Hey, I just bought an 89 CRX Si, and the shifter is pretty stiff. Is there anything I could do to loosen it up so so that it wasn't as difficult to change gears? Thanks a lot. (Sorry, I'm not too car savvy)

 

check your transmisson fluid-- could be low. Or you might have too thick an oil in there.

 

What's the best way to check the transmission fluid? It's somewhere in the wheel well behind the front driver side tire, right?

 

If its been sitting a while, shoot some wd-40 up onto the linkage where the shifter connects to the linkage.

 

So just take out the boot and spray some wd-40 in there, and it might help it out?

 

Yea. My brothers car did that when he first bought it, it was sitting for some time in the ladies front yard.

 

Ok, thanks. I'll try it out and see how it goes. I'll make sure to post back with the results.

 

i tried wd-40ing the linkage, and it didnt help. im still not sure what could be wrong.

 

just go ahead and drain the old tranny fluid out and then fill it with it with 2 quarts of10x30 motor oil. if problem persists, could be a few diff things. does the car shift correctly, as in pulling the cars momentum.

 

i tried wd-40ing the linkage, and it didnt help. im still not sure what could be wrong.

 

Mine was like that when I got it too. First off change the tranny fluid, it's easy and since you don't know how long it's been in there, you should do it anyway. Mine had heavy gear oil in it (the manual calls for 10W-30). Next take apart the linkage under the boot, it's pretty straightforward. Clean it, grease it, and reassemble it. If you overtighten the bolt that holds the shift rod to the shifter, it will be hard to move because the bushing is binding. Make it as tight as you can while maintaining good shifter feel, this is easiest with someone under the car adjusting it and someone inside playing with it.

 

it could just be that the bolts on the shifter base and/or on the transmission are torqued down way too hard.

Loosen those up and then make them finger tight and check your shifter feel again.

Adjust from there. Make sure to use a lock nut on the shifter base, though.