92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

Alright guys, I have a 1992 Honda Civic Hatchback and the transmission just randomly wont go into gear unless the car is turned off. Then it works just fine but it wont go into gear when running. I asked some of my friends and they said check tranny fluid, i got a diagram of the drain plug and the check/fill plug. I'm not exactly what to fill it back up with. It is a b16 with a b16 tranny swapped into the car, it is a manual transmission. My buddy said use 10w30 non synthetic motor oil, but i don't know exactly how to do this or how much to put in it. I'm also missing one of my transmission motor mount bolts, I'm not sure if this could be affecting it, but I need to get my car running. Any help is appreciated.
https://i.imgur.com/JmvUx.jpg

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

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Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

the clutch still has pressure and it still really stiff ACT stage 3, but my friend said it could be the master cylinder or slave cylinder, but im also missing that motor mount and wondering if that could be affecting the transmission getting into gear.

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

could it be spring or pressure plate, doing research but need help this is my DD.

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

Exactly which B16, and which transmission do you have? Yes, it matters.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

It is an em1 b16a2 block amd a b16 tranny

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

any ideas?

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

"b16" isn't a transmission case ID number. S20? S40? That's what matters for if you should use Honda MTF or oil.

Replace this mystical missing mount. They're there for a reason.

So will your car always not go into gear while running, or only sometimes? It sounds like your clutch isn't disengaging. Remove the boot from the clutch slave cylinder and have a friend pump the clutch pedal while you watch the small metal rod under the boot. Does it move?

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

check ur cluch fluid might need to upgrade the master cylinder for the clutch a stage 3 is kinda hard might be going out possibly the booster i dont know if there is a way to check the pressure or not

also check for clutch drag hold the clutch to the floor on level ground and rev to redline if the car starts rolling then ur clutch isnt disengaging start looking on how to get more pressure to the clutch.

also i second putting that mount in

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

just check your clutch master cylinder if there's any sign of leak inside, you can see it clearly by looking up in the pedal.

And try to bleed it, it might be theres a air in the line.

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

No it doesn't. You can run 10W30 in any B-series tranny. D-series is a bit different.

As for why it wont go into gear? It's got nothing to do with transmission fluid. There's a problem with the clutch hydraulics (master or slave cylinder bad) or there's something wrong with the clutch itself (disc spit a spring, bad release bearing, bad pressure plate, broken clutch release fork)

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

ok i have had to replace alot of clutches as a mechanic and here what you need to do.

1. look under the dash and see if your clutch master is leaking. if it oily but covered in dust it's just weeping and it's not the problem but i would look into a needing a new one soon. if it wet looking or seem to have a stream running down from it get a new one.

2. under the hood make sure you have fluid. dont jut look at it take off the cap and make sure.

3. pull the dust boot off the out side of the tranny and clutch slave cylinder. Then pull back the boot from the clutch slave and look for fluid. if it pours fliud out when you pull back the boot replace the slave.

Now if all the above checks out your problem is going to be with the the clutch set.

only three of the four parts of the clutch set will make this happen

1. pilot bearing. this is Most likely NOT the problem but if it's starting to lockup it will keep turning the input shaft.

2. the pressure plate has broken off a release spring. Not very common but i have seen it

3. Most likely as 9 out of 10 honda's i fixed had this. The clutch disk center hub springs have broken or popped out of the hub and gotten stuck in the pressure plate. Not letting the PP to release fully.

The throw out bearing could do this but you would have a very bad sound every time you push in the clutch pedal

also i spoke with both the tech and parts guy at my local dealer and ALL MTF is just synthetic blend 10W-40 with a friction modifier add to it.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

Honda is closed on 4th of July or I would replace that mystical mount today. I'm not exactly sure where to look for S20 or S40 on the transmission. But i have no boot on the salve and yeah i can see it moving.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

I will check the master cylinder and see if there is any sign of leak inside, and i checked inside of it and the fluid is a little darker, im going to go head and change it since ive changed my tranny fluid as well.

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

Thank you this makes sense to me. Could it also be that there is nothing wrong with the master or slave cylinder but there is just air in the lines. Could that stop it from going into gear since its a closed system?

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

It wont say S20 or S40 if it's a B-series. It will say S4C, Y21, S80 or something along those lines. And/or it will have a green VIN tag which will tell you what it came from.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

Thank you man awesome write up. My friend said my throwout bearing was going bad, but its not to the extreme you can just barely hear it. If it was the clutch disk center hub springs, i would have to pull the transmission to fix it right?

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

This happened to me before.

I ripped all the splines out of the center of the clutch.

Mine was unsprung, is yours?

If it will go into gear when the motor is off, then put it in 1st and try to start it.
If it makes a horrible noise, then it's the clutch disc.

Otherwise, check master then slave as mentioned above.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

You'd have to pull the transmission in either case.

Re: 92 Civic Help with Transmission
 

Yeah, I read B, and my brain decided to translate it to D. My bad.

OP, did you check your slave cylinder like I mentioned? D or B, that part of what I said still stands true.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

I think mine is sprung, and i bled the clutch master cylinder and the slave cylinder has no boot on and the fork was moving when i would use the clutch, when my car is off and i put it in first gear it will run, and if i stay in on the clutch it will shift through gears, but if i let off the clutch and try to get back in gear it wont go into any of them. I don't know exactly how to check master and slave cylinder other than it wasnt leaking and i bled the clutch, i could replace these because its not that expensive or hard. It's my DD and i have work and school so i need to figure if i need to pull tranny out or not.

Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

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Re: 92 Civic 5 speed won't go into gear unless engine is off
 

If you can see the shift fork moving, I'd say it's time to drop the transmission and inspect the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel.