Questions and Answers

Accord Stuck In D4

Q. My wife has a 1992 Honda Accord EX, automatic transmission with 77,000 miles. A great car! Recently the "D4" light on the automatic shift panel began staying on all the time (no matter what gear she shifts into) and she has to start out in "1" or "2" to get any initial speed. If she puts it in "D4" it is very sluggish.

The dealer flushed and changed the transmission fluid but gets no readout from the control module to check codes. They are quoting $600.00 for a new control module just to begin seeing what the trouble is.

As an FYI, they also found the front motor mount broken (maybe this effects the transmission shift linkage?) Any ideas? Will it hurt the transmission to drive it this way? I appreciate your time and trouble.

A. The "D4" light is the MIL for the automatic transmission control unit, however, it is supposed to blink when there is a problem. Now I would think that the Honda Technician would know how to pull the codes from the control unit. If he is not getting any readout at all, then I would tend to think the computer is at fault as well.

I would let him put the new control unit in with the condition that if it does not repair the problem that it be removed and your old one reinstalled.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA