1998 Acura Integra transmission problem, maybe cooling syst

98AINC

MEMBER
1998 ACURA INTEGRA
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
228,300 MILES

My 98 Acura Integra GSR had about no acceleration last week. I checked under the hood and saw the (automatic) transmission fluid dipstick was loose. I put it back in place after checking and found that the fluid was about gone, added more fluid (dexron6 from auto supply store) plus Rislone transmission additive and this fixed the acceleration problem. I noticed the coolant reservior was empty and filled it too. I've since noticed the coolant is definitely leaking from a corroded hose connection which looks like it can be fixed w/a new hose.

The real problem is that I've noticed a decline in acceleration and when I put posterboard under the car (gravel driveway, wanted to catch & see what's leaking) I saw what looks like red-brown transmission fluid. With the automatic transmission, I don't know how to check for any leaks because I can barely get to the dipstick and not sure of what to check on the transmission itself.

Please help.

4 Replies

BLACKOP555

MECHANIC
10,371 POSTS

Are you sure you did not overfill the transmission when you filled it?

Best bet would be take it in and have them examine the transmission on a lift that way you can see where its leaking from. May be a bad pan gasket, or a loose drainage bolt, or it was overfilled and it overflowed out.

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Thursday, April 10th, 2008 AT 7:58 PM

98AINC

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2 POSTS

I added 5qt of atf fluid, plus the additive. From reading the repair manual I know know the capacity is just under 6qt for the atf. It's very possible I overfilled. When I checked the atf dipstick after cleaning it, there was still fluid on it.

After reading part of the manual and seeing the picture that shows the atf cooling hoses, I wonder if the atf is leaking into the cooling system or vice versa.

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Thursday, April 10th, 2008 AT 8:55 PM

EKSINE

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1 POST

I'm going to have to back up blackop555's suspicion that the atf was overfilled. On my accord the atf is about 6 quarts total taking into account that the torque converter holds 3-3.5 quarts so that a drain and fill is roughly 2.7-2.8 quarts. At the risk of making you seem foolish, but check your manual again that the capacity you stated is for the entire system and that a drain and fill is actually not 5-6 quarts. That really sunds too high although this is my best guess not knowing the fluid capacity in your specific car. Use your atf dipstick to double check, the fluid should be between the two markings. Check both sides of the dipstick to get a better reading

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Thursday, May 15th, 2008 AT 3:50 PM

BLACKOP555

MECHANIC
10,371 POSTS

As eksine says, half of the trans fluid is in the torque convertor so if you put in 6 more quarts including the additive and there was 3 leftover, you have 9 quarts in it.

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Friday, May 16th, 2008 AT 7:14 AM