I'm preparing to swap transmissions and get rid of my 01 LX 5 SPD which is having throw out bearing issues and a shift fork issue. As I'm looking for used ones I had a question, what is the better choice to get. Obviously I want an EX for the shorter 1st gear and 5th gear but I'm not sure what year was the better in terms of issues. Id rather not run into another tranny issue after installing the new one.
Thanks in advance guys

 

03-05 is the best generation transmission.

 

Now why is that? Just curious.

 

Slightly upgraded internals, and better reliability reports. Other than that, there's really no differences between any of the 01-05's.

 

...other than gearing. You've got EX, HX, and then the rest.

I did notice the shift levers that the cables attach to were a little different between my new '03 tranny and the old '01, but everything still bolted up.

 

Actually 1st gear is the same ratio on both IIRC

 

"Both"? There are three different manual trannys mated up to the D17 in a Civic, plus the hybrid Civic's manual.

From the horses mouth for 2001:
2001 Honda Civic Coupe Specifications

EX and DX/LX have different 1st gear as well as different final drive ratios. The EX actually has a taller overall ratio in first than the DX/LX, but they are close.