Ok, I have a 97 Honda Accord with 143,000 miles. I've owned it for 900 miles; I resurrected it. The car runs good, and the transaxle doesn't slip but does act strange. The trans does shift hard between 1-2 and 3-4, I am in the middle of troubleshooting this, it may be the throttle cable needing adjustment and being to short, I'll check.

Here is my main issue, when I am in PARK and go to D4 or D3, the trans will go into gear within a second (as expected) and start to move the car forward, in the next 2 seconds you can feel what feels like the torque converter engaging or something, basically feels like it's gone into gear again, even though it's already in gear.

So you can be parked, foot on the break, pull the shifter into D4 or D3 and feel the trans go into gear, then 2 seconds later feel it again, as if it shifted again. This may be the torque converter I'm feeling the second time. If your foot is off the break and you shift the car it's starts moving then on the second feeling of "going into gear" 2 seconds later the car will start moving slightly faster. I am saying it may be the torque converter because when you drop it in R,1 or 2, this double engagement sequence doesn't occur, just one shift into gear and that's it. Fluid is a nice red looks fairly new, don't know what kind it is or how old. I will be draining it soon.

Final clue and I can't be 100% sure if this occurs but I want to bring it up. When I'm doing a good click, around 60 mph or so and completely take my foot off the gas suddenly I think I can feel a reverse of what I previously explained, the car will be coasting on the engine and 1-2 seconds after letting off the gas I can feel what feel like the torque converter disengaging.

Thanks for your help. Any ideas, knowledge or spit balling would be appreciated...

 

Shift "feel" #1: Shifting into top gear
Shift "feel" #2: The locking up of the torque converter

 

Maybe I'm just full of it, but this might be another possibility.

- Car stopped, transmission in neutral.
- Shift into D4 without pressing the gas pedal. Transmission shifts into 2nd because maybe the cable is adjused loosely?
- Press the gas pedal. Transmission downshifts to 1st because now you're calling for movement.

This doesn't happen in "R" "1" or "2" because those "gears" don't allow any automatic shifting at all. "D3" and "D4" are actually automatic and allow shifting 1-thru-3 or 1-thru-4 respectively.

 

I've noticed simlar behavior on my 94EX when cold. I will shift from R to D4 and must pause for 1-2 secs for trans to complete "shift". Then all is well and shifts are fine.

I wouldn't think the torque converter will actuate at such a low speed.

It may be the trans initially goes to D4 and then downshifts to D1. When warm, this behavior does not occur.

good luck

 

The idea of going into the highest gear and then first gear (when going into D3/D4) feels like that could be occurring. Does the trans actually do that going from PARK to D4/D3? On that initial engagement of going into D3/D4 the car does move (for the 1-2 seconds) like its in a higher ratio gear, then the second engagement increases the speed of the car slightly like its dropped into a lower ratio. Like releasing a clutch while in 3rd gear compared to 1st.

Does the torque converter actually engage or lock or do anything while in 1st gear of D3/D4? I always thought it engages in higher gears only. Jim you got me thinking about the 2nd to 1st transition due to the cable. I don't know enough about what's going on internally in there when I shift it into D4/D3.

 

I don't know if its SUPPOSED to start in 2nd gear if you apply very light throttle. Some years/models of Mercedes were programmed to behave that way (for smoothness) but who knows if Honda did that?

AFAIK, the torque converter doesn't lock up until you're in 4th gear going above a certain speed and you aren't accelerating hard. So I don't think it should be the TC lockup if this is happenning when you are first starting out.

 

Mine sometimes does this too when cold. Looking at the trans power flow diagrams, it may be a lazy one-way clutch:

Just a guess. The one-way clutch is a sprag that rotates depending on the rotational speed difference between the 1st and 3rd gear countershafts. Maybe the sprag isn't rotating quite as fast as it should?