Rep Power: 0

Guys please help me out.. this transmission slip i have in my car. i dont even know if it is a slip, may be something else, may be the transmission is fine i dont know...

I think i have a problem that can be fixed.. i just can't find the right answer.

People tell me to add additives like seafoam transtune, or Lubeguard for imports (the red cap) but i am just not comfortable adding additives to my transmission, i mean crankcase is different but transmission is really scary for me.

A little background: Its a 2003 Civic ex coupe 1.7l 84500 miles and i just got this like a month ago from a very good friend who got it brand new back in 03. He has been maintaining the car very nicely and has never missed an engine oil change, and has also been changing transmission oil every 30k miles or so. He has never abused the car and has kept it in very good shape. The major reason for me to buy this car was because of this good gas mileage, and the fact that i know this car by heart since i have been friends with this person for over 8 years now and we have hung out in all the places in this car. When i got the car i told my self i am gonna really take care of the car and which is what i have been doing.

Now i can't recall if the transmission slip was there before i bought the car, but i think it was not there since i never felt it or may be i never noticed it!!??

Anyways after i get the car i do an engine oil change and oil filter change from the stealership.
Then i think to myself why don't get i get it a transmission flush from my private mechanic since it has never been flushed for the past 84000 miles (only been drained and refilled).

Overly excited i take the car to my mechanic and tell him to flush the transmission. He uses his machine to do the same and adds (Lubeguard) an additive to his generic ATF.

I drive the car back to my house and i suddenly i notice a difference in the shifts. Now i don't know if i concentrated on the shifts thats why i noticed it now, because before i never had concentrated or had never even felt the shift. So i test the car for a couple of days and me not being happy i take it back to the mechanic and have him drain out the fluid he put and refill it with HONDA GENUINE ATF-Z1.

I drive the car back after this service and notice the shifts are a lot better.
After all this i take this car in to the dealership and got the timing belt/coolant/acc belts/drive belts/valve adjustment service done.

The shifts were then much better.

But lately i have been noticing that the hard shifts come and go and different RPMs.
I am really confused and i am thinking of getting the transmission oil drained and refilled again??
Or add some additive like Slick50, Lucas, Seafoam, LubeGuard....... I dont know.... i dont wanna mess up my baby. I really love this car and i am keeping it until it dies on me.

I really need your help guys.. Please try to help me... i will answer any questions, post pictures, post videos, i am willing to do whatever i can to get this fixed.

Thank you. I believe quite a few people have the same problem and your answers might help them too.

-dj

 
Rep Power: 0

Bump!

 
Rep Power: 227

Ive had and heard of similar problems with many autos after a full tranny flush and it never seems there is an actual problem with the trany after its that they just never liked the full flush. Future refrence and from what I have been told / practiced is doing a half flush/change and never got the problem again. Also Lucas always helped / fixed the problems.

Consider this a bump since I dont really have an answer but maybe the info could help in the future or present and I do recomend Lucas.

 
Rep Power: 811

do not put additives, only use genuine honda atf and the slipping is a known issue. one of the clutches is defective and will wear out faster than the rest. i use lc20 from lubecontrol.com in mine and it made the shifts smoother, but the slipping wont be fixed by adding anything (short of taking apart the tranny and replacing the bad clutch).

 
Rep Power: 0

I have a similar problem with my 98 ex auto. Usually its just between 2nd and third that my transsmission likes to slip a tiny bit, but lately, after longer drives (when the fluid heats up) it gets a little harsh on the throws into the other gears (not always). I cannot guarentee that it has Honda ATF in it since i bought it used last summer, but thats the first thing on my list to try. Aside from the possible bad cluch from second to third, is there anything else i can do to improve my shifting?