lynley

hi! so i bought a used 2008 coupe a couple months ago with 115k miles on it after i wrecked my civic sedan early january. this car drove perfectly fine up until about a month into driving it.

1) i notice my RPM’s are very sensitive. for example, sometimes my gauge pointer thing will just bobble up and down when i’m driving at a steady speed. i took my car to a transmission shop twice, and the guy just thinks my whole car (i guess) extra sensitive since he would barely press the gas a little harder and my RPM’s would jump. is that normal?

2) the biggest issue that has had me terrified to drive on the interstate is what has happened on the interstate in the past and what happens when i’m driving on highways. my car will accelerate, RPM’s up, then it clicks to a higher gear and RPM’s drop (normal). then, when it’s acting up INTERMITTENTLY, one of two things will happen:
a) when constantly accelerating on the highway or needing to accelerate on the interstate, i’ve been in situations where ive actually felt endangered because my car was NOT accelerating. i was nearly killed a month after i got my license from a health issue that caused me to pass out while driving, so i’m obviously a relatively cautious driver. however, i have REALLY had to push the pedal to the metal, like pushing so far down i was terrified my car was going to explode (i’m being dramatic but you get it) because my car was doing ~nothing~. when this happens, my RPM’s get stuck between 3 and 4 (top 75-100% of left half of RPM monitor thing) and it won’t shift up to drop the RPM’s. i think that means it’s getting stuck in 4th? when this happens, my car will not accelerate- only keeps a steady speed, the RPM’s stay kicked up until it eventually resolves, and even letting off the gas wont force it to shift.
b) sometimes, my car just randomly decides it wants to shift down twice and make me spill coffee all over myself. hence, it’s not a smooth transition. it’s not so rough that my whole body will jerk or anything, but i’ve definitely spilled drinks more than once because of this. i am not slamming on my brakes suddenly or anything. this typically occurs between 30-40mph, and after i let off the gas as i’m approaching a stop sign in the distance. it will hold out in a higher gear until the last second and then downshift twice at once.

of course during every test drive i go on, nothing seems to be wrong. there are no transmission codes popping up, no lights on my dash, and not even a blinking light next to the D in my dash, which my guy said to watch out for. does anyone have any idea??? he told me to keep driving it to try to note any patterns, and so far, all over noticed is that my engine has more power when i shut the ac off, but i feel like that’s a given, anyways. i’m just really stuck!! i KNOW something is wrong w my car because this is my third, and i’ve never experienced anything like this before. i’ve never had a car fail to accelerate on the interstate. the tranny guy said i might just have a “lead foot,” which is potentially a possibility, HOWEVER, my car needs to keep up with me regardless!! i don’t drive like a race car driver and i’m not hard on my car when i drive. i just think it’s a stretch to say that my car can’t keep up on the interstate because i have a lead foot lol.

i’ve been much more conscientious about making sure i give my car enough time to very gradually increase my speed so it always has time to shift properly, and this seems to be helping, but i also noticed that sometimes i’m just screwed and i can’t even drive 4 mins to campus without it acting up. sometimes i turn my car on and i want to drive across the country because i know it’s driving perfectly, and other times, i frantically look (and fail) to find any patterns as my car is double-downshifting.

any insight would be so appreciated. thank you!!

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

what comes to mind are:

• the not accelerating - was that on an uphill? I remember that my 01 did not upshift after downshifting on a steep hill
• at first, I thought trans is slipping, but if it is also downshifting... something electrical/electronic is causing this? If so, Dealer would be recommended

Colin42

Something wrong with the trans or computer

lynley

for the accelerating issue, this has only happened to me while i’m driving on the interstate in flat areas, though this HAS happened more than once. i will literally be halfway through a trip up to school (so, i’ve been driving for an hour at least) and then when i need to speed up and get around someone, as i’m pressing down the accelerator, it will speed up for like 0.5 seconds (so my RPMs obviously increase), but then it gets stuck. my RPMs won’t move. they hover between 3 and 4, and letting off the gas drops the RPMs ever so slightly, but it does not shift up (or down). when i try to press the accelerator again, the RPMs jump back right to where they were (and my car feels like it’s making a small lurch forward) indicating that my car is still in the same gear.

i should also note- the transmission guy i have been going to mentioned it could possibly be something with a solenoid? my grandpa said this is like an electrical switch or something, and the transmission guy said it would be an easy fix if that’s the case since hondas are easy to access and repair because everything (can’t remember the proper term he used) is external, but since no codes are popping up, he told me to keep driving it and we might have to wait until the issue becomes more persistent before we can really nail down what’s wrong.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

well, you can have him replace that then