I have a 1998 EX (AWD) CR-V that has 89K miles on it. About 2-3K
miles ago, I noticed a slipping in the transmission. When
accelerating hard, the shift from 2nd into 3rd gear would
not "catch" and the RPMs would go up about 2-3 thousand briefly.
Third gear would then engage and everything was fine. Also, when
the car was at a complete stop and you got ready to step on the gas,
the transmission would not be engaged in first gear and would jerk
into gear (fairly harsh jerk). I had the 90K service done on it
Monday of this week at a Honda dealer that I trust (a relative is
the sales manager and he makes sure everything is done right on my
cars). I told them of the problems and they said that the
transmission fluid change would probably fix things. I got the car
back last night and drove it around. The problem is noticeably
better, but it still has very slight instances of what was happening
before.

Questions:
1) Is this normal?
2) What about synthetic transmission fluid? Has anyone tried using
it to solve similar problems? I have had good luck with synthetic
in other vehicles.
3) I have seen some service bulletins that mention similar issues.
Does anyone have any more info on these bulletins? (01-069 -
Warranty extension on CR-V Automatic Transmission, 00-012 - Harsh
shifting Automatic Transmission)
4) Do I need to unload the car now before the transmission goes
completely?

Thanks for your help.

I also have a 98 and mine has done something similar for about 40,000 miles or better, I think the CRV has a very weak tranny in it. I am also not the only one who has reported the same problems on this list. My dealer supposedly said there wasnt a problem. I also wasnt able to replicate it the one time i had a service guys drive with me. I have about 12k left on my extended warranty i hope of it does fail it does it in the next 9 months or so.