I have a 97 SH and recently it has been grinding when i shift from 4th and 5th gears. There has been grinding between 2nd and 3rd but now the sounds has changed to always between 4th and 5th. Can anyone help me figure out what si causing it. I've heard a few things, wear and tear and clutch or transmission wearing out. So please help.

 

your synchro's are shot, very common tranny problem in the H series.

 

Yeah Gude is right. My 1st to 2nd shift when I'm shifting hard (like at the track or whatnot) will grind sometimes if I shift too hard. I've heard of 4th to 5th shift grinding in other peoples Preludes though. Hondas syncros are horrible in general though---my buddy had a 00 Civic Si who did it and now has a 94 Del Sol VTEC that does it on his 1st to 2nd shift...so yeah, you're not the only one.

 

There is a cheap and effective way to "fix" the grind. Change out your Tranny fluid. I changed to GM syncormesh last winter and i will NEVER go back. That stuff is amazing!!! Workes so smooth!! Try it? What do ya have to loose?

 

thanks for the feedback everyone.. about the gmc synchromesh.. i can only get that through the gmc dealership and some places have strongly advised against using it in my car since it was made for gmc cars.. although it's a cheap and effective way to solving the grinding sounds, i don't wanna risk further damage.. but please help me if you know anything else..

 

5th gear grind is infamous with hondas. my 85 prelude did it, my 89SI did it, my 95 VTEC did too, and my present 94 does it as well. i noticed that if i shift just a bit slower it's fine. what about when you're racing? well honestly, you shouldn't be racing up to those speeds. and i doubt you'll hit 5th gear at a 1320 track, so just shift a little slower.

 

I've had this problem w/ my tranny ever since the engine /tranny swap. When we did the swap we had to rig something off a 3rd gen to "ghetto" rig it. It instantly grinded some what after the swap. I replaced the clutch line to stock about 2-3 months later of intermittent driving. It still grinds only into fith. I've notice that it goes in smoother if I match the rpm(ie when shifting into 5th at 60 mph I rev the car to 3k and slide it into gear. It grinds about 75% of the time... any Ideas- oh and I have a "warrenty" with the place I got the engine and tranny from for 12 months/12k- I hope it's worth the extra money

 

The cheapest and easiest fix is to double clutch into 5th. It cost $0 and will bypass the problem. After a year of doing it in my car the grind went away

 

Welcome to honda-tech , finally someone who doenst try to half-*** his way out of everything (no offense guys )

 

i have a 98 type sh and i had that same problem, so i took it to the dealer and wat do u know my fifth gear was gone....it was all grinded....let me ask you this...it grinds wen you're above 3500 huh? well if thats the case i think its your fifth gear that needs to be replaced....ouch

 

I have the same problem with grinding into 5th. I also have noticed if I shift slower no grinding. I'll be putting in my clutch sometime next spring so hopefully it helps.

 

Guys seriously just double clutch...it will avoid the grind

 

Yea that worked on my old tranny but not this new one. The only thing that helps is matching the expected rpm.

 

i honestly doubt your 5th gear synchro is shot. when i bought my Prelude, it only had 19k miles on it, and it did it. honestly, some 50 yr old woman had it, it was her "mid-life crisis" car. it's just something about Prelude tranny's that do it, but it ususally only does it at high speeds/RPMs. i know some people might disagree, but just stop trying to force it into 5th, and you won't have a problem.

 

5th gear upshift grind is infamous for 97-98 preludes. Honda has a TSB out on it under 95-057. If you have an extended powertrain warranty, take it in and they will replace it.

What you will need to get replaced is mainly the 5th gear shift fork and sleeve

 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

With regards to grinding, I have recently noticed that sporadically my WOT shift from 1-2 grinds. Sometimes I think it might user-error, that I shift too quickly and let the clutch out before I'm fully in gear, but other times I know that my shift is fine, and that it's the car & not me. How bad is this for the tranny?

 

Its always bad for the tranny when your bangin gears.

 

oh hell, trannys are overrated!!! just get rid of ur tranny and push the bastard around!

seriously tho, that syncromesh fluid gets a big from me, used it in my friends rex for 3rd gear synchro gone bad...helped a bunch

 

That's a given. But on a relative scale, how bad is it?

 

I'm in the same boat as you guys. I feel a light vibration in the shifter when going 1st to 2nd, no grinding sound yet, but I feel it though. It happens randomly. I'm probably going to try that GM synchromesh stuff, and my friend mackymcg suggested using magnetic tranny and oil plugs to pick up metal bits. Sounds good to me.