1994 Accord Auto Tranny gone bad

Lag in first to second, locked on third and remained at 4K rpm. Took to local good tranny man who broke into it today. Needs everything. Can get used one and installed will be 1450 or can rebuild mine for 1650. My car has never been wrecked or other problems. What would you do?

A used transmission could have gone its entire life without a fluid change, and you would have no way of knowing this by simply looking at the case. Someone who cares about getting the maximum life out of his vehicle will change the trans fluid every 30k, but based on the posts in this forum, very few people seem to do this. In other words, a used transmission is an unknown quantity–in the extreme–and it is unlikely to come with any kind of warranty (for good reason).

By contrast, if you spend $200. more for a rebuilt unit, you will get a transmission that is clean and has had weak or worn-out components replaced–and it will come with a warranty of some sort.

To me, this is just no contest: Spend $1450. for a “pig in a poke”, or spend $1650. for something with a decent chance of longevity. Isn’t the logical path pretty obvious here?

Only thing I’d add to VDC’s comments: do you trust the rebuilder? He needs to be good, not something I’d want him doing for the first time.

The rebuilder has been in business for 25 years and has two employees. It is a small personally owned shop. He came highly recommended by my ex-husband who owns a local tire business…guess this is good? LOL! Now the next question, does the transmission fluid have to be Honda, and if so, will the dealer sell me some?

YES, it needs Honda-specification fluid.

It doesn’t have to come from a Honda dealer, but it has to meet the correct specification, and you should be able to find what you need at a good auto parts retailer, like NAPA. Otherwise your new transmission will soon be toast.

But–why do you need to obtain the fluid for the rebuilder? Doesn’t this guy keep the appropriate fluids on hand for the many types of transmissions that he works on? This sounds a bit strange to me.

Yes, he does keep the correct specification fluid on hand, but not the Honda brand name fluid. If I am spending 1650 for the rebuild, then I want the Honda transmission fluid so that I can rest easy. This is a very rural area, and the nearest dealer is about 2 hours away. I did call the tranny shop, and he can get the Honda brand name fluid, but of course will be higher. Thanks for all the replies.

Sounds to me like you’ve found the perfect shop to rebuild your car’s transmission.

It $5/qt at the dealer. You need about 6 qts. Does the added cost by the tranny shop offset the cost of going after it yourself?

For 200 dollars more going from used to rebuilt, I would rebuild it.

transman

Oh, and yes, use the HONDA fluid.

transman