1998 honda civic lx transmission slipping

Q: Can a transmission be fixed if its slipping?

You can solve transmission slipping yourself if its simply low fluid, burnt or ineffective fluid, or transmission leaks. This will often require you to either check the fluid, change the fluid, or fix the transmission leak.

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Your Answer:
What causes a Honda transmission to slip?
Can a transmission be fixed if its slipping?
What causes a transmission to slip in drive?
What should I do if my transmission is slipping?

IHBIGRED

MEMBER
1998 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
164,000 MILES

I have a 1998 Honda Civic DX with automatic transmission. When I purchased the car it had a shifting flare from 2nd to 3rd gear. The flare wouldn't occur until the transmission had warmed up by driving and then would persist. The one exception was that with a soft exceleration it would flare, but a hard acceleration it wouldn't flare.
Later I discovered that after some trips of about 75 miles or longer the transmission wouldn't flare anymore no matter how I drove it until after I shut the car off and turned it back on then it returned to flaring again.
I recently changed the transmission fluid and checked all the transmission solenoids for resistances within Honda specs and all activate when energized manually.
The car within the last week had gotten warm while driving so after letting it cool down I replaced the thermostat and bled the system of air.
Now the car's temperature guage fluctuates from normal to hot opperating conditions occaisionally and when it is fluctuating the shifting flare is non existent and when the temperature guage remains at normal position the shifting flare occurs between 2nd and 3rd. Also the left blinker started acting up (first it blinked like a bulb was burnt, then it worked fine, then blinked very slowly and is back to working properly) at the same time that the coolant temperature did. The check engine light is also not on.
The cooling fan works properly and when shorted so fan operates manually it will not cool the coolant temp as indicated by the temperature guage on the cluster.
I took the car to a transmission shop and after investigating it they guessed that one of the "pressure switches" were bad (assuming they were referring to the solenoids). I didn't have them do any further work to the vehicle after that.

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Monday, June 6th, 2011 AT 6:22 PM

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I have a 1998 Honda Civic LX with automatic transmission. The mileage on
the car is around 75,000 miles.

When I try to drive the car from a standing position, the gears on the on the
transmission will start to slip. The engine will shoot up to very high revs
before the car starts to move. And even then the grip on the gears seem to
be very weak and the car will respond very slowly.

The transmission will also slip while driving. When i press on the gas the
engine will rev high and there will be a lag before the gears switch up but
the problem is not as bad as trying to get the car moving from a standing
position.

The strange things is this - if I drive the car after the it has been parked for
several hours everything will be fine. The car will idle at a good rev - not
too low not too high and the gears, on the transmission will shift like it
should. You would not be able to tell that the car has a problem shifting
gears.

The problem starts after about 10-15 minutes of driving as the car warms
up. When the car comes to a stop the car will start to idle at a very low rev
and the transmission will start to slip loosing almost all its grip in drive 4th
gear as well as in drive 3rd gear.

2nd gear is the only thing that seems to not have any problems. When the
transmission starts to slip after a few minutes of driving I use 2nd gear to
start the car moving after a red light or a stop sign.

I have also have a CHECK ENGINE - Light on

Your Answer:

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Hey, I am having very similar problem. I was wondering if anyone has figured out a solution that works for this.

I have a 1998 Honda Civic LX with automatic transmission. I have about 115K mileage so far. I am experience slippage in gears when accelerating.

The check engine light translates to P0730 "Incorrect Gear Ratio".

In terms of a potential solution, The only thing I found on the internet was that, Sonnax has developed a replacement spring 88894 that has a wire diameter larger than the oem design. This supposedly reduces the stress on the spring, preventing future breakage. I don't know if this works or not. Any one know anything about this?

Transmission fluid is fine.

Honda says to replace linear solenoid. I have not tried this because from reading many many reviews, that does NOT seem to work.

Another caveat to this problem is that when the engine is cold, the transmission works fine. So this is in the morning when you start up the car. You can't even tell there is a problem shifting gears. After about 10-15 minutes when the car warms up, the harsh shifting occurs, and the transmission looses almost all the grip. You have to manually shift the gears to get the vehicle to move. Example, when you're at a stop sign on a hill in D4, the car will roll back.

So this tells me this problem is highly sensitive to temperature.

So as a temporary solution, you have to manually shift the gears from D2 to D3 to D4 when accelerating. I've been doing this for over 4 months now, and it is working for now. I'm now starting to notice that once in a while when I am driving, I smell oil burning and sometimes the smell of a skunk (probably grease and oil), which is a sign that the clutches may be burning or some other part sizzling.

Any thoughts?

What causes a Honda transmission to slip?

Slipping gears is usually due to a lack of pressure buildup in the transmission that is necessary for smooth operation. As the gears slip, you will hear the noise change in the engine due to the slippage of gears. You could also feel a struggling with the vehicle, as if it is not accelerating as it should.

Can a transmission be fixed if its slipping?

You can solve transmission slipping yourself if it's simply low fluid, burnt or ineffective fluid, or transmission leaks. This will often require you to either check the fluid, change the fluid, or fix the transmission leak.

What causes a transmission to slip in drive?

Transmission gears wear out and start slipping. Over time gears can wear out – especially if they have been running hot and inefficiently due to lack of or worn out transmission fluid. Slipping gears are usually due to normal wear and tear, which causes them to not engage properly and to slip in and out of sync.

What should I do if my transmission is slipping?

Not necessarily—but you should contact a transmission specialist as soon as possible, and try not to drive until you do. While not necessarily a sign of oncoming major transmission failure, slipping does indicate that your transmission is in serious need of service and repair.

honda civic lx transmission slipping