Gregg Gruen wrote:
> My 1994 Accord seems to do something strange at highway speeds. It
> seems that the torque converter is locking up and unlocking
> repeatedly. I try to maintain a very steady speed, but I'll feel it
> unlock and watch the tach jump up ~250 RPM, then watch it drop it back
> down again. This will happen on flat road, but very much more so on a
> slight (and I mean slight) incline. If I use cruise control, the
> problem it's so bad, but still present. It seems like it's more
> sensitive than it should be. It'll just as much as every 5-8 seconds,
> especially if the road isn't perfectly flat.
>
> Otherwise, the trans seems to shift fine. Shifts a little rough,
> especially when it's cold, but nothing to really complain about too
> much. I did a trans fluid change, but I didn't use Honda fluid
> (changing again this weekend w/ Honda fluid after what I've read about
> that).
>
> Can anyone give me a recommended adjustment I can make? Could it be a
> bad TC solenoid? Or is this just a standard Honda auto trans? It's
> the first one I've owned.
>
> About 140k miles, no check engine light.
>
> Also, I've noticed two distinctive clunks when I put the car in drive
> from park, especially when it's cold. It's almost as if it's a
> two-part shift process. There's a slight delay between the two.
>
> I'm trying to take it easy on the car. I just bought it, and I'm
> afraid of any trans problems coming up already.
>
> Thanks
> Gregg
--------------------

The non-Honda fluid explains everything you described, probably.
Especially the really solid shifts. The short delay is famous on
Odyssey, but might get better after drain-n-fill. You'll have to do a
second drain-n-fill later, and be sure to do both of them when tranny is
warmed up, so you get a higher % of the crud into suspension. Let it
drain several minutes, then, if you want to be thorough, start the
engine for ten seconds and 'pump' out the converter by putting it into
reverse / D4. You'll get almost another quart out.

Some won't agree with that last part. . . . 'Curly'

P.S. Always mention your mileage :-(