Yesterday I was driving (93 civic sedan), and i noticed it took a little more effort to get into gear.. i just blamed it on the cold seeing how it was -20... but i don't think that's the case anymore. Today as I was driving I hear a very faint grinding noise as I move the stick into 1st,2nd, and third.. it happens when I shift up or down.. even when I'm just kicking off in 1st gear at a light... its like it will grind and suddenly jump into gear jerking the car..

** I think its the transmission or the clutch..but i have no idea.

 

Your not low on tranny fluid are you? The cold probably isn't helping, but it shouldn't cause grinding.

 

First try draining the manual transmission fluid and replacing it with fresh Honda or Honda-recommended fluid.

You also might try adjusting the clutch pedal.

 

Definately check your tranny fluid -- synchros don't go bad overnight. I also agree with above, fill it up with some Honda manual tranny fluid.

 

and or te master/ slave cylinders are starting to leak and the clutch is not releasing all the way

 

hmmmm, with the car jerking like that, sounds like it may be the pressure plate.

 

Noob Question.. Where exactly do i look to check/change the tranny fluid.. the only place i know to "drain" fluid is oil change...lol

 

please?

 

See: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/changing-oil-manual-transmission-851521/

Your right with it being the clutch or the transmission, but it's hard to determine which one is the culprit. I highly recommend making sure the tranny is full of fluid though, its not too much harder than changing your oil.

There is a bolt on the bottom of the transmission for draining and there is a fill bolt on the side toward the top (should be right under or around the tranny mount). All you do is fill it with fluid until it gets to the fill bolt. Since the fill hole is on the side, sometimes its easier to take the speed sensor off and fill it using that hole, but it is not necessary to do it that way.

edit: image stole from the thread i linked to:

 

when you fill it up if you use the fill plug hole. take a little funnel and somehow put a hose on the end of it that will fit in the hole. hope this helps.

 

check clutch fluid too. Mine seems to lose about a third to a half of the fluid over a year or so... not sure why. But it causes symptoms like that when it's low.

 

This would mean your clutch is not disengaging all the way when you push the pedal all the way in. Is the clutch properly adjusted? Do you have to push the pedal all the way to the floor just to get it to release or is there some room from the floor back up before it begins to engage. I suppose it would be worth checking, but I would imagine if it was that it would be obvious by the feel of the clutch pedal. Just my $.02.

 

Its pretty likely you have a bad syncro. When you open it up do you slam it in to gear or let it fall in?

 

Clutch hydraulics....

As your slave or master cylinder wears it begins to leak internally. Sometimes you can see the wear by an external leak but not always. As it leaks, the piston contracts more sluggish. Thus, when you push in the clutch to shift the piston is dragging, giving the affect of a notchy shift.

It very well could be a clutch or transmission problem. However, I would try the less expensive things first. Not to mention hydraulics are a common fault, especially for a car with some age.

-XLR8