hey, i drive a 95 civic ex coupe with manual tranny and 80k miles. enigne is stock and has not been altered other than intake and strut bar, which is unrelated to my problem. Stock suspension also. Now, i've noticed that when i shift, its getting harder to get it into gear while driving. like going from 2nd to 3rd, i had a harder time than usual. The car doesnt get into gear smoothly anymore and i need to put out more effort to go in. Soemtimes it even grinds. What could be the problem. I have no experience with tranny's so any help expanied in plain terms will be appreciated. TIA

 

Your syncro's. When you shift from one gear to another, something in the transmission helps syncronize the rev's for the next gear for smooth operation.. It makes it so you don't need to double clutch. Just because one or two syncro's are bad, doesn't mean they all are. I'd pay attention to 2nd and 3rd.

 

ic. Yea, its just a couple gears. mainly 2nd and 3rd. So, what are synchros? sorry for being dumb, but i really want to learn and more than willing. Can anyone explain to me what these are or give me a link? is a synhro like 1 thing or a complext thing? and how much am i looking to spend to replace these? i assuem i should take it to the dealer?

 

Well, they tend to be more costly than shift forks (They tend to bend when driven hard). Don't worry man, I've asked all sorts of stupid questions... That's why this is a "resource"... If you ask without copping an attitude or sounding like a stunna then you're straight. I found a site that helps explain it better than I can, give it a shot:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/transmission4.htm

Knowing me, I'd take it to a dealer... I really don't know of any prices..

http://www.nopionline.com may be able to help, I don't know though

Hope it helps..

Eric


[Modified by Hadji, 2:39 AM 7/28/2002]

 

If it only grinds in one spot (i.e. only when shifting from 2nd to 3rd), then synchros could be the culprit. However, if it is difficult and sometimes grinds in most shifts, then it's probably not the synchros (unless you've really been hard on the tranny, it's entire life). The clutch master and slave cylinders could also be the problem, especially if it's more of a systemic problem (i.e. the whole system/all shifts), rather than a localized problem (like for just one shift).

If I were you, I'd pray for slave or master cylinder. It's much cheaper than a tranny rebuild for a stupid synchro.

 

why does everyone immediatley jump to syncros.
before you drop 500$ for a new transmission flush the tranny and get some good honda MTF.
it could solve the problem.

 

KAMiN, I wonder how many people have ever SEEN a bad synchro from a D tranny.

I wiped the teeth off of one been a shifter fork broke. I've seen some 200,000 mile wear synchros. That make s about 4 bad ones I've seen, yet I sold about 200 on last groupbuy.

 

Is it the syncros if my transmission pops out of 2nd gear when I let off of the gas?

 

i'd say that's probably one of your shaft bearings.

 

jeff91z6- synchros yes, or your motor/tranny mounts OR you short shifter could be the wrong geometry but its most likely the synchros..mainshaft bearings will not make it pop out of gear...they will make it noisy and eventually **** everything up trans wise cuz of the play that introduces to the whole tranny.


[Modified by builthatch, 3:00 PM 7/29/2002]

 

ive been thru 8 d series transmission, upon dissection, ive found 5 with synchro failure (2/3), a couple them had mainshaft bearing problems also and one of them found its demise thru the dif blowin up...i feel that the mainshaft bearing wear issues were accelerated from the use of a pucked unsprung hub race disk, but the synchros just plain wore out, not overly abusive shifting, just alot of quick shifts, downshifting @ high revs with out revmatching etc wears them out....ive found that cryo'ing all the internals has given my latest transmission the longest life of any ive ever had...

 

thanks guys. I'll check out those 2 sites. I dont drive hard at all and never push the tranny. I shift normal and only have very seldom shifted at high rpms. So i know it can really be my driving. I'll go research some more and maybe take it to my honda dealer, even though i bet they will try to rip me off.

 

Why would you take your car somewhere that you think they will rip you off? And why do you think they will rip you off?

 

i'm just saying honda dealers tend to be very expensive. I know they do good work and can stand by their work, just it gets to cost alot. I just meant ripped off in a money point of view.

 

Seems like no one knows **** about transmissions. I know a couple do, but most dont.
Start by fluching the trans fluid. Now, while doing this be sure to inspect the fluid itself. If the syncro brass is worn you should see a copper/gold reflective hue in the oil. If you see silver, then most likely you have a bearing issue.
If you dont see any of this, then fill er' back up with oil to spec and see how it feels.

A clutch issue could cause your problems as well. Maybe it needs to be adjusted.

Hope this helps you. And for future reference, people will always say its your synchronizer assembly (synchros). These people probably have problems changing their own tranny fluid.

Also, FYI. I work at my fathers business which is strictly a manual transmission repair shop that has been around since 1974--Ive been doing this all my life. As of yet we only do RWD vehicles. Mostly race, street, classic, restored cars.

 

a bad countershaft bearing that has walked out of the case will cause tranny to pop out of second gear.

Only 8 trannys? I've got that many untouched just laying around.

Usually synchro failure is due to a worn/broken shifter fork.