’92 Accord autotrans won’t shift out of 2nd

I have a 92 Accord LX automatic that won’t shift out of 2nd gear when
in drive (up or down). It started off fine this morning, but before I
got out of the neighborhood, I noticed it wouldn’t up-shift, then when
I let of the gas, it didn’t downshift. Came to a stop, idled fine (TC
dissengaged properly), but when I accelerated from a stop, still in
2nd. Shifting manually made no difference. Then I stopped, put it in
park, turned off the ignition, restarted, no change. Park, reverse and
neutral are all fine. Soloniod? Computer? I’m more familiar with
manual trannies, so I’m stumped.

 

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What's the mileage and who last changed the tranny fluid for you?
It's probably the ECU has blown a capacitor, but is it cool or HOT where
you are?

'Curly'

 

Common problem. It's either a shift solenoid or the Transmission Control
Module (TCM). Not particularly expensive.

 

By the way, is your "S" light or "D4" light flashing?

 

150k, I’ve changed it twice in the 40k that I’ve owned it, last was
about 3k ago. Lately it’s been in the mid 70s to low 80s; no cause for
concern.

No flashing, but the ’D4’ light was on constant (even in
park/reverse/neutral).

I disconnected the battery, and everything went back to normal; tranny
shifts fine, so I’m guessing not likely anything internal. I only
drove it a couple of miles though, so tomorrow’s 40 mile commute is
the test...

I was a bit hastey backing out and going into drive when I left this
morning, so I’m hoping that might have just triggered the TCM to go
into limp mode or something. We’ll see.

 

Update:

This morning the light was back on, and it was in a fixed gear again.
However, this time it allowed me to manually shift into 1st, and all
the other lights came on with their respective gears, even though D4
remained on as well. I’m leaning toward the TCM

 

You can't "lean" towards anything. You need to get the thing looked at
properly or risk spending tons of cash for nothing. A competent shop needs
to do pressure checking and other things to narrow the problem down.

There are three things that can cause your symptom:
1) Modulator valve stuck
2) 1-2 shift solenoid stuck
3) Clutch pressure control valve stuck.

As well, check the oil screen for debris.

These things are frequently caused by poor maintenance, namely insufficient
fluid changes.

 

Unfortunately, in my experience, there aren’t many competent shops; my
own trouble shooting analysis via symptom logic is better that what
’mechanics’ will do.

The last time I had a shop troubleshoot a vehicle (against my own good
judgement), the bill ran up to $3600 for an 89 RX7! Had a minor
enginefire (caused by an alternator), so insurance had me take it to
the dealer. Shouldn’t have been a big deal; I could’ve done it myself,
but State Farm was footing the bill... The dealer couldn’t get it
right. The first time I picked it up it had no power, so I took it
back. I told them that I though it seemed ignition related. So, since
I’m just an ignorant yahoo, they started their "diagnosis", and
ended up replacing the injectors, ECM, trottle position sensor, etc...
after months of picking it up and taking it back, I finally said
’screw it’ and ordered an ignitor off of ebay for $20. Plugged it in
and the car was fixed.

Then, a few months ago, my manual trans in my Isuzu Trooper went
south. I sourced another one, and had a transmission shop do the swap
because of time restraints. I got it back and after fixing some other
issues with thier installation (improperly installed shifter, poorly
bled clutch), I got pulled over because my reverse lights were on...
so I crawled under it and discovered that the reverse sensor was
connected to the second gear connector and visa-versa... I also
discovered that the wiring was routed wrong, and some of the wires
were in a bind. Then, wile working on that, I discovered that the
wiring loom was routed inside of the heat shield, and had been burning
against the exhaust manifold!

So hopefully now you can see why I am reluctant to just turn it over
to a shop....

Anyway, I tried to pull codes last night, and the D4 light wouldn’t
flash, it just stayed on. I pulled the fuse to reset the TCM; light
went off, tranny operated properly again. Thurned the car off, then
back on, and the D4 light was back on, and stuck in gear...

 

Update:

I opened it up, and the board looked clean. All of the other symptoms
were there though, so I ordered a reman TCM. That solved my problem,
but now I has some odd new symptoms - revlovling around harsh, late
shifting. The new D4 light isn’t coming on at all now either, so I’m
going to send it back for another. At least I know now that the
innitial problem was indead the TCM