Throttle response issue

So today I had to get on the gas after making a turn (Not the Civic thing - this was after that). I was probably going about 10-15 mph. I step decently on the gas pedal and instead of immediately taking off the motor revs up like it should be accelerating but it's not going anywhere then it goes into gear and starts moving. This concerns me, is this an early sign of a tranny going bad?

I notice also when I'm in a high gear (3rd or overdrive) and I abruptly push the gas pedal the car feels like there's a thud when I do it (not sound, just feeling). The best way I can describe it, it's the feeling of driving a manual car in fourth gear and pushing the gas then letting off and then waiting a second and pushing the gas and then letting off again. The whole car kind of makes this thud feeling and it's only under a moderate amount of gas. If I nail it it doesn't do it.

The latter has been happening for awhile but never seemed horrible but I figured I might as well mention it with this. I don't know if it's a bad motor/tranny mount or if the transmission is just supposed to be that way. I know if I do this in our Aurora it does not but that is a different transmission. I'm more concerned with whatever made the motor rev up like it was in gear and the transmission actually engaged after the motor was "accelerating".

Could be slipping, but it could also be a vacuum leak somewhere, causing it to shift erratically. Check the vac lines for cracks or disconnections. I had this problem once and my transmission was shifting all weird, giving a "jolt" sometimes.

If it is actually slipping, you may want to change the fluid and take it easy at those times when you notice it is most likely to occur. You will learn that it happens only under special conditions.

Aren't there a ton of vacuum lines everywhere? Would I need to check all of them or just the ones for the transmission?

All of them, but it's not that hard. Just look around for cracks or anything that slipped off. One way to make sure is to replace them all with new lines.

do you still have the original shift modulator in there? could be about time to change that ($11 cant hurt), but it sounds to me like your tranny mounts are weak causing the thud. fill them with urethane.
btw, i notice my car will do the same thing if i am going at a speed (like 35) where the trans tries to double downshift (i have skip shifts thanks to tony), but it just revs in N then slams into first resulting in barking of the tires, a hard shift, and my head hitting the headrest. not good for the tranny at all, and it mostly happens when it is too hot. i try very hard not to let this happen.

b/c the 96's are vac controlled it may just be that our cars gets confused more easily. since it is manually adjusting the pressure on vacuum instead of being exactly based on tps and pcm values. sometimes cars just do wierd things, but if you notice it happening more often then report back.

That "thud" is from sudden application of torque against clapped-out motor mounts. Most likely the rear tranny mount is worn.

Albertj

Check your transmission fluid!! If it's a tiny bit low I've seen that happen around curves - the fluid will 'slosh' away from the pickup in the pan and for a few seconds you have no fluid pressure...