My car was stolen a few weeks ago, and from the condition it is in, they obviously took it for a pretty heavy joyride (1990 Honda Accord Automatic Trans.).It has a fairly new transmission and engine (less than 2 years old), and was running great before they took it; now, however, it has trouble shifting in the morning when it is cold, (will stay in 1st gear, and wo not shift out), and once it is warmed up, it will shift, but it revs up between each shift, and grabs very heavily (l know Honda is shift hard but this is far from normal).Guy at the body shop said it was most likely a messed up cylinder inside the transmission from them running it in L1 (low gear).Insurance wont touch it because they say it is not a result of theft, so w/e.

My questions is, could it be a cylinder of some sort within the transmission? If so, how much would a repair cost? What else could it be?

It could be that, but it could also be a bad torque converter. Take it to Avco Transmissions and let them look at it. They can give you a high estimate and then you can go find someone cheaper to fix it.

have you checked your transmission fluid? it could be something as simple as that.

Again, as someone said. Check the transmission fluid. If it is full, is it red or is it brown? does it have an burnt odor? IF it is anything other than red then change it at least once but up to 3 or 4 times consecutively because less than half drains out with each change. Do not do a backflush. If the fluid is low, is there fluid on the underside of the tranny? Could be a seal leaking where a half axle goes into the tranny.

Do not go looking for help at AMMCO or some other transmission place. Go to ur Honda dealer if u think u have a serious problem or get a used tranny in good condition.

Use only Honda transmission fluid or at least a fluid which specifically states that it meets Honda specs.