whattheduck

Hello friends! I hope I can post this here. I have a 2001 Civic and I'm rebuilding the BMXA 4 speed auto transmission. Does anyone know where I can buy a rebuild kit with the bearings included? I have only found kits with the seals, clutches and steels, filter etc. but no bearings. Or do I have to get them from Honda? Thanks

slowcivic2k

The bearings can be sourced from the dealer or the manufacturer of the bearing itself. I use both, as sometimes certain bearing sizes are hard to find aftermarket.

You will not receive any bearings in a rebuild kit. You will need to disassemble the unit and inspect them. Adding bearings to a rebuild can triple the rebuild cost.

Do yourself right though, and get a flagship kit from Transtar. (includes steels, pistons if needed, and all of the seals.) These kits use updated frictions. Avoid anything that uses OE style friction material as these are inferior to the Raybestos GPX clutches you will receive in a Transtar kit.

What failed in you unit?

whattheduck

Thanks for the heads up on the transtar kit. I'll sign up for an account and check out what they have. There's a transtar kit on amazon with the Raybestos GPX clutches but no filter. The kit I was going to purchase uses "factory friction" clutches and comes with the filter. The rebuild kit I can get locally doesn't specify what type of clutches are included. And is also 4x the price of buying online. Why do you recommend the Raybestos clutches?

Not sure what failed. I haven't taken the transmission out of the car/apart yet, the customer is coming by next week with the papers. I have only moved the car around the parking lot at work in the morning and at the end of the day, but my guess is something (friction material perhaps) has plugged the filter or made its way into the valve body. There's also a whining noise from the transmission. But it doesn't sound like bearing noise to me. The engine light is on P0730 problem in shift control system. I haven't checked the solenoids and wiring yet but the noise leads me to believe something has probably failed inside.

slowcivic2k

I'm certain to pick up a troll or two in this post. GPX clutches have a parabolic crosshatch pattern with significantly more material as the clutches wear. Honda B7 transaxles are notorious for premature 2nd and 3rd gear wear, and as such raybestos offers an increased clamping force clutch for using within the same housing. You don't need to order direct from Transtar, many online vendors carry their rebuild kits, including Amazon.

Some transmissions are lenient enough to replace 4 clutches with 5 or even 6 discs in the aftermarket to prevent slippage. Unfortunately clearances only allow for upgraded frictions alone. In my experience though, these are FAR superior to OE style clutch friction plates.

If you have P0730 and no other code, you have a hydraulic or mechanical failure, most likely the filter element which is far too small for the application.

whine == gear
grumble == bearing/washer/clearance/something that isn't a gear

Gear whine can sometimes be attributed to a loose bearing allowing 1st gear to engage its paired gear at a slight angle, producing a whine. This is common on a lot of Honda automatics, and also domestics because of the straighter helical cut on the gear.

Report back with a detailed customer account of the problems they are experiencing. Fluid level, type, mileage, driving habits etc. The more you provide, the more information you will receive.

whattheduck

Cool thanks I'll look into a kit with GPX clutches. I didn't know you could add extra disks on some transmissions, good to know

I forgot to mention that the whine is there also when the car isn't moving. Something that is rotating at the same speed as the engine. I'll find out once I open the transmission.

The customer sold me the car since they were downsizing to 1 car anyway and didn't want to put money into this. We did the ATF every 48000km/30k miles with ATF Z-1 then Dw-1. The ATF was last replaced in april. The shop I work at does lots of Hondas. My boss used to work for Honda and recommend not flushing Honda transmissions. So we only drain and fill, sometimes several times if the fluid is really dirty. The 2001ish Civics and V6's transmissions seem to be problematic.

I also saw this while looking at parts Honda Transmission Lube Correction Kit Transgo Honda-LK2 is this something that I should add to the rebuild?

slowcivic2k

Anything that turns the converter fluid over faster is a great idea as it extends fluid life and clutch wear as well due to the decreased temperature.

Follow flushing logic as you wish, there is no harm in the procedure itself. The problem is most people flush after it is well too late, and this can result in unpredictable shifting due to changes in fluid viscosity and grabbing power (yes, clutch material in the fluid aids in friction quality!). This is because of the clutches, not the procedure itself.

A whine without movement is either the engine (most likely) or the transmission oil pump. A stethoscope is required to isolate the source of the noise.

whattheduck

Hey so my fiancee bought me the rebuild kit for Christmas so I fixed this thing over the holidays. I'll post pictures later. Anyway I found out the filter was plugged. The clutches were worn but no stuck valves or anything. All the bearings looked ok. I also got a rebuilt torque converter from a place locally. It drives great now and no noise

I'd also like to mention that the 1st gear clutch steel plates are thinner than 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear steels by about 0.020". So in total there's 3 thin steels and 9 thick ones. Doh!

ExtremeTint

Hello 👋 all And 1st & foremost I'd like to appoligize for bringing up an old thread however it is exactly.the thread I need to be in. I'm about to rebuild my 1st bmxa on my $400 02 civic lx cream puff and I've done tons of research so far including here in honda-tech, YouTube & Google and I came across this thread before making any purchases. I just purchased the Transtar Master rebuild kit with steels & clutches but there was no mention of them being the "Raybestos" clutches so my question is do all their kits come with these upgraded Raybestos clutches? And is there any instructions that come in the box? I probably won't need them but it's good for a reference. I also purchased the new & improved trans oil filter along with the upgraded superior transmission valve body shift kit by Translab "STL-H04-323". It says it reduces alot of the problems with the transmission and allows it to shift alot better hase anyone ever installed one of these kits? And if so was it a noticeable difference? I can't find any threads or topics on this transmission for that upgraded valve body kit. And then I also purchased a new torque converter which I found online on sale for $116 "not a bad deal" I've built several civic show cars & a few race cars and have built several D-series & B-series engines about 10 years ago & prior howevwr i have never tore i to a trans so im going to give it a go but figured i might as well go all out & replace everything inside and make it a "brand new trans" anyhow any confirmation on the Raybestos clutches in the kit I purchased would be a plus so I don't have to return it & I'd like to know more about the valve body upgrade kit as well if anyone. An chime in on that. TIAMike