1997 Honda Accord Auto Transmission down-shifting hard and seems to lurch on acceleration...?

Question

On occasion, while in 4D gear and I have to decelerate to a 1st or 2nd gear speed, my Accord seems to down shift extraodinarily hard and when I begin to accelerate, it seems to lurch before it shifts back into gear. I've been to 2 mechanics and a transmission shop and all have told me something different. Due to inconsistencies of information at the tranny shop, I'm not real trusting of their opinion. I'm told there are no codes showing up in the computer but that the fluid has a bad odor, that I shouldn't change the fluid now, that it doesn't require a tranny filter, that I should put some additive in it, that I shouldn't put additive in it, that the down shifting is normal for this car. I recently bought the car at 140,000 miles and don't know what it needs so I've had alot of other work done on it already to make sure no problems crop up too soon. I suspect that the wrong tranny fluid may have been put in the vehicle. What should I do about this suspicious tranny issue?

Answer 1

Go get a transmission filter put in. The mechanic that told you you don't need it is a moron! They hate changing transmission filters because it's messy and doesn't pay them much on the job because they work on commission! They probably will try to sell you a flush instead.
What's the point of flushing out old fluid through a dirty filter and putting new fluid in through a dirty filter?
And don't let a mechanic tell you that a flush back flushes the filter so it doesn't need to be changed. I've heard alot of moron mechanics say that and they are wrong. If you get a flush, get the flush and still have them change the filter too. The only other thing I would do if that doesn't work and I think it will,Is get some one to check that the torque converter hasn't come loose on flywheel.

Answer 2

Go ahead and change the fluid. Use Mobil 1 synthetic if you can spare the bucks. It's not guaranteed to fix it, but it helps a lot of times. When they drop the pan they clean out all the old gunk and metal that's settled there and change or clean the filter. Not doing that every 30,000 miles or so is what kills most transmissions.
Mechanics have an old wives tale that changing fluid on an old transmission can make it go bad, but that's just because so many people try to fix one that way and it goes bad anyway, so they blame the fluid change.

Answer 3

Are you hearing occaisional but increasing noise like popping sounds in the front end while turning? The only reason i'm asking is cause i had a similar problem that i thought was a tranny slipping - and lurching upon initial takeoff. I narrowed everything down and ruled out certain things, and what i eventually found was shot bearings in a wheel hub, so bad that a bearing race was chewed up to the point of snapping in half and the bearings were getting caught in the break or groove in the race and making the car jump and lurch. I replaced the hub myself , no more problems.