Just bought a 98 have a couple questions

[tyindians]

I ran into a 98 civic at a Honda dealer with 29k miles, the only problem is it's an automatic. But anyway I paid 4k cash for it and took it home as a work car/beater to keep the miles off my family vehicles. The car has been through all their however many 170 some checks and everything checked out... My question is not knowing almost anything about cars is how is a car from the 90s supposed to shift? When it shifts it feels like a slight tapping on the brakes it shifts regularly at 3500 RPMs. The shifting is a little rough, is this something to worry about or normal? Should I take it a transmission shop and have them look it over?

 

[tyindians]

I ran into a 98 civic at a Honda dealer with 29k miles, the only problem is it's an automatic. But anyway I paid 4k cash for it and took it home as a work car/beater to keep the miles off my family vehicles. The car has been through all their however many 170 some checks and everything checked out... My question is not knowing almost anything about cars is how is a car from the 90s supposed to shift? When it shifts it feels like a slight tapping on the brakes it shifts regularly at 3500 RPMs. The shifting is a little rough, is this something to worry about or normal? Should I take it a transmission shop and have them look it over?

Side note it seems to shift smoother when the gas is full...

 

[XpL0d3r]

29k?! That's awesome.

Might just need a fluid change. 29k on a 20 year old car.. it likely did a lot of sitting. Otherwise there may be an issue with it, it should still shift smoothly.

 

[tyindians]

29k?! That's awesome.

Might just need a fluid change. 29k on a 20 year old car.. it likely did a lot of sitting. Otherwise there may be an issue with it, it should still shift smoothly.

The dealership did a fluid change and I checked it, it seems like it was just changed. I feel like maybe it is taking too long to shift.. Maybe I should post a video?

 

[tyindians]

Update I read the transmission solenoid can be dirty and clogged so I took it out to clean it and it looks perfect.... any ideas? Should I take it to a Honda dealer? Still shifting rough

 

[Mr.Baker]

Have you tested the shift solenoid with a multimeter?

 

[tyindians]

Have you tested the shift solenoid with a multimeter?

I took it and had the transmission fluid changed turns out the dealer lied and they just added some and overfilled it, also changed the oil and it has helped some but still not shifting as I think it should.

The problem I think is its accelerating through the shifts... and it gets a lot rougher when the gas is low...

But no I haven't tested it I don't have access to a multimeter.

 

[Mr.Baker]

Overfilling will cause transmission issues since that increases pressure.
I'd make them fix this now.
You may have to do a complete flush or a few fill and drains to work this out.
Fuel level shouldn't have anything to do with your transmission.

 

[tyindians]

Overfilling will cause transmission issues since that increases pressure.
I'd make them fix this now.
You may have to do a complete flush or a few fill and drains to work this out.
Fuel level shouldn't have anything to do with your transmission.

I had it changed and it helped a little bit, what do you mean by a few fill and drains?

 

[Mr.Baker]

what do you mean by a few fill and drains?

When you drain it, you don't get all the fluid out, you only get 2 qts or so each time.
You'll need to do a few drain and refills to get all the old fluid out and replaced with new.
You can find the procedure in the Honda Service manual for your Civic, but this is what I found online.
1. Set the parking brake, and raise the vehicle.
2. Drain the trans, and refill it with Genuine Honda
ATF.
3. Start the engine, shift into D4, and release the parking
brake.
4. Raise the speed to 50 mph, making sure the A/T
shifts through all forward gears, and the torque
converter goes into lockup.
5. Apply the brakes to bring the speed to zero, then shift
to reverse, and shift to neutral.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 four more times.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 5 two more times.
8. Drain the transmission, and install the drain plug
with a new washer.
9. Refill the trans with Genuine Honda ATF.