on the cable adjustment (assuming you know thread pitch) and it's tough to know exactly when there is no slack.

I took a Handi-shim, trimmed it and put a slot in it. I then slipped it over the end of the throttle control cable (between the end of the cable and the lever) to see the effect of offsetting the throttle control lever. I took it for a test drive and the flare was gone and I got full lockup on the freeway until I really put my foot into the throttle. It seems to me the tranny is working as it should with the additonal displacement in the throttle control lever, but the adjustment is about double what the shop manual recommends.

As the tranny is still under warranty, I took the shim out for the rest of the warranty period, about 6 more weeks. After that, I'll stack some plastic washers between the end of the cable and the lever until the tranny behaves correctly. This is quicker than adjusting the cable using the adjustment nut. I figure there's got to be some manufacturing tolerances or wear that causes the tranny to not behave quite right. There's no other adjustment to be made on the tranny. My Fords have vacuum modulators so I can adjust shift points/line pressure via the modulator and cable.

Does anybody see any issues with this? Or have you had a similar experience?

Thanks in advance.

 

I had to adjust the cable on a 97 Accord when I got it - no telling why or what had happened to it before I got it. It was doing about what you describe. After adjustment it drove much better.

The only issue I see with your approach is that over time I would think the "plastic" washers will wear. So you might have to go back with new washers.

 

Did you adjust based on transmission performance or the procedure in the manual? I have it set per the manual at the moment. I hate to deviate from the factory shop manual procedures, but the evidence suggests it needs more adjustment than what the manual calls for.

 

Used the manual for the "idea" and then adjusted by eye. At first look it appeared to be moving correctly but when I removed it from the trans I noticed the cable was actually holding too much tension on the lever - so mine was too short, where it sounds like yours it too long....adding the shim to take up the slack.