"Rachel" <rkim007@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:165181bf-1a6a-4bd1-8072-22ee0b731181@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> The following ONLY occurs during wet weather:
> I have a 92 Honda Accord LX with automatic transmission. Starting
> from a stop, the car feels as though it's trying to start in third
> gear. Once we get going, I cannot seem to get it to go beyond third
> gear. On the highway, I can't go past 50 mph, and the tachometer
> stays around 3. I noticed that with the engine running and while at a
> stop, if I shift into other gears, the D4 light on the dashboard
> remains lit (i.e., if I shift to reverse, the R light and D4 light are
> lit). The car moves in the correct direction while in the other
> gears, but the D4 light stays on.
>
> I think the Transmission Control Module (TCM) is bad, but I wanted to
> get others' opinions. Is there a way I can test if the TCM is bad?
> Do you have any other ideas of the problem?

I had almost exactly the same problem (91 Accord), except the gear indicator
showed the selected gear, and my 'S' light was on. (Actually, the 'S' light
would wink out sometimes, and the car would drive normally. Then, it would
come on, and the transmission would go into 3rd gear.) It seemed to be
related to wet weather.

Here are some links that may help - or not
Flashing S light '91 Accord LX
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread...ostid=33094332 (old, some
pictures gone)

After reading some advice on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that the
TCU was bad. Some of the literature suggested it was worth a try to fix the
board itself. So I removed the TCU and exposed the board. Sure enough, there
was a bad capacitor, as evidenced by some obvious leakage onto the circuit
board. I bought a replacement at Radio Shack for $1.50, unsoldered the old
capacitor, cleaned the board as best I could, and soldered the new
replacement in. That did the trick, and that repair has held for about 5
months now.

If you feel adventuresome, I suggest you remove the TCU and look at the
circuit board. If you find an obviously bad component, try replacing it.
(Leaky capacitors are one thing - you can still see the specs on the side;
burnt resistors may totally obscure what they were, as you cannot see the
colored bands.) Chances are, you have not much to lose, since a rebuilt TCU
will probably cost about $150.00.

-- R Flowers