Honda Car Forum

Hi all,

I've made some observations on my 98 Accord Ex (Automatic) and have some
questions.

When I press the gas pedal half way and the car is changing gears there's a
slight pause and a "dive" on the car's front. The pause lasts between
500ms-1sec. I'm wondering wether this is fuel or transmission related. Any
ideas/suggestions?

Btw, I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and cleaned the spark plug wires.
After spark plug replacement car runs smoother but still hesitates on gear
change as described above.

Thanks!

--Viktor

In article <V92dnU8boORDha3d4p2dnA@comcast.com>, "electricked"
<NO_EMALS_PLEASE> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I've made some observations on my 98 Accord Ex (Automatic) and have some
> questions.
>
> When I press the gas pedal half way and the car is changing gears there's a
> slight pause and a "dive" on the car's front. The pause lasts between
> 500ms-1sec. I'm wondering wether this is fuel or transmission related. Any
> ideas/suggestions?
>
> Btw, I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and cleaned the spark plug wires.
> After spark plug replacement car runs smoother but still hesitates on gear
> change as described above.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Viktor

I'm certainly not an expert on automatic transmissions but based on what
you have said--it appears to me to be a transmission problem since the
problem only happens when the gears are changing. I advise you to take it
to a transmission shop and have them check it out--it's possible that they
can easily fix the problem by making some adjustments. If they try to
charge you a huge amount of money--don't pay it since I don't believe it's
a major problem.

> I've made some observations on my 98 Accord Ex (Automatic) and have some
> questions.
>
> When I press the gas pedal half way and the car is changing gears there's a
> slight pause and a "dive" on the car's front. The pause lasts between
> 500ms-1sec. I'm wondering wether this is fuel or transmission related. Any
> ideas/suggestions?
>
> Btw, I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and cleaned the spark plug wires.
> After spark plug replacement car runs smoother but still hesitates on gear
> change as described above.

Some ECMs will retard timing during shifts to make life a little
easier for the transmission. This is another area to look into.

I think they are saying take the car in and have it looked at


"electricked" <no_emails_please> wrote in message
news:gvednQkhgsW78azdRVn-ug@comcast.com...
> Are you saying that's the way it should be or does it need any
> fix/adjustments?
>
> Thank you!
>
> --Viktor
>
> <null_pointer@nowhere.com.net.edu.gov.de> wrote in message
> news:e4j230piu1ielfd3n5sov9nac1dlad3v5e@4ax.com...
> > > I've made some observations on my 98 Accord Ex (Automatic) and have
some
> > > questions.
> > >
> > > When I press the gas pedal half way and the car is changing gears
> there's a
> > > slight pause and a "dive" on the car's front. The pause lasts between
> > > 500ms-1sec. I'm wondering wether this is fuel or transmission related.
> Any
> > > ideas/suggestions?
> > >
> > > Btw, I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and cleaned the spark plug
> wires.
> > > After spark plug replacement car runs smoother but still hesitates on
> gear
> > > change as described above.
> >
> > Some ECMs will retard timing during shifts to make life a little
> > easier for the transmission. This is another area to look into.
> >
>
>

Are you saying that's the way it should be or does it need any
fix/adjustments?

Thank you!

--Viktor

<null_pointer@nowhere.com.net.edu.gov.de> wrote in message
news:e4j230piu1ielfd3n5sov9nac1dlad3v5e@4ax.com...
> > I've made some observations on my 98 Accord Ex (Automatic) and have some
> > questions.
> >
> > When I press the gas pedal half way and the car is changing gears
there's a
> > slight pause and a "dive" on the car's front. The pause lasts between
> > 500ms-1sec. I'm wondering wether this is fuel or transmission related.
Any
> > ideas/suggestions?
> >
> > Btw, I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and cleaned the spark plug
wires.
> > After spark plug replacement car runs smoother but still hesitates on
gear
> > change as described above.
>
> Some ECMs will retard timing during shifts to make life a little
> easier for the transmission. This is another area to look into.
>

"CaptainKrunch" <nothing@nobody.com> wrote in message
news:fvudnf-3S4NyFazdRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> I think they are saying take the car in and have it looked at

I understand and I will. But is it normal for an automatic transmission to
do that? I've had all manuals until now and this is my first auto.

--Viktor

electricked wrote:
>
> "CaptainKrunch" <nothing@nobody.com> wrote in message
> news:fvudnf-3S4NyFazdRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> > I think they are saying take the car in and have it looked at
>
> I understand and I will. But is it normal for an automatic transmission to
> do that? I've had all manuals until now and this is my first auto.
>
> --Viktor
====================

Viktor,

Think of it this way: The tranny had to get energy from somewhere to
change 'state'. Dropping to a lower gear while decelerating wouldn't
need any input of energy, but to kick itself into a higher gear while
accelerating it needs a small boost, which it 'stole' by interrupting
the acceleration curve.

On a manual transmission, you would have interrupted the acceleration by
backing off the gas just as you shifted, too. That's how I've always
pictured it, anyway. :-)

'Curly'

===============

electricked wrote:

> "CaptainKrunch" <nothing@nobody.com> wrote in message
> news:fvudnf-3S4NyFazdRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> > I think they are saying take the car in and have it looked at
>
> I understand and I will. But is it normal for an automatic transmission to
> do that? I've had all manuals until now and this is my first auto.
>
> --Viktor

I tend to believe this is slightly normal. I have a 97ex v6 and notice this
most when the following
1 when the transmission fluid is in need of replacement
2 when you slightly decelerate then step gently back on the gas there is a
small delay from when you step to when you accelerate.

btw the 97 automatic in my opinion is horrible at deciding when to shift,
frankly its just plain wrong. it seems to shift to the highest possible gear
way way to often, when you accelerate quickly it will often wait 3 seconds
downshift 2 gears rev to 5800 rpm then upshift 1 gear 1 second later upshift
agian. or worse yet it will downshift 2 gears rev to 5800 (at this time Im
letting off the throttle) and it will hover somewhere between gears maintaing
5800 rpm for 3-5 seconds before deciding what to do.

In cases like this, its very irritating to have the 3 second delay, when a
single quick upshift would have sufficed.

My work around is just to lock it into D3 for round the town driving, and D4
if Im expecting highway speeds.

>Viktor,
>
>Think of it this way: The tranny had to get energy from somewhere to
>change 'state'. Dropping to a lower gear while decelerating wouldn't
>need any input of energy, but to kick itself into a higher gear while
>accelerating it needs a small boost, which it 'stole' by interrupting
>the acceleration curve.
>
>On a manual transmission, you would have interrupted the acceleration by
>backing off the gas just as you shifted, too. That's how I've always
>pictured it, anyway. :-)
>
>'Curly'

Thanks for the reply Curly. Are you saying it could be a power issue; i.e.
might need to replace battery/alternator? I haven't replaced neither of
those in a while so it might need replacement, especially the alternator. I
checked the batter voltage the other day in the freezing wether and it
seemed fine (12.5 or so... could be a little more I guess but it's a
decently old batter). And I'm saying replacing since I like my cars running
smooth. Even though if it's normal for the car to disconnect like that for a
while, especially in cold weather, I'll make it run smooth if possible. So
my question now is, can I make it change gears smoother by replacing
alternator with more powerful, putting a brand new battery, or whatever else
might need to be replaced. Also, I'll do a transmission oil change soon
since I did that about 6 months ago if not more.

--Viktor

> I tend to believe this is slightly normal. I have a 97ex v6 and notice
this
> most when the following
> 1 when the transmission fluid is in need of replacement
> 2 when you slightly decelerate then step gently back on the gas there is a
> small delay from when you step to when you accelerate.
>
> btw the 97 automatic in my opinion is horrible at deciding when to shift,
> frankly its just plain wrong. it seems to shift to the highest possible
gear
> way way to often, when you accelerate quickly it will often wait 3
seconds
> downshift 2 gears rev to 5800 rpm then upshift 1 gear 1 second later
upshift
> agian. or worse yet it will downshift 2 gears rev to 5800 (at this time
Im
> letting off the throttle) and it will hover somewhere between gears
maintaing
> 5800 rpm for 3-5 seconds before deciding what to do.
>
> In cases like this, its very irritating to have the 3 second delay, when
a
> single quick upshift would have sufficed.
>
> My work around is just to lock it into D3 for round the town driving, and
D4
> if Im expecting highway speeds.

I think the ECU stores the driving practices and then uses that to calculate
how to change the gears. For example when the cold weather comes, my honda
goes crazy. Starts changing too early, or too late, but once I reset the
ECU, and accelerate smoother and slower, it stores that and then it drives
great. On the last ECU reset though, it fixed the incorrect gear-change
timing, but now it pauses on gear changes.

Also, something that is probably nothing to do with power/tranny is that
sometimes when I press hard on the gas, more than half, it doesn't
immediately change to higher gear, but does nothing for a second, and then
all of a sudden starts revving up. Could it be that the fuel filter needs
change? I haven't changed it for as long as I remember (couple years maybe).

--Viktor