I have a 1989 CRX that the previous owner swapped a B16a into. The engine and clutch are both supposed to be fresh rebuilds prior to my purchase with a whole 500 miles on them.

Yesterday, on my way to buy dog food my car no longer wants to shift. I have been trying to check the site to make sure this hasn't already been solved but all of the ones posted prior had a clutch issue; loose cable, spongy pedal, etc. Mine is just the opposite where the pedal is fine and the cable is tight. The problem is in the shifting. It feels like there is a wall keeping the shifter from going into gear when the car is on. While off it shifts as normal.

Just a heads up, this car has a cable for the clutch, no master or slave cylinder and no fluid to check. I was actually looking for these myself and found I am now in a realm I didn't know existed until this morning.

Any suggestions?

 

What happens when you put it into gear with the engine off, press down on the clutch, and start the engine?

 

^I see where that's headed. Had to repair something similar myself on a friends car about a month ago.

 

I had it in the garage and didn't want to test this out and end up going through the wall so I put it in reverse, started it up and backed it out slowly. Terrible noise halfway out, the clutch pedal hit the floor and the car is now stuck in reverse. So now I have a very loose clutch cable that I may need to replace because it seems as though the nut won't stay tight on that any longer. I'm going to run up to o'reilly's and see if they have one and hopefully that turns out to have been the problem. If not, could it be anything else and I just jacked the cable by backing it out?

Thanks for the quick reply by the way!

 

that's your clutch man. something failed in there

 

Happened on my VW. Feels like your kicking a brick into a box full of bolts and sand. The clutch springs came un-sprung on mine. Simple fix. New clutch and pressure plate. $70 OEM for the VW, on the B16A probably a bit more.

 

^^

My guess too.

 

My guess three.

 

Yeah the guys at O'Reilly's had the same conclusion. Also, putting the new clutch cable on did nothing. Now that I have the opportunity and your attention though would the general consensus be stick with OEM or upgrade? I have always been of the mindset that if I am going to tear into something I might as well throw a better part in there but I don't know much about these cars (I came from the mustang dark side). Is a stage 2 or ceramic a good idea? What brand would you recommend? While I'm in there should I take care of anything else? And lastly, do I just get a regular crx clutch or could the tranny be from an integra or something?

 

You are going to have to open your tranny to find out what exact tranny you have if the Vin is removed. You say you have a b16a so I will assume its a first gen, if it is you will be using a 90-91 integra parts for the clutch/seals.

If you do take the tranny off the block and you have a small spline with 23 teeth you will for surely need 90-91 integra parts.

 

get a spindle adapter at orileys if you dont have one

 

if you don't plan on making any serious power i would not purchase any more than a stage one (slightly stronger/heavier pressure plate) clutch. kids buy honda's and swap in stage 234095 un sprung 20 puck (ok i'm exaggerating here but you get the idea) clutches thinking it'll help and it really only makes the car harder to drive around

 

What exactly is a stage 1, 2, 3??? Especially since there is no mention of the brand.