This may be a long post, I do apologize

I own a 92 Integra LS AUTO, all stock. I bought the car this past February and haven't had any major issue like this prevously.

Last night (12/22) I was sitting at a red light waiting to turn. Just as I was about to put my foot on the gas the gear seemed to slip. When I hit the gas the engine revs as normal, nothing sounds unusual, but the car doesn't move. At that time, I did notice the temperature gauge had gone up. There was no smoke from under the hood or anything. I pulled it out of "drive", put it in "park", then back into "drive" and it continues to do the same thing. I put it in neutral, rolled the car down the street and parked it. I then checked for any leaks and didn't see anything.

I went back this morning to see if anything had changed. I started the engine, opened the hood and checked the fluids. The coolant had practically nothing in it. Funny thing is, the fluids were checked yesterday at a shop and everyhting was fine. I looked down and noticed a small puddle underneath the radiator (about the size of a half-dollar). After that point, I shut the car off because I was afraid it would overheat and the potential of damaging the engine. As far as I can tell, the radiator has a crack. Would overheating prevent the car from driving completely?

Any help is greatly appreciated ! I'm a computer geek and no where near a car expert, that's why I came here.

Also, the car was last inspected at the end of October. Since having the car, I have not had one leak, this is the first.

 

unfortunately it sounds like you have 2 different problems, the over heat shouldn't have anything to do with shifting, sounds like there might be a tranny issue, possibly related to the torque convertor, hopefully it will be something simple like the shift linkage coming loose, but i doubt it, the coolent had to have gone somewhere, check the engine oil level(dip stick) and make sure it isn't full of water, that small of a leak wouldn't have drained you coolent dry, did you pull the rad. cap off or are you talking about the overflow tank?

 

I dunno too much about what overheating does to older honda auto trannies, but if too much heat can cause a loss of fluid viscosity in your tranny, it could slip?

Anyways, about the radiator... those things go out about every 6-7 years. That's just the problem with dealing with honda radiators, and it sounds like the car just went through it's second one...

What happened was that over the years, the plastic endcaps were exposed to stress from expanding and contracting at different rates, and eventually the radiator crack on this plastic piece, causing a massive loss of fluid...

So man, be a proper computer geek and bust out with that digicam! Show us exactly where the puddle is and where you think the crack is, and we can advise you from there. Also, the radiator is a simple install, and so you might be able to handle it yourself, or, if you don't want to risk anything, would be cheap to have done at a shop...

 

if the engine got hot enough to break down the tranny oils viscosity your going to have a whole heap of problems, which will be a lot worse than a slipping tranny, sometimes on a slipping tranny you can get away with just changing the fluid and filter, it is the 1st step, also the cheapest step, how far did the temp guage go? 1/2, 3/4, pegged out etc...?

 

The day after I didn't make any attempt to put it into gear. I started it up for a few minutes and shut it off soon after I saw the leak. I did check the oil and everything looked normal. I had someone else look as well to confirm. I plan on going back today, putting coolant in and seeing if it'll go into any gear. When it happened, the temp. gauge went to 1/4 and as soon as I saw that, I got nervous and shut the car off. I did speak with several people yesterday including my mechanic. He said put the coolant in and see if it's drivable. He apparently believes the heat may have caused the tranny to slip. I guess only time will tell. I do want to check / change the transmission fluid, yet I have practically no clue with the owner's manual, which didn't come with the car. Dumb question, specifically which engine do I have? I know I have a DOHC 1.8L non-VTEC, that's like all I know.

P.S.- Someone broke into my car back in October and stole my digicam, two large memory cards and 2 batteries, about $800 worth of merchandise. The camera from under the driver side seat.

 

Here's a photo of the car: http://www.defektiv.net/Car-(side-view).jpg

Isn't she a beaut !?

 

Well um, the picture doesn't work so we can't really offer opinions. The motor you have is a B18A1.

 

For some reason the complete link wasn't underlined so when you clicked it you'd get an error. If it still isn't completely underlined, copy the URL and past it into the address bar.

And thanks, after some searching I did find out exactly what engine I have. Effort appreciated. :c)

 

Hrm? I copied/pasted and straight up clicked, but still my computer could not find the host

 

An update..

I had the car towed Sunday and found out today my front axle was broken. I'm thinking it was related and overlooked after the accident I was involved in about 3 months ago (passenger side). I knew there was no way my tranny went on me. The radiator issue is being looked into.