millertime1388

Sorry guys if this answer is on here somewhere im just covered in tranny fluid and need some help. Just throw this out here right away i have worked on many rear wheel drive cars and can do about anything on them. This is my first honda and first front wheel drive vehicle. About three days ago i came across a 99 civic hatch dx for 1900 bucks. Went to look at it and found out it was a rebuilt salvage title and it has 196k. Motor was installed and only has 50k. It is the d16y7 motor (stock) with a manual tranny. It drove fine when i test drove it. So i talked him down to 1300 bucks and i drove away with my first honda.

The next day it started to make a clunking noise sporadically when accelerating. Stoppped driving it and went to honda to buy a few quarts of HTF. (honda dealer told me it took 2.7 quarts). Got it up on jack stands (its leaking pretty badly at this point). Took off the fill bolt first the then the drain plug. Only about a half quart came out. Put the drain plug back in put about 2.7 quarts in it then it slowly started leaking out the fill plug. Pulled out the funnel tube and 2 seconds later it all leaked out the driver side of the tranny (i belive its the axle shaft).

Please help me! Am i needing to do a tranny here? what happened all of a sudden?

b20hatchek

im not a tranny guy but the only thing that has happened to me where i lost all the tranny fluid was because my axle poped out of the trans, damn if i think of something else ill try and help ya out man

kaiba

New crusher washer and axle seal.

b20hatchek

nice avatar

millertime1388

crusher washer and seal? Is that what was making the clunking noise ? Or was it being low on fluid? Do i need to do the axle to? How hard is it to do yourself?

my99ekcoupe

Rename your thread to something more detailed.
Read the rules https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/threads-must-summarize-technical-problem-title-list-car-details-first-post-2809571/

millertime1388

Changed it sorry about that......

Former User

Thanks for coming up with a better thread title. I made it display in the forum thread list.
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Post clear pictures of where the driver-side axle inserts into the transmission or wherever you saw the MTF leaking from. There should only be about 1/8" gap between the transmission and inboard joint of the axle.

millertime1388

millertime1388

also i can stick my hand in there and move the axle by hand is this normal?

Former User

Okay, the gap looks fine. You can almost surely fix the MTF leak by replacing the transmission oil seal where the axle inserts. Get a new seal at your Honda dealer.

The job is pretty straightforward. Remove the axle, pry the old oil seal out with a flat head screwdriver and then carefully and evenly tap in the new seal just until it is flush with the transmission.

Tip: You don't need to remove the axle nut to do this job. Just pop the lower ball joint, remove the damper fork, and pry the inboard axle side out of the transmission. Be sure to protect the axle splines as you set the axle aside to do the work.

Former User

Do you mean turn the axle or is there a lot of side to side free play?

millertime1388

Not turn it i can move it up down and side to side ... my buddy told me this is typicall for a front wheel drive to have a little play for flex but i am unsure..... He also told me that i need to do the whole axle not to just do the seal (because its 11 years old with 200k) is it really neccesary to do the whole axel or will the seal do fine? And so i also need a crush washer for anything?

So would the seal be pretty bad for it to drain ALL of the htf i put in there ($30 worth gone)....Also my biggest worry is that clunking was it just from a the and it was a sound from the tranny being VERY low (only half a quart came out) also the old fluid had metallic in it. (How worried should i be) ........

Thanks again for all the help... if i were to just do the seal what parts would i all need to replace (washers gaskets etc) and are there any "special" tools needed?

Former User

I'm concerned about the side-to-side and up-down movement of the axle. Is the free play at the inboard joint in your picture? How much free play is there? Does the axle spline seem to be loose inside the transmission?

94EG8

If its clunking, run super low on fluid and you have side to side play where the axle goes into the transmission your transmission is probably toast. Sounds an awful lot like the diff is moving around inside, either bad diff bearings, broken carrier or spider gears. The only real way to know just exactly what happened is to pull the tranny and take it apart. They're simple enough to rebuild but for the damage thats likely to be done its going to be cheaper to pick up a used transmission.

millertime1388

like 1/16th of an inch up and down ...

94EG8

If you're grabbing the axle shaft itself thats not bad, if its the cup for the inner joint that sounds excessive.

millertime1388

if i were to throw that seal on there (if the tranny is toast) how long of driving do i have left before its gone?

...my other thought is do i call it a goner and part it and find something else i know more about?

millertime1388

I was grabbing it right where my circle is on the pic

EJeff8

Trannys will make noise if low on fluid but if you saw shavings, I'd assume there is a bad bearing in your tranny, more specifically the Input Shaft bearing and probably worse things like 94 has mentioned. Lifetime honda axles are cheap at Autozone so don't worry about buying new axles, the tranny is what you need to worry about. (I have a bad ISB too, so I feel your pain for bad trannys.)

Also, I think D16 trannys only need 1.9 quarts of fluid, not 2.7. I think that 2.7 number is for a B series tranny. I think you bought an extra quart for nothing. (Get a second opinion from someone else on here first though.)

millertime1388

Ya i have read EVERYWHERE else that it was 1.9 but the dealer swore up and down.. shoudl of figured he was out to get my extra 8 bucks haha....

In all honesty how much am i looking here to get it back on the road?

EJeff8

You can find a 5 speed D series tranny on CL with 120xxx miles or less for $150 or less.

Of course, new OEM clutch kit and throw out bearing will push your whole total to about $250. But it all depends if the tranny you bought is good or not but you really can't tell until its on.

millertime1388

do you have to do the clutch when you do the tranny or will the one in my car now work fine the guy told me it was just done within 20k

EJeff8

^Never trust a seller. You don't want to have to take that tranny off again once it's on.

It's better to do the 100k+ maintenance now and know it's right.

94EG8

Depends on just exactly what happened, if the diff or final drive is messed up its going to leave you somewhere. If you have a bad input shaft bearing they'll often go for years before they really fly apart.

Transmissions are pretty cheap and easy to find for these cars, they're also about as easy as it gets to work on. I just put a transmission in a '99 coupe tonight and it took about 5.5 - 6 hours from start to finish, thats removal and installation. Had one guy helping me and reasonably well equipped shop with air tools, no hoist though. I'm curious to see what the tranny i pulled out is going to look like, there was only 2 or 3 tbl spoons of fluid in it when i drained it. (wasn't my transmission, guy who put the last transmission in never added fluid after installing the transmission)