I have a GSR swap in my CRX, and all of a sudden a few days ago, it started giving me a lot of difficulty when shifting, it was pretty cold that night.

When I get up to high rpms like 5k and up, then push the clutch pedal in, it seems like it is staying in gear and will hang around whatever rpm I'm at, the rpms will stay up and them once I pull the shifter to neutral, the rpms will go down, then it's very difficult to shift into the next gear and I usually have to rev it up to the 3 thousands range to get it to go in, sometimes it takes a few tries.

I tightened up my clutch cable a little bit because it seemed like maybe it had gotten a little stretched out, that barely helped, but it did help a little. So it seems like it's staying in gear even when the clutch is disengaged, but only at high rpms, not any other time.

Could it be the transmission oil?
Could it be the throw-out bearing?

Or maybe a combination?

The temperature is in the 40's right now, so the cold doesn't help I'm sure.
I don't know the last time the trans oil was changed and the car gets run pretty hard most of the time. My rev limit is at 8500 rpms and I have a short geared JDM transmission, so even on the highway at 70mph in 5th gear, it's running at 4,500 rpms.
Pretty ridiculous, it tops out at like 125.

Another mechanic at my shop told me he put in Mobil 1 5w30 and that fixed his shifting issues in the cold.
I'm not convinced that will fix the motor hanging in gear at high rpms, even with the clutch disengaged.
I'm thinking its the throwout bearing not disengaging the clutch or something. I'm not sure though.

Any input from those that know what they're talking about would help, thanks.

MarcStinebaugh@Yahoo.com

 

Well, it wasn't the oil, I changed that and it's the same.

When I'm at like 4k rpms or higher and keep the shift lever in gear, then press the pedal down to the floor, it kinda shudders, so clearly the clutch is not fully disengaging. I tightened the clutch cable up, but that doesn't seem to be doing it either.

It must be the fork or something.

I don't know enough about transmissions though, if anyone else does, please fill me in.

 

how long ago has it been since u replaced a clutch? how long have u had the car for with the same clutch in it if u have never changed it? and r u good at driving manual transmissions? not trying to be a dick but just asking. alot of people on here tend to be a**holes.

 

I'm leaning towards the pedal assembly being bent or the clutch cable being stretched.

Really more towards the cable tho.

 

Was it a new clutch? does it shift ok with the car off? Maybe your springs in the disk are ready to rip out.

 

yea try adjusting the clutch pedal or cable.. (tighter)

 

Well, i changed the oil to some nice 5 30 synthetic. Didn't help, but the old stuff was really black and greenish, yuck. I tightened the clutch cable up, that didn't help either, just makes it shudder at times, i don't think the cable is the problem either. No matter how tight I go, it's still got the same problem.

At low rpms it disengages fine, but it's really hard to shift to the next gear unless I'm at the correct rpm. I have to shift around 3k rpms. 5th gives me more problems than any other. At a stop, it's hard to get it to go into gear and I have to rev it up a little and start with second usually, then hit first before taking off.

Again, at higher rpms 5k and up, if the gear shifter is still in gear, it stays in gear even if I push the pedal to the floor. Once I yank it out, the rpms go back down and I can hit the next gear.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that my motor mount bushings are tearing apart (Hasport mounts) and melting. I made a new bushing out of a rear trailing arm bushing from Energy Suspension, so the drivers side mount is good, but it's moved back like 3/4 of an inch. The passenger side mount is toward the firewall as well, and the rear mount isn't in much better shape than the other two.

It could have something to do with the transmission/motor being way out of alignment, plus theres some play in my shift linkage at the u-joint by the transmission. I need to space that with some washers and tighten that back up.

But even if I do that, it doesn't really explain why the clutch disengages at low rpms, but not at high rpms. It's pissing me off man. I think I might just need a new transmission to fix this.

BTW, the clutch isn't that old. It's a Stage 3 comp clutch installed by a Honda dealer.
Still grabs real hard.

I think it may possibly be the synchros in the transmission, but I don't know how that happens literally overnight. This is so weird, it doesn't make much sense to me. I actually had this problem before, then I checked my air pressure and my front right tire was really low, I inflated it and the shifting got better, that made me think it was the alignment of the engine/trans, but now it doesn't make any difference.

Who knows where to get a good AMERICAN, not short geared JDM b-series trans in the DC area? At a reasonable price.

 

well i don't know what to tell you as far as the shifting problem goes cause i've neer experienced it before but if you are looking to replace the transmission i would reccomend getting a hydro gsr and doing the hydro to cable conversion if it's in your budget. i have personally done it and it is an easy conversion and i was very pleased with it.

getting a cable tranny your looking at getting one that's 15 to 18 years old and might not be in the best condition. also there are a lot more hydro tranny's out there than cable. and with the cable tranny's your only real option is an ls because finding the cable gsr in next to impossible. and lastly all of the hydro tranny's are geared just a little longer than their cable counterparts.

b16 cable is geared shorter than b16 hydro
ls cable is geared shorter than ls hydro
gsr cable is geared shorter than gsr hydro
type r cable is geared shorter than........j/k

 

If you send your mounts to us we can replace the urethane free under warranty.

Hasport
2849 S 44th St
Phoenix AZ 85040
602-470-0065

 

Bad synchros would cause grinding or would keep you out of a gear entirely.

It could be that you have a bent fork, bad clutch, or a binding shift linkage.

And you really should've used Honda MTF for your transmission fluid, you're only supposed to use motor oil in a pinch.