Heat

'99 Honda Accord, I4, ~ 145,000 miles, manual transmission, original clutch

Last night as I was driving down a side street I shifted into maybe third or fourth and the engine started "coughing" and it died. I can start it but it keeps kicking, I can physically feel the engine jumping, like if I were to start the car in third or fourth gear...

The engine will not stay running even if the clutch is in (and the clutch feels fine), shifting into different gears doesn't help either.

Does this sound like the clutch has gone bad? It is like the car is stuck in third or fourth gear. The way to test it would be to have somebody push me to about 30 mph and then try to start the car, which I could do if needed, but I thought I'd see what your opinions are.

Over four different vehicles I have put 300,000 or 350,000 miles on them and have never had to replace a clutch so I don't know the symptoms.

If you think it is the clutch, what is a ballpark price on the 6th generation? ~ $600 or $700?

Edited to add that I changed the manual transmission fluid about 4 years ago with Honda fluid. Here is the thread I made on the fluid change, now a part of the FAQ: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/manual-transmission-fluid-change-info-6th-generation-2567087/

Thanks!

Heat

Update: I had it towed to the mechanic. Preliminary diagnosis: blown head gasket. The clutch feels fine (!). He spent about 30 or 45 seconds cranking the car, it wouldn't start but it would be rum rum rum RUM rum rum rum RUM rum rum rum RUM etc.

He'll spend more time on Monday though he said if it is the head gasket I would be looking at $1,000 to $1,200, and when the compression is increased by replacing a head often other seals will start leaking / burning oil. That is, would I want to do the work considering that the clutch still needs to be replaced at some point, and my vapor emission control system is shot (which leaves the check engine light on all the time) - how much do I want to spend on an almost 16 year old car with 145,000 miles?

I'll wait to see what he says on Monday.

holmesnmanny

wut were the results of the compression test?


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Heat

The compression test will be done on Monday but my guess is blown head gasket.

Short story: It has been burning about a quart of oil every 750 to 1,000 miles lately and maybe six months ago I noticed it was about 3 or 3.5 quarts low.

Long story: I paid his shop to replace the timing belt about 10,000 miles ago. They didn't put back whichever seal correctly and I was burning oil. This car had not burned a drop of oil before then so I was not in the habit of checking. I happened to be changing the spark plug wires and noticed oil in the spark plug sockets, ended up adding about 3.5 quarts to get it back to "full". They did change the seal at no cost but the damage apparently had already been done.

maystg

Damn i would talk to them about them covering an engine replacement, oil and compression could be getting past the piston rings. because you said it all happened when they touched it to do the timing belt

holmesnmanny

I really can't believe you're letting those idiot mechanics take you for a ride.

Sounds like your engine has been destroyed by them. And you're coming back for more.

Jeff C

Depending on the condition of the rest of the car, I would say its worth it for sure. Mine has has 284k on it and I would put in a new engine in a heart beat if that's what it needed.

lmarzan

I have a 1998 Accord Sedan EX 5 speed. I bought the car new and never had problems except having to change the battery. Recently I started having this problem of being unable to shift -- it always happens from neutral or first or reverse. It also happens when I'm in stop-and-go traffic or trying to parallel park in a tight space -- so lots of shifting back and forth. Heat's problem popped up when I was searching for manual gears getting stuck. Any thoughts for me???