92 Honda Civic with intermittent transmission issues

ICEWIND

MEMBER
1992 HONDA CIVIC

92 Honda Civic LX, 1.6L, 140,000 miles. Every now and then it starts skipping second gear, revving up to 4000 or 4500 rpms before shifting to 3rd. It does this for 2-7 days at a time, and anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months will go by between episodes. We had the transmission serviced in November, but it went through another "acting-up" phase shortly after that. Last week we had it in the shop for an unrelated problem and the mechanic went ahead and flushed the transmission again because he said the fluid was "filthy."

Any idea what our problem could be, and why it only happens intermittently? Also, why would the fluid be so dirty when it had just been changed a couple of months ago?

2 Replies

GARFIELD

MECHANIC
197 POSTS

I bet you have one of two problems. You either have an electrical connector that is loose or corroded. I would check all of the connections to any sensor or connector for the transmission and open it up and check for corrosion. Word to the wise, intermittent electrical problems can be a bear to track down. I have been doing it for the better part of twenty years and some have taken weeks to find the actual problem. The best time to take it to the shop is when the car is doing the problem(I know easier said than done). May times it will act up until you get to the shop and then it will act fine, but that is going to be the easiest way to find the problem. Hopefully by cleaning each connector for the transmissions sensors and electrical connectors will fix the problem and you won't see it again. But if not try and get it to the shop when the car is acting up. Good luck!

Gary