Gmsd

Hello

i tried searching a lot but couldnt find anything with my problem. The car will allow you to move the shifter to any gear. Sometimes the gear selected will engage and sometimes not. When the transmission decides to engage, the car will drive for about a minute, then disengage itself and just rev. When engaged, the transmission seems to function normally and does not slip.

There are currently no transmission related check engine codes. There is a code for a knock sensor and an EVAP code, but those shouldnt affect the transmission. TRAC OFF light is on.

The transmission fluid is full and doesnt seem to have any off color or smell. Light gold color.

It happens whether the car is hot or cold.

Seeing as the transmission doesnt exhibit slipping, i am guessing the problem lies elsewhere in a sensor or valve or something like that.

This is a transmission taken from the junkyard which replaced a failed unit. Installed by previous owner 10k miles ago. Other than this, the car has been running well.

What steps should i take to troubleshoot and/or what may be common items that cause these symptoms?

Thank you for your help. I am helping my brother with this because he is low income and needs to get to work and take care of his family.

ArmyofOne

Thats a problem.

It needs to be red. I would venture to say your transmission has the wrong oil in it. light gold color would indicate a hydraulic oil such as -10w hydraulic or maybe a -5w. either way, no bueno.

It can be saved, just dump it. Don't flush it, just get a bunch of Valvoline Max-Life Full-Synthetic ATF and drain and refil a bunch of times until it comes out clean. On the last one you will want to drop the pain and change the filter (or clean the screen, whichever you have in your trans...I think 1999's had screens).

fortitude

The specific dipstick for transmission has an orange "T" handle on it. The color you describe almost sounds engine oil, which would be the other dipstick in the engine bay.

Gmsd

I was wondering about that. I know in some older Hondas you can use motor oil in the manual transmissions instead of MTF if you are in a pinch. Maybe someone tried to apply that here. If this is the cause, it seems strange that it would show up after 10k miles and not much sooner.

I definitely checked the transmission fluid. However, still might be engine oil! hah

crwys

Oh lord that's scary lol. Do a drain and fill asap. T-iv transmission fluid. 3.75 quarts. That engine bay looks too nice and clean to have transmission problems.

Also did you drive it 10k miles or did they? Maybe they aren't telling you the whole story

Gmsd

I just found that picture on the internet. I wish it was that clean!

My brother has driven the car for 10k miles. He said it had been running fine up until yesterday when this started happening.

nsghtbrwry

Yeah I'd drain and refill a few times with the aforementioned MaxLife Dex/Merc ATF. Especially since a '99 should have the later, problematic U140E transmission instead of the older, significantly more bulletproof A541E.

A good plan is to follow the procedure when rejuvenating Honda 4- and 5-speeds: drain and refill, drive around for 10 minutes to get the fluid hot, mixed, and cleaning, then repeat twice or thrice more. SHould give you about 90-95% new trans fluid that way.