civic lockup clutch question

89 civic automatic, 150k.

last couple of days, the lockup clutch has taken forever to kick in.
when it finally does, its operation is solid and reliable and it holds
just fine with operation being just like normal. the problem is that
it's taking about 20 minutes for it to start working.

i know the ecu holds it off until the motor is warm, and it's been
colder here lately, but it's only about freezing, not the really cold
stuff most of y'all are used to. and it's never taken this long before.

no codes on the ecu. coolant levels fine. thermostat new. temp gauge
shows ok. i'm going to change the atf this weekend and poke about, but
are there any gotcha's i should look for? when a solenoid starts to
fail, are these usual symptoms?

 

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You know about Honda ATF, right? Another guy had a wimpy thermostat and
when he went at highway speed the rad would get colder and the temp
dropped. Tranny stopped locking up. Is coolant at MAX?

'Curly'

 

new oem honda thermostat.

exactly my situation!

yessir. i'm going to check the solenoid and clean the solenoid filter
this weekend - see if that makes any difference.

 

I have this same problem on a 1993 Nissan Altima...

But then again it has been below -30 C here, so can I blame the trannie for
not wanting to cooperate?

Usually, in normal temps, it takes about 5 miles of highway driving for the
lockup to occur. When its this cold, it takes at least double that, and
sometimes it doesn't even want to shift from 3rd to O/D for about 1/4 mile.

What is the temperature where you are at Jim?

t

 

it's been about 0°C.

are there any long term problems with the nissan?

 

followup:
today, the weather suddenly got warmer, and the problem disappeared! it
was still chilly yesterday and lockup took about 12 minutes. today has
been much much warmer and lockup took about 3. didn't get around to
doing the oil or the solenoid. did get around to finding a crx though -
101k, one lady owner from new...

 

I would say no probs with the nissan, it has 200k kms on the clock been
running like clockwork.

A mechanic friend of mine said that the fluid must be 'too heavy' thus
causing the problem when cold. I suspect a trannie fluid change with OEM
fluid is in order and would clear this up.

I would chalk both of our issues up to the cold weather... Come to think of
it, the same thing happens on my father-in-laws 1989 Toyota Van. That thing
is a beast, but hey how can you argue with 350000kms and no real maintenance
required? I don't think he's ever done the trannie fluid, and the plugs have
over 200000 on them... lol. He thinks I waste alot of money on my 98 civic,
as I try to maintain the severe service schedule....

Its been less than -20 C here.... finally its warmed up some, only -11 today..


gotta love manitoba winters!

t