My girlfriend has an automatic 1998 Honda Accord. Recently, she discovered that she does not have to press the button on the shifter in order to change gears. It will literally just slip from D4 to D3, or D4 to N, without pushing the button in at all. It cannot go into reverse in this way (I’m assuming reverse lock-out?) but it will go from reverse to neutral… you can see why this would be a cause for concern. I wanted to know what the culprit could be, before I start digging into this thing and trying to figure out. Would it most likely be something inside the shifter itself / the button mechanism? When I press the button, it pushes in/out, and feels no different than it should. Thanks for any insight.

 

That is the way most automatic transmissions work, nothing wrong at all And yes there is a reverse lockout so you can't shift into reverse until you come to a stop.

 

Alright - well that is good news. I was worried because of the ease that I could switch it - literally with my pinky finger.