Automatic Transmission will not go into gear

[charlie2981]

Hi everybody, I just bought a 1990 automatic integra LS, and have a problem with it already. I just drove it home (30 min) and it drove perfect, shifted perfect.... I come to a stoplight, and when I start to go, it just revs, and goes nowhere. I pushed it into a parking lot, and turned it off. I find out that when I start the car, I can shift through all the gears, and they all work for about 8 seconds. Then immediately after 10 seconds, it will just rev when the gas is pressed in any gear, as if it is in neutral. Turn it off, wait for a few minutes, start it up and it will do the same thing. Yesterday, it was flashing the "S3" light, and the guy i bought it from, found out that when he put a new tranny in, he forgot to plug one of the sensors to the tranny itself. The flashing went away, and the transmission shifted smoothly until today. I got under the drivers side to look at the codes for the tranny, and it blinks 2..7..8..9.. I don't know if these codes are for what is presently happening, or perhaps from the plug being disconnected before, or even what these codes mean. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[jdmjim]

will it go in 2nd?

 

[charlie2981]

You know, I'm pretty sure I tried i in second, but I cant say for sure. I would go check now, but I had to leave it in a lot and walk home. I do know that when I would start it, the light would show that it was is 2nd gear before then showing that it is in Park.

 

[jdmjim]

you check the fluid right after shutting it off.

 

[charlie2981]

No, I didn't check the fluid. The kid i bought it off, said he filled it to the top today before i came to pick it up.

 

[mattr89lxi]

my cuzins cutlass did dat shit to us on da day that we decided to go on a very far trip to da middle of nowhere! it was a very long walk home!!! lol like an all day walk it sucked! but anyways his tranny was f*ckd and would do the same thing, it would only work for a couple seconds and then we would have to wait a while n let it cool down befor it would work again his would still work in seconds tho sometimes!

 

[charlie2981]

'm hoping that's not the case, as the guy had a brand new transmission put in and only put about 100 miles on it.

 

[lowazzteg]

my buddy has an eg civic (auto) that he used to do neutral drops with all the time. eventually the trans did the same thing. ran fine when it was cold but once it warmed up it wouldn't go into any gear. Had to get a new trans... long story short. :???:

 

[charlie2981]

Yeah, that's what I am afraid of it being. I just went this morning, and it did the same thing of being able to shift through all the gears for only about 7 seconds, then nothing. This was with the engine both cold and warm.

And to jdmjim, I tried 2nd as well as all the other gears and nothing.

Now I just bought this car, and know nothing about it, but this is what I noticed today. All the gears on the shift indicator light up "Green" around the gear you are in except for "Park" and "Neutral" which light up in "Red" I don't know if this is normal or not, I am still trying to learn about this car.

Another thing to note is that the guy said he had a new transmission put in 3-4 years ago, only put on a couple hundred miles before sitting for 3 years until I bought it. I'm just hoping that the tranny is still good since it practically brand new.

One more thing is I checked the tranny fluid, and while pinkish, it was frothy.

 

[Xxoakclifftxx]

ok,listening to what you say the symptoms are there is multiple possibilities on this. i can't see it for myself so i will just tell you right off...you may want to find out what that code is first. that code is a signal to your pcm(computer). which sends the command to the rest of your cars electrical systems. just from what i here this is a couple things it could be. by the sensor being disconnected for so long and the car being turned on and off the pcm could have realized that that sensor was disconnected and set a fault to keep any damages from occuring.it may have worked before for a reason that would take me all day to explain,but ultimately that could be what that code is for. also your synchronizers could be damaged. he had a new tranny put in so whoever put the tranny in may have tightened the screws on the pressure pate wrong and warped the pressure plate.the list could go for days,but you will have to have that code checked.if the code isn't the problem then the tranny needs to be looked at.

 

[charlie2981]

Thanks for our help everyone.
The codes that I found via the sight-glass that blinks red underneath the drivers side are as follows.
It blinks 2 times then off, 7 times then off, 8 times then off, and finally 9 times the off, and just repeats.
Are these the codes you are talking about? Because I do not know what they mean.

 

[Xxoakclifftxx]

if you have access to a scan tool. hook it up to your computer and it will pull a code.the only way to tell what the code is though is to get access to the manufacturers records....i'm not sure if all data or a program of that sort will have the code interpretations or not. that light that you are looking at is a code to if it's what i think it is. i'm not looking at it so i'm not sure,but that code is could be a hex code. for a hex code.if it is then you have an electrical problem.which is what it sounds like it may be.but, like i said. i can't see it so i could be wrong.

 

[charlie2981]

Can you hook a scan tool for an OBD0 car? Because I thought the codes of 2, 7, 8, and 9 that I got were the codes for the car. It is at my mechanic now, maybe he has some type of scanner.

 

[charlie2981]

I just went and checked the MFRtoday by listening to it click when the check engine light came on, it clicked again when the check engine light went off, and there was a whirring sound of the fuel pump. This leads me to believe it is fine.
Also, I disconnected the battery, and pulled the main fuse under the hood to reset everything. After reconnecting, I now have no codes at all. The only time that the tcu blinks is once when I hear the clicking noise of the MFR, and it turns off when it clicks again. Then no more flashing.
I did notice that while now it can go through all the gears fine for a minute, it has difficulty registering when it is in Park. When I put it into park, it will not even register that it is in park (not lighting up on the gauge cluster) for about 10 seconds.
Also, is there any way that having old dirty tranny fluid could cause this?