[imported]

My moms 94 civic ex abs sedan automatic has a couple problems I just recently noticed.

First, it seems to stay in second gear longer than any other gear. This is especially noticeable when in residential areas where the speed is always under 25. Example: it won't shift into third; it'll stay in second at around 1300rpm @ 23-24mph....unless I press the accelerator more. Is the second gear really this long, or is something wrong with the autotranny? Maybe its not supposed to shift into third at that speed or rpm? Oh, and it does this both when cold and fully warmed up. Tranny fluid is good (pink and correct level).

Second, when at a stop light, and brake pedal applied, the idle is low. I know the idle is supposed to be somewhere around +/- 750 rpm w/o a/c on, but at the stop light, it hovers around 600. It never dips below 550 however. What up with this? It doesn't idle rough or anything at that rpm, and i checked all the vacumm hoses i could find...could it be the pcv valve, egr, iac, fast idle, throttle body, barake booster, what?

The car has 70k mile on it. Had tune up at 60k (plugs, cap rotor, fuel fiter etc).

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[D16Y8mike]

i don't know if the 1300rpm in 2nd was a misprint, but if not i don't see why it would shift that early. at around 25, an auto probably should still be in second. i wouldn't worry about it.
as for idle problem, i don't even know how you can tell the difference between 750 and 600 rpm, or 600 and 500rpm.... if it idles fine tho, don't worry about it. that's nothing too abnormal.

 

[shorthand]

Adjusting the idle will run you ~90 (mayble less) at the dealership if you're worried - on mine its regular maintence around 60k I think.

The second gear is normal. 1300 RPM is about as low as you can cruise that engine - it hast to make revs to make any torque whatsoever.

 

[phatboy555]

yeah, was that a misprint...not sure about the auto's but in a stick, it'd be at around 2500rpm at around 25mph in second

but whether it's at 1500 or 2500 doesn't really matter (most likely lower than 2500 in an auto because of the gearing so the 1500 does seem more reliastic) because you're still in an ok rpm range. so no problem there.

 

[imported]

Well, i think actually it more around 1500rpm in second @ 25mph now that i look at it. So its normal for an auto? but sometimes it will shift into third at 25mph...

Yeah, the idle thing at the stop light: well, 750 is in between 500 and 1000, so its @ 750 when in the middle.
What i orignally tried to say earlier is that it [guage needle] hovers really close to the 500rpm mark sometimes...hence its not idling at +/- 750 rpm at idle (this figure i got from book and sticker under hood, no a/c, unless im wrong? i might have to check again...)...I'm afraid it might stall (on an auto??) one day at a stoplight...but I noticed it never dips below 500rpm. Its not "rough" at this rpm either.

Thanks for the help everyone tho.

Oh, how much are valvle adj at dealer? And how long do they take to do it ( i ask because it has to be done at cold...) havent had a valve adj yet...i know it should be done at every 30k, right?

 

[PLFDstreetracer]

yea its not bad for the car to idle that low when the brake is applied but for the tranny part might want to check your tranny fluid....i might be low