"40,000 mile tranny's"
07-23-2003, 07:27 PM
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"40,000 mile tranny's"
40,000 miles my ***! Well, maybe a beaten and abused 40K... 
My car isn't any fun to shift. My old stock DX tranny was da shiznit, fun as hell the only missing ingredient was hp. Now, with my S1 tranny and Hasport shift linkage, the car is a nightmare to shift. My mechanic said the shift linkage was installed kinda crooked and is why it doesn't have a "nice feel" to it. My ACT clutch does not allow any adjustment and will be replaced soon because I hate it. It picks up as soon as the clutch comes off the floor even the slightest bit. Not good for daily driving.
Here are the symptoms:
A) It grinds the hell out of 3rd, sometimes 5th, and almost always reverse.
B) It is sometimes almost impossible to get the car in gear. At times, it can also be difficult to get it out of gear, but mostly when trying to get into a gear. There is often times a slight grinding sound even when it does go into gear. It is rather common for me to be sitting there rolling at about 15mph trying to find 2nd gear, then giving up and trying to find 3rd, only to go back and stuff the damn thing into 2nd. That is how I broke one of my welds broke on the linkage.
C) Reverse is damn near impossible to get into. It wasn't always like that, and I may be a little gunshy to even try to get it in reverse anymore because 9 times out of 10 there is this insane grinding noise, like 2 saw blades spinning and blocking the shifter from getting into reverse. That's the feel I get from the shifter, like even if I jammed it in it wouldn't go.
So, what do I do to be able to drive this ****** everyday as a daily driver?
Well, for one, it's not all the time, maybe 40% of the shifts to third grind, maybe 50% of the time it's really hard to get it in gear. Regardless of how often, it is a serious problem! Here's how I get around it.
A) When it won't let me into any gear, I can usually blip the throttle and it'll let me in. Sometimes with a slight grind, but it's pretty consistent.
B) Reverse is only attainable (again I'm gunshy of trying it anymore) with the car off. That is, everytime I need to get in reverse, I'll shut the car off. It is that bad.
Which brings me to another point:
When the car is off, I can go in and out of every shift gate with ease and precision. It's maybe a tad notchy but it's a pleasurable experience, the shifter goes freely in and out of each gate no problem. Once the car is turned on, all bets are off!
The final problem is something I just experienced today for the first time. I tryed it twice and it happened each time. I had the car in reverse and backed into my driveway. I was actually unable to get the damn thing out of reverse. It's sometimes difficult to get it out of gear, but this was not budging. So I turned the car off, except it didn't turn off. I turned the key and took it out but the car stayed on.
The only way I was able to get out of this situation was to release the clutch and thus stall the car, and take it out of reverse that way.
The car shuts off fine all other times. First time this ever happened was today.
Well, please offer your advice as to what may be wrong. Shift linkage, tranny, something else? Anyone experienced this or at least some of these problems with their cars?
Thanks for the help and as always,
cheers to H-T for being an invaluable resource
My car isn't any fun to shift. My old stock DX tranny was da shiznit, fun as hell the only missing ingredient was hp. Now, with my S1 tranny and Hasport shift linkage, the car is a nightmare to shift. My mechanic said the shift linkage was installed kinda crooked and is why it doesn't have a "nice feel" to it. My ACT clutch does not allow any adjustment and will be replaced soon because I hate it. It picks up as soon as the clutch comes off the floor even the slightest bit. Not good for daily driving.
Here are the symptoms:
A) It grinds the hell out of 3rd, sometimes 5th, and almost always reverse.
B) It is sometimes almost impossible to get the car in gear. At times, it can also be difficult to get it out of gear, but mostly when trying to get into a gear. There is often times a slight grinding sound even when it does go into gear. It is rather common for me to be sitting there rolling at about 15mph trying to find 2nd gear, then giving up and trying to find 3rd, only to go back and stuff the damn thing into 2nd. That is how I broke one of my welds broke on the linkage.
C) Reverse is damn near impossible to get into. It wasn't always like that, and I may be a little gunshy to even try to get it in reverse anymore because 9 times out of 10 there is this insane grinding noise, like 2 saw blades spinning and blocking the shifter from getting into reverse. That's the feel I get from the shifter, like even if I jammed it in it wouldn't go.
So, what do I do to be able to drive this ****** everyday as a daily driver?
Well, for one, it's not all the time, maybe 40% of the shifts to third grind, maybe 50% of the time it's really hard to get it in gear. Regardless of how often, it is a serious problem! Here's how I get around it.
A) When it won't let me into any gear, I can usually blip the throttle and it'll let me in. Sometimes with a slight grind, but it's pretty consistent.
B) Reverse is only attainable (again I'm gunshy of trying it anymore) with the car off. That is, everytime I need to get in reverse, I'll shut the car off. It is that bad.
Which brings me to another point: When the car is off, I can go in and out of every shift gate with ease and precision. It's maybe a tad notchy but it's a pleasurable experience, the shifter goes freely in and out of each gate no problem. Once the car is turned on, all bets are off!
The final problem is something I just experienced today for the first time. I tryed it twice and it happened each time. I had the car in reverse and backed into my driveway. I was actually unable to get the damn thing out of reverse. It's sometimes difficult to get it out of gear, but this was not budging. So I turned the car off, except it didn't turn off. I turned the key and took it out but the car stayed on.
The only way I was able to get out of this situation was to release the clutch and thus stall the car, and take it out of reverse that way. The car shuts off fine all other times. First time this ever happened was today.
Well, please offer your advice as to what may be wrong. Shift linkage, tranny, something else? Anyone experienced this or at least some of these problems with their cars?
Thanks for the help and as always,
cheers to H-T for being an invaluable resource 
07-23-2003, 08:26 PM
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Re: "40,000 mile tranny's" (SeaBass)
Can't you adjust your clutch cable to change where the pedal engages the clutch? I know that on a stock cable clutch car there is a little wheel you can turn right above where the cable attaches to the lever coming out of the transaxle. Just turn it one way or the other to change where in the pedal travel the clutch engages. It could be so out of adjustment that the clutch isn't engaging fully when you shift, causing all of the grinding. Is the shift rod kinked or bent in any wierd way? That's the only other thing I can think of that might cause this. Also try changing your transmission fluid to the Honda MTF, like the previous poster said. It improved shifting greatly even in my Civic with 230k on the odometer.
07-23-2003, 08:56 PM
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Re: "40,000 mile tranny's" (HF2ZC)
yeah sounds like a problem with the clutch, not the tranny.....follow the two suggestions above and you'll be in good shape 
07-23-2003, 10:59 PM
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Re: "40,000 mile tranny's" (.:s h a w n D:.)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .:s h a w n D:. »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just a qicky .. change your oil in the tranny to HONDA MTF see if that helps any 1.9qts i believe</TD></TR></TABLE>
Or you can get something better and use GM Synchromesh.
Not to say this will fix your problem for sure though. But from experience, the GM product works better..
Or you can get something better and use GM Synchromesh.
Not to say this will fix your problem for sure though. But from experience, the GM product works better..
07-23-2003, 11:33 PM
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Re: "40,000 mile tranny's" (guttedEF)
agreed, it sounds like the clutch is adjusted to close to the floor. (you, not your mechanic) make sure there isn't any adjustment left, or even replace the cable.
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