Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

This is becoming more of a problem, I'm a part time delivery driver and when I'm working I'll shift from parked, reverse and drive dozens of times within an hour.

Sometimes when I put it into drive, the green light on the dash isn't lit- and no matter how much I try and get it to fully get in, it just doesn't. If I try to accelerate, I'll have a moderate amount of grinding with reduced power- so of course I stop.

What I normally do is throw it into D3 and that'll shift in perfectly and drive really great. But there is a bunch of 55mph roads that I need to go on and I don't like having my engine rev up so high when on them.

Any suggestions on what is needed would be great.
About 4 months ago I didn't have this problem, but I had reached 65k on my car with practically no maintenance since buying it (besides oil and brake pads). I asked for new transmission fluid but the mechanic said it was clean so he didn't do it.

>> It seems to be doing a little better with the temps getting higher, but it might just be my mind making it up.

Any suggestion on what to do would be great. I don't trust my mechanic, I asked him to do a bunch of things 4 months ago and all he did was change the oil and said everything was great, even though I hear my brakes squeak on a daily basis (something else I had asked him to change).

So let me know, sorry for long post :p

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

The colour of transmission fluid is completely irrelevant, it's the lubricating properties that matter and those degrade over time. If you want to you could try and a drain and fill with 3 bottles of Honda DW-1 ATF, but I doubt you would get you drive gear back. More than likely you need a compelte transmission rebuild.

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

How much do those cost.. :(

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

It could be something to do with the shift linkage or bushings preventing it from staying in D, so don't be to worried yet, but a rebuild would be in the $3000 range. If it is the transmission you could also swap it to manual for around the same price as a rebuild or put a used trans in for $1000, a used one might not last though..

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

More or less it's cheaper to replace the transmission. But, unless you upgrade the internals (through a rebuild) it will just fail again. These transmissions are junk.

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

3,000$?
Ouch.
Might as well get a new car :/

Will bring it into the shop, have the tranny fluid replaced, ask them to check things out and hope it'll last longer. If it's going to cost $3000 then I'm riding it out until it dies.

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

* Update for anyone who stumbles on this in the future.

Did a transmission flush and new fluid and it's working great now, no issues.
The flush was not what I wanted but my mechanic did it anyway even though I specifically said not to.. anyway, all is well now.

Re: Transmission doesn't stay in Drive
 

Rarely do you hear the "flush saved my tranny", but that is great news. Congrats, cause you are lucky! Remember to get a drain and fill about every 30k miles, to keep it that way.

My flush story: I did a transmission flush (was a BG service, at the dealership) on my '04 Elantra GT... and the fluid was as black as ink when I bought the car (but shifted fine and smelled okay, it was just extremely oxidized and the dye was completely gone). Transmission worked smoothly and worked just fine for another 15k miles, until my wife hit two concrete barriers with the car and totaled it. (She was fine, just some minor bruises and shaken up emotionally, but the car was a mess). So even that completely-gone fluid being flushed didn't seem to make a difference.

Anyway, I'm a believer in changing old fluid, regardless of conventional wisdom :)