How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

Im new to the civic but not Honda's. A little background, I just picked up my civic a week ago and after 3 days (first cold morning) I noticed the transmission slipping in the morning and since then its been slipping between 2nd and 3rd every time its driven after it cooled down. Now once it's warmed up (2 miles or so) and then shifts perfectly like when i test drove it (he must have had it nice and warmed up). The previous owner neglected to mention it had a trans problem and a few other minor problems which I'm working through now.:mad:

Anyway, I have been researching getting a replacement trans, rebuilding mine at a shop or rebuilding mine myself. I would like to tackle this but not if I can't find a good step by step thread or a manual that details the procedure. I'm not a professional mechanic but I do have a lot of experience with total rebuilds from dirt bikes to all types of vehicles...I'll save you guys/gals the boring details.:P I never jump in head first and I always read read and read some more before deciding to tackle something i've never done before. That's why Im posting in hopes that someone has a good link or possibly a manual or experience trying this themselves. So far I haven't come up with much on the DIY side of things. Also can anyone recommended a good quality kit?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any information:thumb up:

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

The exedy kit is pretty flawless for our cars being hat it is the OEM clutch kit that is installed in the first place. Or you can go a step further and get the stage 1 Exedy racing clutch kit witch I think it more responsive and more durable... You can honestly get away with just replacing the clutch kit and it wont slip anymore. But always remember to also get the flywheel resurfaced... Taking the tranny apart is not too hard if you have a helping hand. You're gonna need to take out the intake housing, battery, battery harness/tray thing, a few more other parts to really get started. Also you will have to take the axles out as well. Then you go at the front motor mount, making sure to have a jack underneath the motor or transmission. Take all the bolts out that attach the tranny to the motor and start to slide the tranny away from the motor. it will be hard to budge but if you rock it a little bit, they will separate and you will have enough room to get to the clutch kit and take it out... Then you can put the new one in. Really you might be able to find a book on it and read up a little. Basically, if you can take it all apart and put it back together, then you will be fine. Just torque the pressure plate on nice and tight, too.. I'm being kinda vague about the entire process but really, it's not that hard. Don't let it psyche you out haha. I did mine just this past weekend and i was like HOLY SH!T this is gonna be a PAIN!!! I took the entire transmission out, opened it up, replaced a few bearings, put it all back together, and voila. Done. One tip that might help you out is to take pictures along the pay, so if you forget how a certain part fits, you can review the pictures for reference as to how the parts fit back together.

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

I neglected to mention it's an automatic transmission. Sorry about that. Believe me I do wish it was a standard though. Hopefully someone has tackled this before, which its hard to believe no one or not many people have done this. I found a few posts on onther sites talking about doing it but no details and they even said it wasn't as bad as everyone thinks but they are really old posts. If I could find some directions (shop manual) detailing the procedure I would definitely consider taking on the challenge. Hopefully someone will come along with a link or info on a good shop manual ect. Heck where do the trany guys get their info when a new Transmission comes out? Thanks EM2abe for the quick response.:thumbup:

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

Not as bad as everyone thinks? Eh ... .... :devil:

Anyhow, if you really feel like this is something you're up to .. use one of the following service manuals to guide you.

Click this link and pick which service manual you'd like. Yes, you want this particular brand! Forget Haynes and everything else, you want Helm.

The best one (IMO) is part# 61S5C01 but they are currently out of stock. You might find a used one online, though. Good luck on your endeavor!

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

I noticed the transmission slipping in the morning and since then its been slipping between 2nd and 3rd every time its driven after it cooled down. Now once it's warmed up (2 miles or so) and then shifts perfectly like when i test drove it (he must have had it nice and warmed up). The previous owner neglected to mention it had a trans problem

Change the transmission fluid using only honda tranny fluid from the dealer.
Do not use a flush machine.

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

ooooohhh the dreaded automatic. lol. good luck brotha!!!

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

Rick, that's the thing the previous owner had the fluid changed 2 months ago when he had the timing belt done and then again last month at the dealer (that's when bells went off in my head..LOL). I'm thinking (he had the car for a little over a year) he had it done and it probably wasn't done before or very few times and the new fluid change probably did it in. Then he took it too the dealer and had it done there. Just a guess on my part. Other than that the car runs well and once I detailed the hell out of it looks really good now.

I'll check out the link to the manuals and see if this is something I really want to undertake and also check rebuild prices. The price is usually what gets me wanting to do it myself. At the least I would like to buy my own kit and let someone else do it that way I'm not getting some crappy rebuild kit that will go out a few years from now. I'm reading a lot of nightmare stories on these tranys and esp. the "junk yard" ones. Thanks "guys".

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

do you know what the difference is between the "out of stock" manual (2001-2005) and the next one on the list (2001-2005) ? They are described as the same manual except the first one cover the 05's as well.

I was planning on getting a Dealer repair manual this week, i usually only stick to the dealer manuals because from past experience those are 10 times better than the autoparts store generic ones (total junk). I was actually looking at buying one of these when I was searching last week.

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

Seems to be the only difference.

Helm's manuals are published by Honda MoCo. It's the same thing you'll find at the dealership, only it will be more expensive because it's at the dealership.

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

Just ordered it!

Rebuild quotes i'm getting so far range from $1800 - $3400...WTF :crook:

That's almost what I paid for the car :scared:

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

If I was in your situation I'd just buy one of these and call it a day. Fully rebuilt and cheaper than any of your quotes:

http://www.shop.synchrotech-transmis...0105EX-4AT.htm

Re: How to Transmission Rebuild Guide?
 

I'm leaning towards that at this point. :cry:

I think being less hassle will be worth the cost and it's not as bad as the quotes im getting. Besides I have too many projects to complete anyway so I'll just take the easy road on this one.