I picked up a 91 EF Sedan DX and am already having problems with the transmission . I noticed it was leaking a bit of fluid after I bought it and have a feeling its coming from the Axle Seals but I am not 100% on that.

I was driving the car recently and noticed it was getting really hard to put the car into first gear, I basically have to play with it a bit for it to go into first.

The car will also not go into reverse, I steepened on the clutch a bunch of different times and it will not engage. It makes this nasty grinding noise when I try to put the car into reverse and it almost sounds like I am going against something spinning in the opposite direction when I do.

I am bummed because I just got laid off so my money is really tight and I need transportation to find a new job.

Any ideas what might be going on with my car? I was going to drain and fill the tranny with synchromesh but I decided to hold off thinking I might be better off putting the money I spend on synchromesh towards a new tranny, clutch, and seals.

Am I right in thinking it might be worth it in the long run to pickup a fresh tranny, a new clutch, and new axle seals, etc?

 

if you have the money a new tranny .. clutch and axels will def be nice...
but if its a small leak and your having other problems.. just make sure that you take care of those and then tackel that one..

if you have the time and money anything new is good...

 

I just went to move the car and was able to get into reverse with the car off so I started it and it almost felt like the thing rolled a bit backwards the second the car started up?

So I rolled back and when I went to take the car out of reverse it didn't want to. Then when I went to put the car into first gear it didn't want go itno gear at all and I was able to move into the other gears easily either.

I made it back into my parking spot, turned the car off and am able to change gears with the car off. Any idea whats going on? I have a feeling the tranny and clutch might both be bad and the axle seals need to be replaced but I am just guessing at this point.

 

first try to add some mtf and see if that helps (10w30 engine oil will work for the time being)
also make sure that your clutch cable is tight on the actuator arm on the front of the trans

 

I will do that tomorrow and see if that helps, I am starting to think the tranny might be empty now of all things and I imagine that would cause some the issues I am having for sure. I will put the front of the car on stands and change the tranny fluid, I am just not sure if its worth putting good mtf in it at this point though if its expensive I might just add 10w30 or 10w40 oil into it.

I appreciate the ideas and suggestions guys, please keep them coming...

 

use 10w30 for sure... not 10w40 just get the cheapest stuff you can find. if it fixes it then order up your axel seals, change them out, and then change out the fluid to Honda MTF or syncromesh... whatever you decide to use...

 

You shouldn't have a problem shifting even if all the fluid leaked out from around the seals. I've changed several axles in EFs and NO fluid came out when I pulled the axle, and it still shifted fine.

I'd start looking for another tranny with a warranty in your case.

 

^ I second that. Also, you gotta check to make sure your clutch is disengaging. As for putting the car in reverse, it's usually best to put the car into some other gear first, and then putting it in reverse. I throw it in 3rd, then put it immediately into reverse. If I try to throw it in reverse without doing this, it will always grind. It never grinds when going to third first (A friend told me to do this because he said reverse has no syncros - I don't know if this is true or not). So, make sure your clutch cable is adjusted properly and then check the fluid level. The only way I know of doing this is to drain it all out to see how much you have. My experience with low fluid levels is that the tranny will pop out of gear on the highway (5th gear); at least this is what happend to me when when my fluid level was too low due to a leaky output shaft seal. Hope you figure out what's causing your problems - fyi, you probably know this, but d series trannys are pretty cheap.

 

I didn't read all the posts, however according to your what you said ^^^
'I put it in reverse with engine off and as I started the car it felt like the car wanted to move'
..or at least that's what I gathered from reading it.

Anyways, I would look at the clutch system, sounds like it's not disengaging all the way. My car had a problem with the clutch release/throw-out bearing, it was also hard to get into gears, specifically first. However, if I let off the clutch and depressed it again it would usually disengage then? for whatever reason, try and adjust the clutch cable at the transmission.

 

I moved the car into our covered parking spot here this morning and it feels like something is up with the clutch. For example with my foot pushing the clutch to floor the car didn't want to start so I adjusted my foot, pushed on it a few times and then it started. The car rolled the second it started up almost like it was in gear even though the clutch was pushed in.

When the car is ON it does not change gears easy, when its OFF I am able to change gears with or without the clutch in.

 

I lifted the car and got underneath it, man those tranny blots are in tight. I actually wasn't able to get them off but I believe the tranny does have oil in it.

I adjusted the clutch cable and my clutch pedal is now fully broken I believe. Could a breaking clutch pedal be the cause the problems I have been having?

 

all of your problems could be and are likely to be due to a broken clutch cable. Do not continue to move or drive the car, you will ruin the transmission as I did when my T/O bearing and pressure plate were damaged.

It's unlikely the clutch pedal is damaged, I would more likely look closer at the cable, or maybe it's mount at the top of the pedal?

 

Does my clutch pedal look like its broken? It almost seems bent to me... I loosened the clutch cable a bunch and now the clutch pedal basically rests on the floor but does have a bit of tension when you push on it. It goes all the way down very sideways, you can kinda see what I am talking about in the photo below.


Pressed in


Released


What do you think?

Modified by DC4 ENTHUSIAST at 6:23 PM 11/16/2008


Modified by DC4 ENTHUSIAST at 6:25 PM 11/16/2008

 

check this out:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2199051