Chris56601

A little under 2yrs ago I bought a '98 civic DX hatchback (see sig for more details), at the time it had about 128k miles on it, no rust (for Minnesota, that's a miracle!). Well the used car dealer was the most stereotypical shyster in the history of used car sales... I wont get into all of it, but after over a month of owning the car, I had to send my uncle in to the dealership to threaten the guy to get him to finally transfer the title so I could get plates! I would have done it myself, but I live 4hrs from the dealership.

Not long after I bought the car, I was having a weird problem shifting. I wouldn't be able to easily shift into 4th gear, it would grind, so I'd push the clutch back in, re-shift, then let the clutch out, hoping it would work. I have a buddy who's a mechanic at a local dealership and he redid my clutch (pressure plate & a bearing for sure), which made the problem go away for about 14k miles.

About a month ago my car started making the sound of a bearing going bad in the front passenger side of the car, at this point I was going to have some work done anyway, so I had the passenger side wheel bearing and the CV axle replaced in addition to the other stuff (timing belt, water pump, belts, etc.), thinking this would solve the problem.
It is still making the sound, and recently has stopped letting me shift into 4th almost entirely (it grinds, and when it does go into gear it does not ride right, kind of chugging). It also makes shifting out of 5th gear difficult, it's hard to explain, but it's like once I get it into 5th it closes that "hallway" off and takes some work to get it back into the middle.

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My actual question (sorry it took so long) is, what are some steps I should take once I get a better transmission installed to make sure this doesn't happen again? At only 141k miles I'm just confused that it would have gone bad already, as my previous civic had the original tranny when I sold it with over 275k on it. Are there things I should check when the new tranny goes in, should I be doing anything at regular intervals to ensure the new tranny lasts longer?
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Sorry if my explanations suck, but I am not a mechanic...

Former User

Did you ever check the MTF level or drain and replace it?

Chris56601

A few times I checked the level, but never drained or replaced it (unless it was done with the clutch). After looking online, it appears that I should have been swapping the fluid every 30k, the more you know I guess.

Former User

Minimally.

And when axles are replaced, it's common for the axle seal in the differential to leak, so replacing the seal with the axle is prudent. Otherwise, all the MTF may eventually leak out and destroy the transmission.

And use Honda MTF only.

Chris56601

Just got the car back from the shop, had a Synchrotech tranny put in it and it seems to be doing great. Now that I know to be changing the fluid, I will make sure that happens, and hopefully things go smoothly until I decide to sell it!