Questions and Answers
Accord Short Shifting
Q. My son has a 1989 Honda Accord SEI, 2.0 liter, fuel injection, automatic transmission with 185,000 miles. Lately he has noticed a transmission problem. It periodically short-shifts the first 2 gears and sometimes doesn't want to go into overdrive. But all shifts up or down are still very crisp.
Transmission fluid was changed with no effect (and has always been changed regularly). I don't know if the fluid smelled or anything because he had it done at a Jiffy lube.
We are wondering if there might be a simple solution to this problem like a vacuum line or a sensor. He doesn't want to spend more money on the car as he has put a lot into it during the last year.
Thank you,
RichardA. The problem could be in the governor or the 1 - 2 shift valve in the valve body. But before I go looking inside the transmission for the problem, I would check the adjustment on the Throttle Control Cable (TCC). If it is too tight, it will cause the transmission to shift too soon. If you look down at the transmission, you will see the TCC and the two adjuster lock nuts. Be sure you don't confuse it with the shifter cable. You want to loosen both lock nuts so there is play in the cable. Then gradually adjust it so that the transmission control lever just starts to move when the throttle lever moves. You want them to be synchronized, not one starting to move before or after the other.
It may require readjustment after the first adjustment. Just repeat adjustment until proper synchronization is obtained. If after the adjustment is made it still shifts the same, the problem is inside the transmission.
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