The 1988-2000 Civic SOHC tranny all use the same input shaft bearings. I
myself have never had a "ISB" bearing failure, but I usually have the tranny
out every 15k-20K miles for replacing 1-2 shifter fork, yes I drive
ABUSIVE!!!!!

The 1996-2000 trannys use a different (steel) shifter fork design that
doesn't break like the 1988-1995 shifter forks.

They ARE NOT interchangeable.

Redline MTL leaves behind red GLOBS unless flushed with dino oil. The tranny
in the link was ran with dino oil for 3,000 miles just to see if the problem
was from Redline MTL, but it was too late.

I've ran Redline MTL for 12k miles. The cold shifting IMPROVEMENT was nice.

BTW NEVER EVER use synthetic motor oil in a Honda tranny, too slick.

Bror Jace, I'm seeing others that use the MT-90 doing ok, no problems.

--
Charles Tague
93 Honda Civic DX HB
1.6L SOHC VTEC 14.85 @ 89 mph,1.98 60 ft.
With ZEX 85 hp ZEX 13.09 @ 103 mph, 1.81 60ft.
86 Pontiac Trans Am
225/50/15 GForce Drag Radials
305 peanut cammed 15.29 @ 88 mph
http://home.cinci.rr.com/mistab0ne/
"Bror Jace" <brorjace@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:d1373663.0307281846.218aa7a6@posting.google.c om...
> fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George Macdonald) wrote in message
news:<3f24c261.75946917@news.tellurian.com>...
>
> > It's not the seal that got destroyed - it's the bearing cage and it
wasn't
> > clear if it suffered due to solvency of the plastic in the oil or if it
got
> > worn away by abrasion. It's completely gone though - all eight balls
are
> > jammed against each other in the bad bearing.
>
> Was there a big difference between the 5th and 6th generation Civic
> 5-speeds? My '95 Coupe went 132,000 miles (122,000 miles on MTL)
> without a single tranny-related problem. If solvency WAS an issue, it
> surely would have reared its ugly head in my car as I ran it much,
> much longer.
>
> > The Honda MTF works fine for me.
>
> I've never tried the stuff. A virgin oil analysis on it shows it to be
> a fairly ordinary-looking fluid. No special anti-wear (moly,
> borate-esters, etc ...) just a good dose of what looks like ZDDP ...
> in quantities motor oils used to have the stuff.
>
> I just know that MTL (70W80) was a vast improvement over the factory
> fill in both my '90 Integra as well as the '95 Civic. Who knows what
> they put in the trannies back then at the factory?
>
> What I like most about the Red Line fluids is their cold-shift
> capabilities. Dead-of-winter graunch is greatly eliminated. In fact, I
> have to get rid of the crappy factory gear oil in my Sentra Spec-V's
> 6-speed before this coming winter. The tranny is full of graunch at
> any temp under 40F until it's thoroughly warm. I have to shift very s
> l o w l y and c a r e f u l l y until the car is well warmed up to
> keep from grinding. I figure MT-90 (75W90) will be a significant
> improvement ... and it's the most popular fluid with other Spec
> drivers.
>
> --- Bror Jace
> (Saratoga, NY)