Hey there guys. I have a 92 eg sedan and I love it. NOTE: It is a 5 speed manual. Im 15, so i might not be the brightest mechanic so i'm turning to you guys. I bought my car in the summer of 2015 and fixed it up (had been hit in the front). Nothing from the engine was damaged as far as i could tell. I did change the hood, bumper, fenders, and one head light. Ill post pictures later of the damage. There was a light frame damage. As soon as i had it in drivable condition, I took it for a spin. Right away i noticed a really weird whine. Its super high pitched. I automatically switched to second gear and it seemed to go away. I automatically came to the conclusion that there was no transmission fluid. After going to the store and buying the correct transmission fluid, i began to pour it in. It almost automatically overflowed. At this point im completely lost and looking for one of you guys to help me out. Thanks in advance.

 

Where do I begin..

Where did you pour the transmission fluid in?
There is a fill hole on the side of the transmission. You have to have the car on level ground and use a tube to pour the fluid into the hole. The car has to be on level ground because the fill hole is at the exact height the transmission oil has to be at. With that being said, pour slowly and once it drips back out of the hole, you know you have correctly filled your transmission.

There is another option to fill it, but most people advise against it.
You can remove the VSS and use that hole to fill the transmission, but you'll have to drain it completely so you know the exact volume of fluid you are replacing.

Also, did you have the frame pulled?

 

Thanks for the help ohmega. Thats how it was done. Still no help. Drove it again last night and i guess its not a high pitch sound its more of a grinding sound that happens only when the motor is accelerating or decelerating. It does not make any interesting noises when kept at a constant speed. Also will be doing a tranny flush and engine flush. Will keep everyone interested updated.

 

You've probably got worn out transmission bearings. The sounds there the entire time. It's just more obvious when you're accelerating because there's more load on bearings.

 

Or a ring gear inches from death. Realistically, though, if fresh fluid doesn't fix it, then it's an internal problem of some sort. Quite honestly, at that point, it doesn't really matter what the problem is, you only have three options. Option 1, the cheapest, is to just get another used D series transmission. LX/DX transmissions are all over the place for cheap. EX/Si transmissions are a little harder, and a little pricier, but tighter gearing means better acceleration. You can use any 92-00 Civic manual transmission except the 99-00 SI. Option 2, the middle for price, but the hardest for difficulty, would be to open the transmission up, figure out what's wrong (just a lot of measuring if nothing's obviously broken), and fix it. Price will vary depending on what's broken, there aren't really any specialty tools you'll absolutely need that you can't rent/borrow, and you'll need to read, learn, and expand your skillset a bit, but it's doable. Bare minimum, a rebuild kit with seals, synchros, and bearings is like, $300 IIRC. Option 3 is the easiest, but will be the most expensive to the point that you'd be silly to do it, and that's to take the car to a shop and let them rebuild the transmission.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Still haven't gotten around to the tranny flush, if that doesn't fix it then im guessing its the transmission bearings also. And NotARaCist, the second option is probably whats going to happen. Third option is not an option, I wont let myself go that low. I will keep you guys updated.

 

I am wondering if you are mistaking the typical noisy sound from first and reverse as an issue.

I find First Gear and Reverse to be noisier than any of the other gears. Quite audible winding sound where you don't hear any winding in any other gear on the manual 92-95 transmissions.

I have been driving the transmission for years now and no ill effect.

Could it be you are hearing the extremely low gear ratio winding of 1st/reverse and mistakenly thinking it's a trouble sound?

I know without being able to hear it myself, I couldn't say either way.

 

The whining isn't from low gear ratios, TomCat. Reverse is straight cut, which is why it's loud. First gear should not be like that.

 

Both my DX transmissions have a whine in first gear. Most notable when shifting into first when slowing down. Sounds just like reverse and many other cars first gear transmission whine. Been that way for years without issue. Don't hear the whine in any other gears, likely there but much quieter I would guess.

 

No tomcat, there is actually no noticeable whine in reverse that i have and noticed. And i also forgot to mention its not in just first gear. It is for sure the first three. Was scared to go any higher so i wouldn't mess the transmission up any more than it is at the moment. Is there a way i can change the title of this thread, due to me realizing it is more of a grinding scraping noise than a high pitch sound, and that is not just in my first gear...

 

Ill record a video of it and post it onto youtube and put a link in here. That should help clarify.

 

Okay, well that definitely rules out the normal low gear wind up whine I've always heard in most manual transmissions. Just thought I'd throw the idea out there as you never know.

I know every sound I heard when I first got my Honda years back made me paranoid and I've since learned to know what is normal sounding and what is not.

Definitely sounds like something in the internals, there is several sets of bearings inside. Any worn bearing could cause your scenario.

 

Yeah thanks tomcat. Ill be posting the video today, any ideas would help. This is defenitly not a normal sound. My brother who has been into Honda since he was 14, and now is 21, said he hasn't heard anything like this...

 

Could not post video due to dead battery, left door open on accident This weekend video will be up.