Mikey21

I have a JDM GSR tranny with an OBX Diff completed together that my buddy help me with.The gears are good and the diff is brand spankin new. I had the gears pressed off and had the syncros replaced and the synchros kit came with bearings for the main shaft and two on the diff. Now the trans is on a stock LS Vtec moter in a civic si shell. I ran it on sunday for the first time and the stick shift is super loose... it goes in 1st 2nd and 3rd but on fourth gear its tough to get in you gotta move it more to the right to get in and sometimes I accidentally go in yo 2nd gear...reverse is tough as hell to get in and sometimes wont go in...I know I said this before but the stick is loose as hell!!! lol and it don't grind at all. I checked the shift linkage underneath the car everything's tight so i don't think its that...ohh and I know my driver side axle is not the right one stupid autozone people gave me the wrong one car wobbles found that out today, i'll return it and get the right one... and motor runs good, yesterday check light came on, car jerks, need new idle air control valve other than that it runs good. with all this said what are the what are the causes do you think for the loose stick and stiff 4th and reverse? please help thank you!

Mikey21

anyone? please help!

hannslebo

When was the last time the clutch was done?

Usually bad shifter bushings are cause for "loose shifter" - and sometimes will make the shifting a little harder.

And assuming you have proper amount of Honda MTF in the trans!?!?

jbpnoman

Did you do the transmission assembly, or did you have it professionally done? When you did it, did you verify the specs of everything? Difficulty getting 4th might mean the shift fork was out of spec.

And yeah, check your bushings. Replace with some good polyurethane bushings.

Mikey21

The clutch should be good cause it came from my stock b16 motor I had in the car and I been using it, and by shifter bushings, do you mean the shift boot?

Mikey21

I had my friend disassemble, rebuild and reassemble the transmission, I dropped the tranny off the motor and put it back on...my friend had a friend at a shop that pressed the gears off to put the new snycros on and had them press them back together for me....me friend said the gears were pressed a little to tight but shouldn't cause a problem whatever he mean by that... but what specs are you taking about because the only thing you need to put in specs is the diff right?

Mikey21

okay it wont even go into 4th or reverse anymore it'll move into gear but the car wont move. but, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stills works. I dont understand..the transmission works good it just need to get in gear but won't and really loose aahhmmmmm brain storming lol any ideas what it could be?

hannslebo

How easy does it go into 1,2,3??? Are they all normal when putting it into those gears? Or are they kind of hard to get in?

Shifter bushings = Under side of your car where your shifter goes down and connects to the shift linkage. However, I'm not too sure if those would actually prevent it from going into gear. I had bad shifter bushings one time after doing a swap, and it made it aggravating here and there to get into gear but never not let me get into a gear.

And as far as the clutch...did you inspect it when changing it over? Not to question your knowledge, but do you know what worn clutch looks like?

Mikey21

for the shift bushing you mean something like what this guy had wrong with his car? https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...place%3F%3F%3F cause this is what my shifter is doing...but is it possible that things in the shifter assembly can get loose over time? cause the car been in the garage for awhile like months, front end sitting on jack stands with the front end of the shift linkage were it hooks up to the tranny laying on the ground and the other end still attach to the car.. Can it get so bad that it wont go in gear? because i can get it in gear if i sit there and try like a billion times i can get it in 4th and reverse..but it goes in pretty easy in 1st, 2nd and 3rd but today 2nd was trying not to go in but i got it in lol and the clutch well...kinda...lol i just assumed it would be extremely easy to tell like burnt right?...lol

jbpnoman

Take it back to the guy who rebuilt it for you, and have him look at it again. There are specifications for the clearance of the shift forks, gears, syncros...every little tiny bit and piece has a specification is is supposed to be within. Not shifting into 4th still sounds like the shift fork is out of spec. If you ask him if he checked the specs on the shift forks and he acts like he doesn't know what you're talking about, chances are you should find a new transmission guy. Will it go into 5th?

FUBAR bushings wouldn't stop it from shifting into gear at all - it would just make shifting feel mushy as hell.

hannslebo

Yeah...im going to say the fork or just needs a new clutch.

jbpnoman

A clutch wouldn't stop it from going into 4th.

Mikey21

I don't think it's the clutch I been using it before I did the swap and I'm pretty sure a clutch wont go bad from just sitting in the garage mounted on the motor ....but yeah I'll ask him, I think I know where your getting at...you mean everything is just out of spec not pressed on correctly right? and you mean the three shift collars? not the shift fork outside the tranny but only the one that goes into 5th and fourth? I'd imagine it would be the cause of why it won't move in gear but would a bad shift collar also make my shifter loose? and if the problem is the tranny will I have to press the gears off the main and counter shaft and have them pressed into specs by a professional this time? and only replace the fork if its bad...

Mikey21

of course i'm still going to check the shift linage and assembly first again, I want to make sure it's not those first before I drop the tranny again and check the clutch again since I'll be able to get to it...and get a new idle air control valve and the right axles -_- fml LOL I'll let you guys know the aftermath...lol

jbpnoman

I'm talking about the shift forks inside the transmission, yes. If it's shifting 1-3 fine, then the first fork is probably fine. Your 4/5 fork is the one I'm guessing is not within spec. Gears don't have to be pressed to replace forks. You can just pull out the input and counter shafts.

A bad shift fork would not make your stick loose. That's more than likely entirely a problem with old, worn out shifter bushings. You can get poly bushings for like, $20. Quick and easy to replace. Just don't throw away the metal pieces - you'll need to reuse them. I might have spent a half hour hunting mine down in the parking lot after pulling the old ones out.

Checking the gap spec of the forks is a 5 minute job after you have the transmission out from under the car. Pop the bell housing off, stick a feeler gauge under the fork. If it's out of spec, as long as it hasn't been bent, it can be adjusted without needing to be replaced. If you paid a shop to fix your transmission, and it isn't shifting 4th, I'd say they did a **** poor job of it. It really wouldn't surprise me if one of the forks was out of spec.

Did you ever see if it would go into 5th? I'm assuming it won't go into 4th at all, regardless of if the car is moving, idling, or sitting with the motor off, correct?

Mikey21

okay it goes in all gears and reverse but 4th and reverse is really hard to find, 4th always slips in to 2nd and 5th you gotta push it all the way to the right and up really hard or i'll just get in 3rd. reverse is really hard to find like out of ten times i'll get in 3 times..lol i'm starting to think its the shift bushing, the rear joint bushing, thrust washer and extension mount cushion/bracket. imma order them, i remember you saying get polyurethane bushings, any brand suggestion?


and if it is the forks...how do you find out if the gears, synchros ect on the main and counter are in spec too? i want to make sure their in spec to so i dont have to take the tranny out twice..lol

jbpnoman

Honestly, I ordered shifter bushings from Blackworks Racing. When they arrived, they were actually Prothane bushings in a BWR box, for a little cheaper than Prothane bushings in a Prothane box would have cost.

After you replace the bushings, if you still have trouble finding gears, you'll want to find the Honda/Acura service manual for the car your transmission came out of. Alternatively, you could call your local dealership and ask them for the information, they might or might not be willing to help you.

Out of curiosity, do you have a short throw shifter in the car? If you do, try to find a stock shifter and see if that helps as well. I've heard of short throws messing with the feel of the gears, and causing popping out. I'm assuming you have the correct shift linkage for the car/transmission, correct?

Mikey21

service manuel for the spec for the tranny right? and i got a stock shifter and yeah the shift linkage is stock si. Everything is stock but the b18b block and the jdm gsr v4d tranny.

jbpnoman

The service manual for the car that the transmission originally came in, yes. Honestly, since it's a JDM transmission, I would try calling the dealership first. I've never dealt with service manuals for JDM-only vehicles, but I'd imagine they're useless unless you can read Japanese.

Since everything is stock under there, replace the bushings first. If the problem persists, have the bell housing cracked open to make sure everything is within spec. No reason to take off the tranny and rip it open only to find out that all you needed to do was spend $20 on some bushings, and 15 minutes under your car replacing them.

Mikey21

crap!! lol i need to find a Japanese dude!! LOL If it is in Japanese is it game over? lol

and i found the extension mount cushion on Blackworks Racing, but should I get the thrust washer and rear joint bushing at the dealer do they make Polyurethane joint bushing? or will oem do fine?


https://honda-tech.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1307947629

jbpnoman

The bushings you need to replace are the Extension Mount Cushion and the Extension End Bushing. Don't worry about the things you have circled in blue. On the shifters I've dealt with, that's usually either just metal, or a bearing that you never really need to replace, since they don't exactly see any kind of abuse, RPM-wise.

ef yu

i just made this for you.
If you need anything else let me know.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...inspection.png
btw this is for a 97 gsr coupe. i dont know what year your gsr trans is or if even the jdm one are the same( i am sure they are). I just picked a year that was in the middle. lol

heres a repair on the selector shaft.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...haftrepair.png
maybe the person who helped you messed up or forgot something. stuff inside the trans can be very confusing. washer going on the wrong side...gears flipped... etc etc

Mikey21

OMFG!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! AHHHHH!!! LOL


If I do have to open the tranny again I want to replace all of the slide hubs do you have a diagram of where they are? If you do It would be greatly appreciated!

Mikey21

Okay if it comes to it and I do gotta open the tranny again I must
1). check the shift fork and put it in spec
2). check the shift selector shaft assembly and replace anything if needed
3). replace the slide hub if needed...i dont even know what that is... EF YU help!! lol


My question is now is there anything else I need to inspect while in there? cause I never ever want to open this tranny again! lol. Things I know that are all good synchros, all gears, diff, bearing on input shaft and two bears on diff where the axles go are brand new... ohhh and most important of all how do I find out if the gears are in spec/pressed on correctly?

ef yu

here are some more.
i dont know what a slide hub is but i will assume you meant the synchronizer hub.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ftdiagram.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ftdiagram.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...bservicea.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ngtesting.png/