i got an 01 civic ex and lately when i go to shift either from 1st to second or downshift from 2nd to 1st, it seems to be REALLY hard to get the shifter into gear and it also makes a squeak/grind noise. Could that be my synchros starting to go? i hav about 84000 miles on the car and have never drained/refilled the tranny fluid. should i try that and maybe put some lucas additive in with the refill and see what happened? i am really trying to avoid gettin a new tranny so i just wanted to know if this has happened to n e one else and if they did anything to correct it... if someone could let me know i would appreciate it--thank you!

 

My first assumption and reccomendation would be to do a full flush and refill on the transmission/transaxle fluid. Get ALL of the old stuff out of there, and refill it with new fluid.

If the problem still persists, I would suspect the synchronizers first and foremost.

Is the grinding/squeak coming from the transaxle case itself, or from the cable/connection?

 

to be honest it sounds like its coming from the cable connection but hey i could be wrong? its kind of hard to tell

 

maybe the bushing for the shifter are worn out?

 

my 01 did the exact same thing first year i bought it. they spray some kind of crazy undercoating under it. and the first winter , was stiff going from 3rd to 4th(mainly) , and 1st to 2nd , back and forth. if i remember correctly , it was stiffer going one way than the other , sound the same? could be debris in the shift linkage or under hood on the tranny where cables hook up. also i might add , never sit anything in the boot , makes it so it wont go in gear , lol.