Honda Car Forum

Please, no dumb answers, and im not a complete n00b..Automatic cars MUST have clutches right, how else would they be able to shift? i see a cable attached to the side of my automatic transmission that goes up to the throttle body and is pulled when i push the gas pedal. what does this do?

no

An automatic runs on fluid.A clutch is a circular brake pad inside the bell house.In no way are they the same. Do not downshift an automatc for compression either. You will snap the torque converter.By the way no matter what the dealership says. An auto and manual transmission will never be the same.The cable is a kick down. When you floor the gas pedal it tells the transmission to downshift.

Ok, simply-no way.Except-some of the drag racers have automatics with a manual clutch. This is the kind of setup where the trans gets smoked fairly often anyway, so why not abuse it.The cable you mention is to let the tranny know the throttle position, so without that cable the car would shift at very low speeds, and passing gear(auto downshift) would not work.If you want better performance from your transmission, you need to install a shift kit, and you may want a high stall speed torque converter, which lets the engine reach a higher rpm before the torque forces the car to move, therefore, more power off the line.

not sure about the cable question, but no you cannot make an automatic transmission manual as far as i am aware.































www.howstuffworks.com

They have valve body kits for a popular Chevy transmission, the TH350, that make it perform like a full manual. They also have reverse pattern shift kits. They even go as far as to have a "clutch" pedal. I'm not to sure how street-able these kits are. They may be fine for a young person who like to go fast, but mom may not like the harsh shifts. The high stall torque converters will make your car take off at a higher RPM. A few hundred RPM's is fine for a car with a stock engine. Once you start adding intake, exhaust, cams, and get in to some head work, you will really benefit from a higher stall torque converter.

No.If you manually shift an auto you WILL blow it.Trade it in for a manual and let somebody else enjoy it instead of destroying it.BTW, I LOVE manuals and there is NO COMPARISON for efficiency or power, but when you are tired and in heavy traffic an auto can be a life saver.

I have a 1997 Accord automatic wagon which I like very much. The transmission has a slow leak and seems (no pun there) that the gasket needs replacement. Transmission works great. However, my mechanic gave me the lowdown on what the tranny places would tell me (take it apart, rebuild, yadda, yadda, yadda) or my mechanic could drop it out & put in a used Japanese transmission (they change them out often). Now, called few tranny places and the price was approx. $1,500 give or take. The Japanese replacement was min. $2,000. This leak is very slow and I have it ck'd frequently. I asked about just perm. sealing the thing but my mechanic said I would never be able to open it, again. Considering the year and worth of the car, would this be such a bad idea? Or I can have a rebuilt transmission put in if it comes to that. Advice is appreciated.