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Honda Civic Transmission Questions



  • shiposhipo Posts: 9,152
    I've heard a HUGE number of complaints about the 2-3 gear change on other boards. Some say using GM Syncromesh, Redline MTF, or Amsoil MTF will at least partially solve the problem, however, some dealers say that doing so will void the warranty on the tranny. Others claim that that the 2-3 shift has been a Honda characteristic for a number of vehicle generations and don't expect Honda to address it anytime soon.

    I know that this doesn't help you much, but there it is.

    Best Regards,
  • I have a 2000 Civic that has been having some transmission problems lately. When shifting from reverse to Drive (D4) or Park to Drive (D4) it sometime takes a little while for the light on my dashboard to show up green and is also taking a while to put into Drive. Also, when on the highway, the D4 light will go out and the car's RPM will go up about 500 RPM. It is not shifting to D3 because D3 at 75MPH will put it about 5K RPM. It normally goes from about 3250 to 3750 RPM. Does anybody know what this is? Has anybody encountered this?
  • I have a new 07 Civic Si sedan with 2500 miles and its harder to get into 3rd gear then the other gears, whats up with this??? Also the rev's stick after taking my foot off the gas, it hangs there for 3-4 seconds???
  • shiposhipo Posts: 9,152
    Both are well known and very typical problems with the Si. Your dealer may claim ignorance of the fact, however, 8th Si boards across the internet have many-many threads on both issues.

    Regarding the 3rd gear issue, there have been some recent reports that Honda has just or is about to release some sort of a fix (over and above the upgraded fluid fix of a year ago or so) that includes new gears and syncros.

    As for the rev-hang, that is a component of the drive by wire throttle system that keeps the emissions low. There have been numerous firmware updates that have allegedly been written to address the problem. Have your dealer check to see of the latest throttle firmware is in place.

    Best Regards,
  • kiawahkiawah Posts: 3,666
    Do I understand your situation correctly that the car was moving, and you put it into park before the car was stopped. From that time till now, you have a leak from the transmission around the front of the car.

    Do you know for sure that it is transmission fluid? Can you see where it is leaking from? Does the car drive any differently or have any other symptoms that are now different, than the way it was before you did this?
  • Yes the car was moving and had almost come to a stop when it was put in park with a thud. Yes it is trans but I can't see where from other than it is on the right front even though the transmission is on the left. Thank you for your reply...
  • kiawahkiawah Posts: 3,666
    Well if you are going to try and diagnose this yourself, you're going to need to get under the car and see where it is leaking.

    How is it that you know this is transmission fluid?
  • kiawahkiawah Posts: 3,666

    How is it that you know this is transmission fluid?
  • cam2003cam2003 Posts: 131
    I almost could not move the shift lever back from R to Park or N twice today.
    I had to use a lot of force to put it back to Park. It seemed to stuck inside the transmission gear box (Brake pedal and release button were fully pressed).
    I bought this 96 CIVIC last month, I did notice the gear selection was not smooth. I had lubricated inside gear lever box, but it did not help.
    Even with engine off, insert key in shift lock and push down it, very hard to move shift lever from P to R-N.
    Any helps to identify the problem/fix would be greatly appreciated
  • I recently bought a used Honda Civic 2003 LX coupe which has 56k miles on it. I have been driving it for th past 6 months and now I have run into a problem. When I excelerate it move for a while until it gets hot and will not move anymore, when I use the D2 gear it does the same thing, the reverse gear work very well,an auto mechanic told I have to change the transmission. Desperately need some help here, anyone with Idea on what to do should let me know
  • drmbbdrmbb Posts: 80
    Just so I'm clear.

    When you first start the car and engine and transmission are cold, the tranny engages and acclerates normally. But once you've driven for awhile and everything is warmed up, it slips (that is, if you press the accelerator, the engine rpm's go up, but the car itself does not accelerate forward).

    Is that correct?

    If so, I'm sorry to say I agree with your mechanic, it sounds like your drive gears are essentially burned out. The remedy would be to re-build the existing transmission, or replace it with a used or a new one.

    Either way, continuing to drive it will only make it worse, so I'd take it in to a transmission shop or Honda dealer a.s.a.p. and get a definitive diagnosis.

    P.S. if your reverse was out as well, I'd say you may get by with just a fluid and filter change. Sometimes enough water can condense over time in the fluid to cause slippage when hot, but usually then it's any gear. The fact that your reverse gear is fine makes me believe that this is not something simple like bad fluid, a plugged filter or such.
  • Hello,
    I don't know if the problem is the engine or the auto transmission but when the engine is cold and I try to drive it, the car will go for about 200' or so, then the RPM will quickly drop to very low (almost stall) and I can't even rev up the engine unless I slip the gear into "N". The engine then rev up right away and everything is back to normal and the car is ok to drive until I start out on a cold engine again. If I let the engine idle and warm up before driving then it works fine. It has been like this for over 6 months now. I thought the transmission fluid was dirty so I changed the transmission fluid for three time already...still didn't make any difference. The car has only 60K mikes. Please advise. Thanks.
  • Hi guys,
    I have a 96 Honda Civic DX with Auto Trans. I'm the original owner. This car was wonderful to me, never ever any problems (except for one I will describe below). The car never stopped, never failed starting, never broke down! I recently bought a new CRV. My neighbor would like to buy my Civic for his young son. However, for the last few months of my driving of this Civic, it was making small grinding noise when accelerating in about 36-40mph. Anything below that speed and above would not make any noise. It also does not make any noise within that 36-40 speed when it is cold. It seems to me like a transmission problem. I can fix anything including engines, but not automatic transmissions. What do you guys think about this problem? Would this require complete overhaul/rebuild?
    Honestly, I want to sell this car to my neighbor for a very little price, only because it's a nice family that I know does not have much money. If I could get someone to fix it for me for couple hundred dollars I would do it, since I hate to sell the car with this problem. I know he won't be able to afford major repairs. Could anyone help in troubleshooting this? Or maybe even looking at this problem in MA area?
    Thank you,
  • bartee6bartee6 Posts: 1
    My 97 civic auto trans. went out. It has the 1.6L vtec. Will only a vtec trans work or will a base trans work?
  • on my 96 civic wen cold goes into gear no prob. after warm the cor seems to jump out of gear nothing no reverse no drive nothing. put the car in park and shut it off start it back up and off you go like there was no problem. but only for a few minutes. then the same thing all over again. any suggestions.HELP PLEASE
  • Hi Tonfamily,

    I have a 2002 Civic LX Automatic, with the D17A2 motor. I just started experiencing this issue as well. Were you able to find a fix?

    Here is some background on my car:

    Prior to experiencing the issue you described, my Civic displayed a CEL with a diagnostic code of P0420. I removed the exhaust manifold/cat and replaced it with a DC Sports header, Random Technologies Cat, and Magnaflow muffler. As well, I installed a AEM V2 Cold Air Intake. I did this because the performance dropped to less than half (making me convinced that the cat was plugged).

    During my cold air intake installation, I separated the electrical harness that held the connections between motor and:

    Idle Air Control
    MAP Sensor
    and another sensor that is adjacent to the MAP sensor.

    The reason for me doing this was because the IAC sensor could not reach the new/higher grommet hole in the cold air intake.

    I've noticed depreciated gas mileage and recently was a quart low on synthetic oil after 4000 miles. Today, I had the oil changed and flushed the coolant. The tempurature runs between 190-206 degrees.

    One thing I noticed is that when the car is cold, my timing is advanced between 6-11 degrees. After warm-up, my timing is 0 degrees BTDC. The MAP sensor shows a slight drop before the car warms up. Cold at idle varies from 6 to 9 inches of Mercury. Warm is steady at 9.

  • hi all,
    i have the EXACT same problem as 'jerrydupek,' the odd rattle/grind noise b/w 36 and 40 mph that i also assume is transmission related. mine's a 97 civic DX auto trans, LOVE it, gets 42 mpg highway(!), no issues except this noise. i've had two different shops look at it over the past 9 months and naturally the noise didn't happen for either. after the 2nd mechanic trip, i headed to florida for the summer, and since here it seems to happen more often-- during the (virginia) winter, it only happened occasionally, after a couple hours of errand-running on surface streets, but during the florida summer, it's pretty much every time i drive. heading back to VA next week, searching the internet for a clue as to whether i should plan to drive only during daylight hours for safety in case this means something's about to fail... anyone have any advice for me?
    love this website!
  • I just recently changed the oil in my Honda Civic. It has 101K miles so I went synthetic with Valvoline, mobile 1 oil filter. Not even a week after oil change, I notice that from a complete stop, when on first gear and accelerating, I notice a grinding/shaking I think in the engine or the front tires. But when shifting to 2nd gear, the grinding/shacking goes away. Is this something related to the oil change that I just did or is it something totally isolated? I would appreciate the advice on what to do.
  • Civic2004A,

    Likely it is unrelated, but who knows what got bumped while underneath the car.
    I use valvoline 0-40w Synthetic and have some of the same issues. Understand, that is the oil I use in the motor and not the transmission. Manual Transmission
    fluid in a Honda is not the same as the motor oil you use. This can be a common mistake as some older American cars DO use motor oil in the gear boxes.

    Outside of the oil you used, there are other reasons you can feel a shudder in first gear. Here is a rundown list in no particular order:

    1. Clutch is engaging and the flywheel or clutch pads have worn or have hard spots. Replace clutch and flywheel.
    2. Master cylinder is low or has bubbles in the clutch fluid. Try a complete bleed and replace with synthetic brake fluid.
    3. Master or slave cylinder is having a problem (air leak or problems compressing fluid). Replace whichever is leaking or both to be safe.
    4. Front motor mount rubber is worn. Inspect and/or replace
    5. Transmission mount is worn. Inspect and/or replace
    6. Air filter is very overused and motor can't breath at low RPM. Replace air filter.
    7. Axels (half shafts) are worn. Stop the car. Turn the wheel all the way to one side or another and accellerate. Do you hear a clunk? If so, you will need to replace the half shaft on the side that is clunking. It is best to do this in pairs and you won't need to replace the mid-shaft unless you are pushing up to 800hp. Half shafts usually come with the CV boot pre-installed and I don't recommend you replacing this on your own. Its a pain. If there is no clunk, check for grease in the axel area. This can be a sign of the axel grinding and putting resistance on the motor and tranny.
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