Honda Car Forum

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
(since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
ideas?

Thanks
Steve

steven.sciriha@gmail.com wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
> Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
> problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
> other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
> things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
> (since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
> ideas?
>
> Thanks
> Steve
>
adjust the clutch cable and get into the habit of flooring the clutch -
you're supposed to anyway.

On May 10, 3:17 pm, jim beam <spamvor...@bad.example.net> wrote:

> adjust the clutch cable and get into the habit of flooring the clutch -
> you're supposed to anyway.

by flooring i meant leaving an indent on the carpet/floorboard! I do
generally floor the pedal just not to that extent....

(steven.sciriha@gmail.com) writes:
> Hey all,
>
> I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
> Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
> problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
> other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
> things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
> (since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
> ideas?
>
> Thanks
> Steve
>

Shift cable bushings are far more likely as the cause of the problem.
They can be lubricated, which will extend their life (if done properly)
or they can be replaced (good for another 16 years!).
Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

<steven.sciriha@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1178801798.437665.273910@e51g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> Hey all,
>
> I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
> Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
> problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
> other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
> things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
> (since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
> ideas?
>
> Thanks
> Steve
>
>

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems the be
the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should make a big
improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
wrote:
> <steven.scir...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1178801798.437665.273910@e51g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > Hey all,
>
> > I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
> > Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
> > problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
> > other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
> > things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutchcable
> > (since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
> > ideas?
>
> > Thanks
> > Steve
>
> This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems the be
> the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should make a big
> improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others swear by Redline MTL.
>
> Mike

cheers mike! will do so....

Steve

steven.sciriha@gmail.com wrote:
> On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
> wrote:
> > <steven.scir...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >
> > news:1178801798.437665.273910@e51g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> >
> > > Hey all,
> >
> > > I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on
> > > it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to
> > > 2nd...The problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of
> > > driving...All the other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its
> > > one of two things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the
> > > clutchcable (since the change seems easier when the clutch is
> > > floored)...any ideas?
> >
> > > Thanks
> > > Steve
> >
> > This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems
> > the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should
> > make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others
> > swear by Redline MTL.
> >
> > Mike
>
> cheers mike! will do so....
>
> Steve

I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple mechanics
I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in transverse-mounted engine
gearboxes.
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6...@hooya.com.au> wrote:
> steven.scir...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com>
> > wrote:
> > > <steven.scir...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> > >news:1178801798.437665.273910@e51g2000hsg.googleg roups.com...
>
> > > > Hey all,
>
> > > > I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on
> > > > it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to
> > > > 2nd...The problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of
> > > > driving...All the other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its
> > > > one of two things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the
> > > > clutchcable (since the change seems easier when the clutch is
> > > > floored)...any ideas?
>
> > > > Thanks
> > > > Steve
>
> > > This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems
> > > the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should
> > > make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others
> > > swear by Redline MTL.
>
> > > Mike
>
> > cheers mike! will do so....
>
> > Steve
>
> I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple mechanics
> I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in transverse-mounted engine
> gearboxes.
> --
> Shaun.
>
> 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
< 10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
does it get hard....

Steve

steven.sciriha@gmail.com wrote:
> On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6...@hooya.com.au> wrote:
> > steven.scir...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee"
> > > <michaeltn...@cybertrails.com> wrote:
> > > > <steven.scir...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >
> > > > news:1178801798.437665.273910@e51g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> >
> > > > > Hey all,
> >
> > > > > I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km
> > > > > (european) on it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift
> > > > > gear from 1st to 2nd...The problem seems to go away after the
> > > > > 20-30 mins of driving...All the other gear changes seem
> > > > > fine....Im thinking its one of two things...time for a tranny
> > > > > oil change or adjusting the clutchcable (since the change
> > > > > seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any ideas?
> >
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > > Steve
> >
> > > > This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second
> > > > seems the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil
> > > > should make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although
> > > > others swear by Redline MTL.
> >
> > > > Mike
> >
> > > cheers mike! will do so....
> >
> > > Steve
> >
> > I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple
> > mechanics I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in
> > transverse-mounted engine gearboxes.
>
> I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
> < 10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
> does it get hard....
>
> Steve

That indicates to me that you need to adjust your clutch cable. It's cheap
(you can do it yourself) and if it doesn't fix it then you can look
elsewhere. It sounds to me like it's not de-clutching sufficiently.

Luck...
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

"~misfit~" <misfit61nz@hooya.com.au> wrote in message
news:46483710@news2.actrix.gen.nz...
> steven.sciriha@gmail.com wrote:
>> On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6...@hooya.com.au> wrote:
>> > steven.scir...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
>> < 10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
>> does it get hard....
>>
>> Steve
>
> That indicates to me that you need to adjust your clutch cable. It's cheap
> (you can do it yourself) and if it doesn't fix it then you can look
> elsewhere. It sounds to me like it's not de-clutching sufficiently.
>

I would expect the effect of the clutch dragging to be approximately the
same at all speeds.

My last work truck was doing the same thing - hard 1-2 upshift, worse at
higher speeds and always worse than the downshift - but I couldn't get the
garage to bother with it. After a few months the gears started howling, and
I was nearly a hundred miles from home. After the tranny was filled the
shifting was much more normal.

Mike