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Hello everyone,

Im having problems with my 2002 Honda Civic ex automatic transmission going into gear. Im starting to think the problem may be electrical or with the pcm. So I had originally bought the car from a friend that just had the transmission rebuilt on it because the transmission wasn't going into gear but after the rebuild it was still having the same problem. I went ahead and ended up buying another transmission that was running perfectly fine in another civic and swapped the transmission into my car. I drove the car for about 20 miles and it was going into gear and shifting perfectly fine. After 20 miles the car started high revving so I pulled over and then it wouldn't go into gear at all. I let the car sit for about 15 minutes and was able to start it and it went into gear fine and I was able to get the car back home. The check engine light didn't come on and the AT fluid was fine. Im also using the Honda brand AT fluid. Im running out of ideas on what the problem could be, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 119

Did you replace the torque converter when you swapped transmissions?

 
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yah I swapped it out

 
Rep Power: 119

The odds of having a “thermal” issue with two different transmissions seems incredibly unlikely but possible.

I want to think the PCM is actually the issue, but I am unsure it’s possible for a bad PCM ( in your case bad when Hot) to disengage all speed functions of the transmission.

That is what I would look into, maybe keep a can of spray cold handy, drive the car in a “safe area to breakdown” loop and then when it stops again shutdown car , spray the top of the PCM (not the contact pins) with spray cold for a few seconds, then start car back up and see if it recovered.

Also check the transmission fluid dipstick when it shuts down, your not just looking for level but color change because fluid might be filled with air bubbles.

 
Rep Power: 119

Did you flush the oil cooler in the radiator? Often times the cooler gets plugged with metal particles and clutch material when the trans fails.

I suppose there could be a PCM problem that causes the PCM to reduce transmission line pressure enough that the trans won't go into gear. An easy way to test this would be to simply unplug the black connector (the one for the trans) from the PCM once it stops working and see if it goes into gear again. It will default to 4th gear in D, so put the shifter in "2" once you unplug the connector or it won't accelerate well. This removes the PCM and wiring from the equation.

 
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Hey D17VTECHPOWER,

what else could it be electrical??? My issue is car will go into all gears sometimes... but then very quickly it's like it goes in neutral just revs up... I can put it in park cut car off start it back up an it will go into gear an move, then repeat revs like in neutral all gears.. cut car off cut car on start it up put it in gear it engages then like it slips into neutral an revs.. ...


I have::

changed fluid
cleaned linear solenoids tested good
replaced shift solenoids
checked cable
Tested an checked neutral safety switch


I am seriously feeling its something electronic.. car threw the random p0325 code for knock sensor but i was lightly tapping the throttle to get it to engage but didnt work.. so maybe it threw code because of that..


I even tried it under a load an drove the car up the road up hill it started reving like in neutral, then i rolled car to steepest part car just rolled backwards all gears no movement.. then i put can in park it held.. cut car off then back on started it put it in drive an it pulled out on the hill like nothing wrong made it over crest about 50yards an it done same thing.. i cut it off back on then it pulled out an back home down hill coasted in driveway in drive car would just rev no move.. cut car off back on put in gear it moved to allow me to pull into garage then put in reverse went in smooth backed out put back in drive pulled back in garage an stopped tried to move again just reved... any ideas????