TLEnthused

Hello! New Zine user here but I've been lurking around for awhile. Recently purchased a 99 TL for the woman and it has been having some issues with the trans not wanting to shift into drive.

Symptoms:

1. Will go into Park and Reverse. When in Neutral it wants to stay in Reverse. When in Drive it sounds like its in Neutral but does not act like it is, cannot roll it in anyway like I should be able to if it was in fact in Neutral.

2. As far as I know the car is in limp mode. From many posts I have read that should limit the rev limit to 2500 or so in these and that is where it limits now.

3. I have absolutely ZERO codes in the system when I scan it. No CEL or Trans light (TCU? Don't remember what its called ..)

4. When I play around with the shift knob and move it through all of the Drive gears, it will drop into Drive when I put it into Neutral. BUT only one of the taller gears such as 4 or 5. Assuming that this is something due to limp mode from what I have read.

What I have tried to fix this issue so far and issues I had to fix to clear CEL/Trans lights:

1. The trans pressure solenoid on top of the trans next to the battery tray was damaged when I bought the car. Somehow someone had managed to crush the black connector so that it split from the solenoid, can't remember if that's side A or B. I located a replacement in my local pick-a-part from a 2000 Accord with the F22 vtec motor. From what I researched it was an exact replacement and everything did line up properly, just had to use the pipe filters from the TL trans and it fit like a glove. So I cleaned the filters, test fit, installed and all of my codes disappeared. Previously had P1758 and P1298. The P1758 is for the trans pressure solenoid and P1298 is ECD High input voltage. The P1298 was likely from the charger I had left attached and active while the car was running (derp). Anyways, both codes did go away after I put the new pressure solenoid in along with a new battery although I did clear them from the ecu.

2. Center console has been taken apart to make sure that the shift assembly wasn't too funky with spilt soda or something. Cleaned and reassembled with no results resolving the issue. While I had the shift assembly out I manually changed the gears via the shift cable with no new results.

Thanks for any input and for reading my small novel. Feel free to correct any assumptions I made! Again, thanks for any help with this.

3.2TLc

Wecome TLEnthused, seems like ya bought a project.
Obviously the crushed connector for the solenoid was a warning.

Getting the codes cleared was a start in the right direction, as was checking the A/T gear position switch.
Download a copy of the factory service manual for more detailed info on troubleshooting the tranny.

TLEnthused

Thanks for confirming that I'm heading the right way 3.2TLc. If anyone has any useful information or past experiences dealing with something like this I would greatly appreciate any help I can get. Will download a factory service manual to see how much more I can cross off the list of things possibly wrong.

TLEnthused

Well it seems that according to the fsm that one of the main symptoms of being able to move in neutral and drive not working altogether is excessive transmission fluid. I did check the fluid real quick earlier before work and it seems to be almost a full quart overfilled. Draining out the excess here in a sec, hoping this solves my issue and will post back here in a few to update!

3.2TLc

When draining out the excess.....was there alot of residual fines on the magnetic drain plug ?
Was the fluid dark or smell burnt ?

If in doubt of condition, drain & fill....replace with about 3 quarts Honda DW1. If ya wanna get rid of all the old stuff, a total of three drain & fills is recommended. To properly check the fluid's level, the car should be run up to operating temp through the gears...and then left to sit on a level surface with the motor turned off. The fluid level ideally would be within the dip stick's holes.

TLEnthused

Amazing, it was a full 2 quarts overfull! No wonder it was having an easier time moving in neutral than drive. Anyways, drained out the excess fluid after properly warming etc .. drove it around using that trick of putting it in neutral because the trans was still not wanting to drop down into drive and after about 2 miles neutral spun free so I proceeded to drop it into D4. It successfully picked up drive at that point! Stopped back at the house, another mile or two away, shut off the car, rechecked fluid level (it was good) and took it for an actual drive. While driving I noticed that when the trans was shifting in between gears it would take almost 2 seconds from the current gear to the next gear and it was very jerky. Next step is to perform a 3x3 like you recommended 3.2TLc. Current fluid has a very slight burnt smell but I chalk that up to the trans probably being serviced once in its 103k lifetime now. Thank you again 3.2TLc for pointing me in the direction of the FSM. Saved alot of time and frustrating man hours.

TLEnthused

Forgot to mention, no filings or anything present on the drain plug. Signs are looking good so far. If anyone has any warnings or anything else that I should do besides a 3x3 and general tune-up before I/the woman start driving it please let me know!