antaren

I have a 1990 Integra, I think with the b18a1 engine, and a manual transmission. I’ve been getting a gear grinding sound when I shift from 2nd to 3rd at rpm above 4000. It will also grind when going from 3rd to 2nd when the clutch spins the engine to 5000 rpm. Sometimes it grinds when going from 3rd to 4th at 5000 rpm. I think it started doing this four months ago, possibly longer. It does not grind when shifting from 1st to 2nd and from 3rd to 4th.

I think this is a problem with the synchronizer, but I don’t know much about transmissions. The transmission was a rebuild, its been 21 months installed, and I have probably put 12,000 miles on it (assuming I drive 20 miles a day). Unfortunately, it’s out of warrantee, although the shop has offered to look at it for free and call the rebuild shop about the issue.

Yesterday I drained the oil from the transmission. It looked purplish black, and my friend told me that it was burned oil, and a sign that the transmission was running hot. I should have thought to measure the amount that came out, but it appeared to be enough for 2 quarts of oil. We put back some GTX 10w 40 SAE into the transmission. The shop manual says it needs 2.3 quarts, but we were only able to fit a little over 2 quarts in it, probably because the car was not completely level.

Because I’ve only been properly educated in car maintenance over the past two weeks, I have no idea if the oil has been changed since I had the transmission installed. I have taken it to one Jiffylube oil change, and I had a mechanic tune up the car two months ago. I don’t think they changed the transmission oil, unless it’s standard procedure to do it with oil changes.

On the drive home, I noticed the grinding was less pronounced, and seemed to be getting less and less harsh as time went by. Finally a miracle: the grinding disappeared on the drive home from work! I am able to accelerate to 5000 rpm and shift perfectly, without any complaint from the transmission. I am surprised and pleased. My friend has suggested that we do another oil change 1000 miles from now, to help clean it up.

I do realize that most likely the transmission is on its way to failure, and I am shopping around for a replacement. I may have given myself extra time before it starts having major problems, or it could be too soon to tell.

Here are my questions:

Is the grinding issue a problem with the synchronizer, the stripper, or fluid not getting to the gear fast enough?

Could the clutch cable be the problem? What is the impact of adjusting the clutch cable bolt?

Is it common for it to be having this problem less then two years after its rebuild? Is the grinding problem very common? How many miles can it go before a major failure?

Is the purplish black color an indication of burnt oil or is this a different problem? Why would the transmission be running hot? What effect will this have on it? Is this why the gears are grinding?

Is there a definitive way to tell a transmission leak? How much oil can it loose before it reaches danger levels? Will not having the full 2.3 quarts in the transmission cause a problem?

Is it possible that the oil change solved the problem? How often should a manual transmission have its oil changed?

Does anyone know a website (other then ebay) that is selling a transmission for my car (1990 Integra, manual, probably has b18a1)? What is the model of the transmission that I need? Is there a way to identify the transmission?

jeremy moses

i would be very careful because i had a 1991 ls that had the same problem and i was bring it to be fixed and the tranny blew out because of a bad synchro. it shattered 2 gear 3 gear and fourth gears. i would have it looked at before u buy another one.

hatchling37

The grinding is from the synchronizer not being able to "synch" the speed of the gears when you are shifting. If you want to stop the grinding from happening, you could replace them (very costly), or you could look for a new tranny (kind of costly). Or you could double clutch, if you don't mind doing that, but it's really a band-aid, but it won't fix anything. It's more to prevent more damage.

The cable shouldn't affect the inner workings of the tranny. It only moderates the throw out bearing. That's not to say that it couldn't be disengaging enough to stop some grindage, but that's not the majority of what you're problem is, if at all.

No, it's not common after a rebuild. Only question is, how extensive was your rebuild? Just the bearings? Just seals? A comprehensive rebuild would actually include the installation of new synchro sleeves sets.

I wonder if those douchebags put in the wrong fluid when they rebuilt it. No, it shouldn't be anywhere near dark. Your transmission is (obviously) a closed unit, with no circulation to a cooler (like an auto transmission). It sounds almost like they put ATF in it. Which is not very good. It might have been something like Royal Purple, but I highly doubt they would do that to be nice.

Yes, you can see seepage or you see drips after parking for a while. Check around the axles and the long seam where the tranny case bolts down. And the fluid is really only about 1.8 quarts to full capacity.

It's possible that your new oil is now the proper fluid for the tranny, and it has the proper viscosity to get in between teeth and lubricate the internals as they need to be. Service schedule doesn't call for new fluid for many, many miles, but I try to change mine every year to ensure I have nice clean fluid in there. It's only 5w30 or 10w30 and a crush washer, so it's not expensive.

You can look at the Marketplace, or Craigslist, or you can try many of the sites that are very commonly advertised on here. Try password, or jhpusa, they might have trannies for sale. You could check your local wrecking yard, but then it might necessitate another rebuild, and I don't know if you're willing to go through that kind of uncertainty again. Just my thoughts.

gsrob

My car had a slight grind going into 3rd gear as well, 94 gsr. I replaced the tranny oil with Redline synthetic and the grind completely went away. That stuff is really good. It's been like 3 years since then and it has come back a little bit so since my motor is out for the rebuild I am going to have the tranny rebuilt as well and just take care of everything at one time. I would highly recommend trying the redline oil though. It may help the problem for a little while until you can either have it rebuilt or pick up another ls one cheap.