Transmission swap, need some advice

[themachine]

Hey guys,

As i come to a conclusion that my transmission is on its way out and winter is knocking on my door, i gotta make a tough decision on which route i should take.

99 Accord EX I4, 185k miles. AT transmission

My transmission was rebuilt few years back. At this point, first to second gear is really hard. Shifts smooth in all gears after few mins of struggle. I'm thinking the colder it gets the tougher this will be.
Fluid was changed a month ago along with front and side mounts.
This hard shifting only happens in the morning or if the car sits overnight.




I would've stuck with it till the end but lately, it's been shaking hard in the front end and turning off when i press on the break. Maybe it needs a tune up (distributor cap etc..). This happens only in the first few mins of driving. Not everyday but enough.


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Anyway, i'm preparing for the worst and hoping for the best

I looked around in my area and i have two choices

Either i get a "jdm low mileage' transmission which i'm yet find anyone that successfully swapped it .
This will cost me $350 - $400, warranty for 90 days. No labor included. If they swap it for me, labor (+ $250) will be part of the warranty.

OR

My mechanic found a regular transmission with 168Km on it so about 104k miles.
Parts and labor included will be about $800. Warranty for 90days including labor.
My mechanic is willing to do this as this transmission is coming from one of his supplier.
I've called around and found one from junkyard, with the exact same KM so that's probably his supplier.

I wish i could go the rebuilt route but i just don't have that type of funds right now and i'm saving to buy a new car in about 6 months.

I'm still not willing to let go of my car as i had it for the longest time and it's been good to me except the transmission.

Any advice or recommendation will be appreciated guys

 

[BlkCurrantKord]

Hard shifts on cold mornings are kinda normal. Does it shift fine after it's warmed up for a few miles? Is it only shifting hard after it sits all night or is it after it sits no matter how long. I'm 90% sure your transmission is fine and it's all in your head.

If it was rebuilt, didn't it come with a warranty? It should have, take it to whoever rebuilt it and have them fix it.

 

[xci.ed6]

change fluid. Honda atf. really. I know fluids, this is the ONLY place you get what you need.

Ok, change once, wait 50 mi, check it, change it, wait 50 miles, check it, change it. Let us know what you find.

Stock trans holds ~9qt, each change does ~3qt. 3 get's you close enough. Think of doing the next ~5,000 mi in, then I go ~10k.

 

[themachine]

Hard shifts on cold mornings are kinda normal. Does it shift fine after it's warmed up for a few miles? Is it only shifting hard after it sits all night or is it after it sits no matter how long. I'm 90% sure your transmission is fine and it's all in your head.

If it was rebuilt, didn't it come with a warranty? It should have, take it to whoever rebuilt it and have them fix it.

It shifts very hard only in the morning. After the first shift, i get a heavy hiccup, like a car just hit my bumper.

It has to be overnight to have these symptoms. It shifts very smooth, like nothing wrong with it after it goes through few shifts.
If the car sits for few hours, it still fine. It really has to sit at least 8 hrs or more to have these symptoms.
I still gotta do a tune up because because the car shakes and turns off while its struggling to shift in the mornings.

The rebuilt came with a year warranty and that was years ago. I really dont trust those guys either.

I spoke with a guy that owns a coupe, he's experiencing that jerk in the morning too. But honestly, it was never like this before so i know something is def wrong with the transmission.

 

[themachine]

change fluid. Honda atf. really. I know fluids, this is the ONLY place you get what you need.

Ok, change once, wait 50 mi, check it, change it, wait 50 miles, check it, change it. Let us know what you find.

Stock trans holds ~9qt, each change does ~3qt. 3 get's you close enough. Think of doing the next ~5,000 mi in, then I go ~10k.

Ok, i will do the drain and refill three times. Hopefully this will help. It just weird that it works very well after 5-10mins of hard shifting.

 

[drcliff]

Fluid change one month ago?
Tranny is sluggish when the fluid's cold?

Change the fluid. For whatever reason, your tranny isn't happy about that new fluid when it's cold.

 

[themachine]

actually the transmission is leaking from the axle, i've changed the seal already but its still leaking. Transmission only shifts bad when i'm losing some fluid. I just usually top it up in the morning if needed and im good to go. I'm gonna need a permanent solution though.

 

[twofast4u]

001stunna did the swap. you should pm him.

 

[themachine]

001stunna did the swap. you should pm him.

Thanks, i've sent him a pm