Prypiat

I bought a used (fully dressed) engine and mated it to my stock transmission. To be specific I slid the old blown engine off of the known good tranny, then slid the new engine off its tranny and onto my known good tranny. I didn't pay any attention to the clutch components since everything should have been there.

I can feel the clutch is working fine from pedal feel but when the car is running I can't put the car in gear at all. Also when the car is in gear wroth the engine of I can spin the front wheels as if the engine were in neutral.

What have I done?

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

verify axles seated properly.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Can you shift fine with the car off?

If so..."The car is running and you can't put it in gear" issue means that there is some sort of disengament issue with the clutch.

How is the freeplay on the clutch? There should be about 1/4" as spec'd from Honda, IIRC.

Is it properly bled?

What type of clutch did you install? You sure you put it in correctly?

Former User

Please add car information.

Prypiat

Interestingly one of the axles had come un-seated. I re-seated although I haven't been able to run the vehicle since I remedied the axle.

As far as the clutch - The master/slave cylinder are fine. I left the transmission in the vehicle when I pulled the engine. It feels just like it did when the engine blew 6 months ago.

All the clutch components should be fine - They weren't touched since the (blown) engine was pulled. The pressure plate etc. are from the newer (unblown) engine.

Car is 1995 Civic DX 5spd

But now I have a different issue - I did a compression check by pulling all four plugs and cranking the engine. I installed new plugs since all cylinders tested good and the old plugs were pretty shot. Now the engine won't start at all. Seems like it isn't getting spark as it isn't even sputtering..

mk378

Always disconnect the distributor during a compression test. Cranking or running the engine with a spark wire disconnected is prone to blow the coil. So you have to disconnect the power wires going into the distributor so it doesn't try to fire into an open circuit.

Prypiat

Interesting - I was in a hurry and have never had issues just pulling the plugs without disabling the ignition. I figured disabling the ignition was for safety.

I have an entire known good distributor. What all should I swap? Just the coil?

Prypiat

Excellent call regarding the coil - I swapped with a known good coil and the engine started right up. This engine already idles better than my original engine ever did (original purchased with 160K, engine died at 180K).

But, I still have no clutch. Same conditions - Clutch feels fine. It even squeaks under the hood when I press it just like it always has. I bled it just to be sure and it is fine.

When I pull on the shifter towards a gear I feel the engine start to load. If I yanked on the shifter it would grind. Anything work looking at before I pull the engine back out?

Former User

Do gears change just fine with engine off?

I think it's time to drop the transmission and carefully inspect the clutch and shift fork.

Prypiat

Shifts fine with engine off. I just ordered a clutch since I don't want to have to pull the engine/tranny again any time soon. Clutch has 160k on it.

Interested to see what I screwed up.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

The clutch probably has broken or damaged springs. Hopefully you ordered an exedy replacement? That's the only aftermarket replacement that I've seen work without issue.

FWIW, its easier to pull the engine and trans as a whole if you're doing an engine swap.

Prypiat

New clutch (exedy) installed and everything seems to be working fine.

I'm fairly certain the issue was due to something (throwout bearing or clutch disc) being stuck due to rust. The engine got rained on the day i bought it. There was flash rust on the clutch parts. Should have checked before reassembly.