I havent been able to find any previous posts that match up to what I am experiencing, so here it goes:

When slowing down and turning the car, my car tends to shift unnecessarily into a low gear to accelerate agaiin after .... I realize it is normal to shift but usually it is quite jarring and my wife seems to think I am doing it on purpose. This car has 146,000 miles on it and has received regular maintenance at Honda specified intervals...

Anyone have an idea?

Thank you.

 

LX is not VTEC from the factory.

My old 94 EX had a very firm shifting tranny, that on downshifts would border on bucking....check the tranny fluid for color and level. If the fluid has never been changed before, don't rush to change it. If you do change it, use the Honda branded ATF.


noel

 

my 94 ex has about 144k on her and is starting to do the same thing. i have noticed that if your real easy on the gas pedal it doesnt downshift. does yours go from 4th gear down to 2nd? thats what mine does unless im really paying attention to my right foot. i have checked the trans fluid and it is not low and doesnt smell like its burnt but its been a while since its been changed. i bought some honda atf but just haven't gotten around to it. interested to hear if anyone else that has had this problem has found a solution.

 

i think its a normal problem. i drive my car manually, so right before im' about to take a turn, i shift it down the second gear and as the speed goes up shift it up to d3 and d4 after taht.

works out great for me. i always start off from first gear adn get some better acceleartion.

 

oh yeah, i do have an automatic*

 

Yes it is shifting from 4th to 2nd, and if I am easy on her, she shifts more smoothly. The tranny fluid was flushed at 117,000 miles, but I had the levels checked last friday and it was full. I suppose I will have it flushed again in January.

BTW, I dont know what I read that made me think the car was a vtec, but it seems that 1995 LX models in the US are all SOHC according to the manual. I am going to have to check that out.

Also the car is doing another weird thing. When in park, occasionally the guages will not show that the car is in [P]. If I restart the car, or wiggle the shifter around, it shows it in [P] and I am able to shift it out of park.

Again, this is something that there doesnt seem to be a definitive answer on the site about this. I will get around to making another thread if no one answers in here.

 

thats just the sensor in ur shifter that tells the guage cluster what gear ur in. there's nothing wrong w/ it. the only problem it'll cause is it will not let you remove the key from ignition until the P light shows up on the cluster.

u'll have to open it up and clean it.

And about the transmission problem. My car has it too. so its nothign new a lot of them have em.

 

Thank you for your responses.

 

Depending on how bad it is, maybe it's a mis-adjusted cable from the throttle to the tranny.

 

These is a known problem with 90-95 Accord 4 speed auto. It is called bump down shift. I have a 92 Accord EX s/w w/ 248K miles. The car has been doing it since I bought it 4 years ago w/ 181K miles. I had the complete ATF flush/drained every two years w/ no change. Like nspec_Cd5, I shift down manually but only to 3rd gear. My wife don't like me manually shifting but it works and it's not hurting the engine since I put on 67K miles. One other thing I do is I released the gas halfway when I know the engine is about ready to downshift. It minimize the jerking. I also keep it in 3rd gear in slow traffic to prevent the engine from going back & forth from 2-3rd gear. The Honda/Acura shop that performed the last tranny service last month told me that the ATF should be good for 75K miles. It's good to hear but I want it done every 35K miles. As long as you have the tranny service properly your car would be okay.