88 accord 5 speed, 204k miles, 15k miles since a used motor was put in.
Was recently driving on the highway cruising at 80mph in 5th gear, when without any noise or roughness, the car revved up as if it were in neutral, took it out of 5th and put it back in, and it hasnt worked since. on less than 5 occasions in the past 15k miles, 5th gear on the highway would pop out of gear and fall into neutral. All other gears work perfect, clutch still feels fresh. Could it be the shift linkage? or just low or old trans fluid? can anyone shed some light on this?

 

Depending on how it has been shifted in the past, theres a big chance the syncro might have gone out. Are you able to put into gear at all while driving or stopped? Does it try to grind when your driving and you try to shift into 5th?

 

It sounds like a shift fork problem.As long as you have reverse and all other gears work fine.5th and reverse use the same shaft but different shift forks.
Mark

 

boosted90, it goes into 5th gear position while driving or standing still, clutch engaged or not, perhaps a little easier than before the problem, no grind ever


mark, i think you might be onto something, reverse does work, but what could have happened to the shift fork? bent or dislodged? i have time to work on it tomorrow, is there anything i can do without dropping the trans to check this?

moonjaw,boosted

 

My fifth started popping out the night I bought the car (used) and I held it in gear ( I don't reccomend). Eventually I pulled over becuase I got the feeling I shouldn't be holding it in gear. Then, when I tried to start it again, I couldn't put it in any gear. At all. I thought it was the linkage but it turned out that there was a "long-term" leak in my transmission. Totally trashed. Not everyone drops a grand into a car they bought the night before.

 

It would be easy to check the shift fork.Fifth gear sits outside the trannys main case under the cover on the end.Remove the cover and you will be able to see fifth gear and the shift fork.The shift fork could have broke from wear.
Mark

 

i see the cover...it looks like it has a gasket of some sort, would i need to replace this? and would i need to drain the trans fluid as well?

 

Yes there is a paper gasket,when i took mine apart the gasket did not get torn up.
I would assume you will loose some fluid but not all of it,when i did mine it was allready drained.
Mark

 

i decided to drain it anyway, and before doing so, found the fluid level to be about an inch below the fill hole, and upon draining, the old MTF looked almost gray, opaque, and thick like a milkshake. smelled a little funny too. would any of these symptoms coincide with the 5th gear problem? i'm about to take off the cover, ill post findings. thanks again mark

 

bad news everyone, took off the cover, and can visibly see 5th gear, and both gears are completely sheered off, the input shaft one, where there is supposed to be teeth is smooth as butter, with the shards of metal along the edges of both gears. i've come to terms with never seeing 5th gear again, but all the metal that was sheered off, where did it go? into the trans fluid which i drained? it looked nasty draining but there was no obvious pieces of gear or anything. What can i do to safeguard the rest of the gears until i can buy a new trans?

ps could low fluid and highway driving have caused this? i can load of some pics if it would help or if anyone wants to see a really ef'ed up gear


Modified by CptnKeifer at 5:06 PM 11/27/2007

 

flush your tranny fluid to try to rid it of chunks...and enjoy your 4 remanining gears...this happened to a friends lxi too...turned out to be the exact problem that you had...if it make s you feel any better she drove it for the better part of 2 years with only 4 gears

 

Sorry to hear that,it sounds like it had some water get into it due to the discolored oil.Was on e-bay earlier and someone has posted a 5 speed for a 86-89 for 250.
That is strange that the 5th gear countershaft and 5th gear are both toothless.Did the shift fork break anywhere,are the bearings loose.
Flush it out and enjoy the break from shifting so much.LOL
Mark

 

thanks for the help everyone! sad results but nothing like saving some money with DIY help from honda-tech. the teeth on the the gear was toothless, and the countershaft gear just got a serious beating, hot spots and sheered, but teeth are intact on it, ill post a pic when i find the cable for my camera. the bearing on the toothless 5th gear was loose horizontally, but not that bad, and the countershaft felt solid.

as for the shift fork, it seemed fine and functional, but the teeth on the gears no longer touch, so no engagement

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I got the CD5 Jeebies! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...if it make s you feel any better she drove it for the better part of 2 years with only 4 gears </TD></TR></TABLE>

better indeed, 4th gear is so long, looks like the accord will make it to see another day. i only had about a quart and a half of honda mtf so i filled the rest with leftover GM syncromesh mtf, is this okay to mix?
Thanks again guys!

 

to my knowleged its fine to mix...pr you could fill it with good ole 10w30