First off little about myself, Im new to honda, only have owned there 4 wheelers. I make my living as a heavy equipment mechanic, and have every sort of tool needed. I have rebuilt 4r100, turbo 350 400, and allsion trans. Now for the question. I bought a 2001 120k honda civic LX that was suppose to have a bad transmission. According to him he had the car parked, he went to start and move it and it would not move, he had to go back and forth in gear then she finally moved but slowly.
So i load it up on the F550, took her home, backed it into the garage. I checked the fluid and it was full. Pulled the plug and drained the fluid. No metal in the fluid, and the fluid did not appear burned. Now im curious, as I do know these cars have issues with the converters, if the converter fails, it has been my expirence that there is a ton of metal in the fluid. I refilled the fluid with dextron 3(yes I know to use honda fluid, will flush again). Took it out, the trans shifted fine, seemed to be a little slugglish at first, but once it warmed up it shifted great with no slippage.
Also need to mention, there is no codes in the car, check engine light is not on. Only thing I did notice was there was a whine in the car, however once it was warm whine was gone. Also this car had not been driven in 3-4 months. Do these cars have solenoid block which become stuck? Does this sound like a converter failure, maybe the begins of it? Is there ports which pressures can be taken? Anyone had luck in swapping converters?
Thanks
Kevin

 

Any updates? Looking for info on this.

 

Both dealer techs I spoke to said it was likely the trans was failing and to replace it. I found a used 05 with 40k for 300 bucks. So I went that route.

 

I am going that route too. Getting a used one (120,000 km) with warranty for $630. Best deal I found other than that was $400. Honda wants $3500 for a rebuilt and $1500 for a core. Auto shops want $2500 for a tranny rebuild (with me bringing in JUST the tranny)

I figure get the used one with warranty for $630. That way I have the reassurance that if it does go (and it probably will) i'll have warranty for at least a year. In the mean time, I can split mine and rebuild it myself over time with whatever money for parts I need as I go. (Hopefully taking less than a years time) Then when the used tranny I'm about to install DOES go, I'll have a rebuilt one ready on the bench.

I know I could save a lot of labour in the long run by just buying the Honda Rebuild for $3500.. but then I'm being "offered" 1500 for my bunged tranny, which is hard to pass up since I will be paying it initially. Then I won't have anything to fall back on if that same tranny goes.. or it's not actually my problem!

Sorry if all that was hard to keep up with.. but I'm ripped and it made sense to me. So deal with it haha.