So, my daughter's car is a 1998 Honda Accord and has about 253,000 miles on it. It was running rough and the O2 sensor was bad. We changed that and it now runs much more smoothly. It now idles fine and in an appropriate manner - unless in second gear. Every time I shift into second it shakes and almost jumps. If I just skip second and shift into third, no issues arise with the idle - no shaking or jumping. I'm an experienced manual driver and am waiting to shift until I hit the appropriate RPMs. It is like this the entire time it is in second gear. She is a newer driver and I'm not sure she can negotiate this safely because of this. Any ideas on why only in second gear? Thanks in advance!!!

 

im not a mechanic but Ive had my 95 accord manual transmission for 5 years now. I know that Ive had to change my IAC valve, egr valve and now my throttle body due to rpm fluctuations. Maybe this can help.

 

cant really see it being anything other than internal

​​​​​​might need to swap in a another tranny from the junkyard

 

agreed. this has to be internal transmission damage/wear. maybe bearings, syncro hub or shift mechanism. I can only guess.

they aren't too bad to work on if you have a factory service manual. but for the price of one of those you could pick up a good used unit like holmesnmanny suggested. could even be an opportunity for improvement if you find a prelude box instead.