Curly,

I had the transmission fluid changed in the 1989 Civic LX and it shifts
very, very smooth for a car with 123,000 miles on the clock. Especially for
an older Honda with an automatic tranny. The transmission shop used Honda
ATF--as they always do with Honda cars and SUVs that are brought to their
shop. The biggest part of the rough shifting problem was due to idle surges.
A local mechanic that only works on Asian import vehicles cleaned the PCV
valve and the idle surges are now history. The little car runs and shifts
great now! I'm using it to commute back and forth to work in while the
weather is crappy around here this winter--and the roads are laden with salt
and sand. So far it is serving its purpose really, really well.

At any rate, thanks for the tip on using only Honda ATF in my Civic's
automatic tranny. Fortunately the shop I took it to was already on to your
suggestion.

Regards,

J. Perry