Ok, I recently acquired a '89 Civic (I'm no sure if its a lx,or Si or what other names they got.) I'm new to the import scene. Not looking to trick it out just get it in good/great working order. I'm unsure which engine i have. The guy who gave the car to the dealership left the ad in the car and it say's it's a Si and every where i looked the Si's have the 1.6 motor but when the dealership went through it and on the paper it's marked as a 1.5. I'm confused on that.

Ok....the question. It has a really sloppy shifter. I can keep moving it around when it's in gear. Ex. It's in first and I can move the stick to the right into the 3rd postion. It doesn't disengage the gear but the stick seems to move freely which is a bit annoying if I forget which gear i'm in and is making it hard to find the gear. I'm getting afraid i'm gonna miss 4th and get reverse on of these times.

I read a few of the discussions but I don't know it it'd be the linkages or the bushings that could cause this. Whats your guy's idea? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Paul
'89 Civic Si???

 

So let me get this straight here. The shifter moves in all directions or just side to side? I think you should jack up the car and check out the bushings and the linkage your self. They are not that difficult to figure out once your under there and you will be anle to distinguish what the problem is caused by.

My guess is that the bolts may be loose wherew the shifter connects to the linkage (if the shifter moves in all directions)......OR You may have a bad bushing that the linkage connects to right behind the shifter (if it moves side to side)

I hope this helps you out a bit

 

It moves left and right. Like when I put it in first or second it'll move to the right and look like it's centered.

 

Oh I see. Strange, never came across that before. I dont think a bad bushing would cause that and if the bolts were loose that connected the shifter to the linkage That wouldnt happen either. I would just jack up the car and wiggle around the linkage a little bit to where its loose.

Any other suggestions anyone???

 

Ok, I looked under the car and the majority of the looseness is at the base of the shifter it self. I could move it up and down about 1/4 of an inch and it will wobble all around. I didn't notice anywhere to tighten it up under the car unless I wasn't looking hard enough. Would the place to tighten it be under the boot? Thanks again for your time.

Paul

 

why dont you go to autozone and get a short shifter and install it they are for a 94-?? shifter but they fit on our year models it throws short and if its your bushings or your shifter then you'll notice the diff.

 

if you've got a sunroof, you've at least got an Si body now i have a '91 Si, and it's got a 1.5 block, but everything else is the 1.6. apparently something went wrong at one point inside the block so they just replaced that. it's weird.

 

To fix the shifter problem, go buy the Hurst shiftrt bushings. It's a set of 2 polyurethane bushings, and they cost like $10. It'll make your shifting alot smother and should solve your loose shifter problem.

 

I agree. Get the bushings. Just so you know there are two small nuts that hold the shifter to the linkage. I beleive they are 10mm but they are probly hard to see if there is a lot rust under there. Good Luck

 

Ok, you said 10mm nuts "under there". Now do you mean under the car or under the boot?

Paul

P.S. Thanks for all of your help!

 

On the shift linkage. Put po;lyurethane bushings in and itll make it all better