Honda Car Forum

ZRexRider wrote:
> My daughter is driving a 94 Accord LX (5 speed manual transmission).
> She says that it has become difficult to shift when the car is cold -
> particularly difficult to get into reverse. The car has approximately
> 90,000 miles. She's too far away to do any "hands on" diagnostics so
> I'm going to advise her to take it in for service.


Sometimes fresh transmission fluid can help in such a situation. I
would change it out with the correct Honda dealer oil and see if
anything changes.

John

Just went through this on a '94 Civic. The fluid was gone in the clutch
reservoir. Leaky slave. I drove an our to my son's college, filled it with
fresh DOT 4 and pumped it up enough to get it home and replace the slave.

If she is savvy enough to put fluid in, she can probably pump it up enough
to get it to a shop and save the tow, but she is going to want to drive it
this way, and worry about the fix when she "Has Time" (yes, I know kids).
Make her take it straight to the shop, leaky fluid will eat paint, and if
it's leaking, she could damage her car, and the car behind her!

G-Man


"ZRexRider" <jerryg@ptd.net> wrote in message
news:1133104394.492697.319460@g47g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> ooops! Some more details just came in. She went out to use her car
> this morning and can't get it out of first gear. Not even to nuetral.
> Says the clutch pushes in and there seems to be enough resistance to
> indicate that a cable or something simple isn't broken. Says the pedal
> doesn't just spring back to the "home" position though.
>
> Sound like a clutch replacement? Any ballpark costs if it is?
>
> Thanks again
>

"G-Man" <shoot.digital@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:CtidnQ_S6peuOBfenZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Just went through this on a '94 Civic. The fluid was gone in the clutch
> reservoir. Leaky slave. I drove an our to my son's college, filled it
> with fresh DOT 4 and pumped it up enough to get it home and replace the
> slave.
>
> If she is savvy enough to put fluid in, she can probably pump it up enough
> to get it to a shop and save the tow, but she is going to want to drive it
> this way, and worry about the fix when she "Has Time" (yes, I know kids).
> Make her take it straight to the shop, leaky fluid will eat paint, and if
> it's leaking, she could damage her car, and the car behind her!
>
> G-Man
>
Depending on her driving experience and adventurousness, there is also the
option of driving with the clutch stuck "engaged." You know the drill: start
in gear (with the useless clutch pedal depressed), shift slowly and gently
by listening to the gears rattle as you match the engine speed to the new
gear....

My only real caveats there are to warm up the engine in neutral first to
avoid combining a cold start with starting in gear, and not to try it where
she might have to stop on a significant upslope. In hilly areas that
definitely relegates driving clutchless to an emergency situation.

Mike

Thanks Everybody!

My daughter's friend is helping her out. She followed the advice
produced by all of you and had him check the hydraulics first. Sure
enough - Master cylinder leaks, fluid level dropped too low. Charging
her $200 to replace it and re-fill the system.

Hopefully it ends there but it sure was nice getting some good
pointers.

"zrexrider" <jerryg@ptd.net> wrote in message
news:1133226861.409896.171220@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> Thanks Everybody!
>
> My daughter's friend is helping her out. She followed the advice
> produced by all of you and had him check the hydraulics first. Sure
> enough - Master cylinder leaks, fluid level dropped too low. Charging
> her $200 to replace it and re-fill the system.
>
> Hopefully it ends there but it sure was nice getting some good
> pointers.
>
Good deal! I still recommend replacing the slave cylinder at the same time
if she can afford that. It's an even easier job than the master cylinder,
but it isn't all that big a deal to keep an eye on the fluid level either.
The cylinder will probably start leaking before it quits altogether, which
will give her some warning. The only duplicated labor then is the filling
and bleeding of the system... no biggie.

Mike