i have a 97 civic HX stock.
just bought it, it runs good and the transmission feels good. the gears go right in smoothly but it has a weird anoying grindy sound as u drive it.. sound louder in the beginning gears. the sound is like a dragging sound mixed with a metal object in a blender sound... =/ hard to describe.

any good opinions.. ive seen this happen before while just swaping a motor and after the swap the tranny ends up with that whinnig harsh noise...

 

D-series transmissions seem to have a pretty high tendency to make that noise. My 96 DX hatchback had the same noise for over 20k miles of very hard driving..the noise was getting worse the more I drove the car, but never caused the transmission to fail. I've heard it's the input shaft bearing, but I don't know how true that is.

- Steven

 

99% sure its the input shaft bearing.. D Series ISB bearings have a plastic rais (inner part of the bearing) that has the tendency to break apart, causing play in the shaft..