Bronwyn031

Okay,
I have a 06 Si with 26k miles on it and last Thursday while driving home the car would not shift into 1st gear or reverse for that matter.
I didn't think too much about it because this car has always had problems shifting gears in cold weather. I live in S.Cali btw, so I don't think it gets that cold here, oh well.
I come up to a intersection like I've done a thousand times; pull the car out of gear and coast to a stop, with my foot OFF the clutch.
Try to drive away and 1st gear won't go in and now 2nd through 5th won't go in neither.
Push my car off the road and call for a tow truck to tow me to the dealership.

Dealer mechanic comes out and tells me that my clutch is bad WITHOUT even looking at the car
I tell him that I've always had problems with gear changes since I bought the car brand new.
The car jumps like a bucking bronco in 1st gear if you try to drive it cold, I've had the elusive 3rd gear Pop-Out that Honda still to this day DENIES and I've had problems with the car going into gears.
Honda tells me that clutch work isn't covered under my bumper to bumper warranty and they won't pay for a rental whilst mine is in the shop

Next morning, I get a call from dealership telling me that the mechanic HAS looked at the car and infact my clutch is bad.
I ask for the price of the repairs.... ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED and NINE dollars!!!!
I was like, "Are you ****ing Kidding Me?!!!!" Is the clutch made of Platinum spun by Angels ?!!!"
The service guy didn't think that was funny btw.

I tell him I'll take the car to someone else before I pay that amount. He then tells me that if I take the car to anyone else to have tranny work done that it will VOID my drivetrain warranty.

I ask him if Honda will put back in a beefier clutch instead of factory.... Nope.

I agree to the repairs and here I am.

But wait, the story gets better (or worse)

The next day I go in to to the dealership to snag my house keys, CD's and my iPhone car charger kit out of my car because they'll look so fabulous in my TAURUS POS rental.
Now there are 3 other Civic Si's sitting next to mine in the service line.
I ask the guy at the service window what's up with all of these Si's. He tells me that they are ALL in for tranny or clutch work. One of these has only 12k miles on it.

Now I'm no rocket scientist, but doesn't the tranny/clutch problem seem a bit odd and habit forming on Civic Si's?

Wondering if anything defective in the tranny could cause premature wearing of the clutch?
Is 1500.00 a NORMAL price for a OEM Stock clutch? I do believe I could get a RACING clutch for that price.

I did request an itemized statement of all the parts they are ordering and that I also wanted to see the clutch plate they take out.

Any feedbacks on my ordeal? Has anyone else come across this situation?

B2F_

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

why did you have the dealer do it? you have the right to go anywhere you want without vioding the warranty. theres a law against that. in order to deny warranty, the dealer must prove that the new parts put in caused a problem or are of lesser quality than oem. which in 99% of cases never even happens. they just called your bluff and you fell for it. typical dealer mentality, screw the customer at any cost. and yes, defective clutch on the si is a well known problem. next time take it to a shop you trust. hey and guess what, that new clutch they put in is gonna have the same problems as the old one fyi.

Civic_Racer9

iTrader: (9)

i dont think thats the clutch.

when u cant put it into gears....its the transmission....and if thats the case it SHOULD BE under warranty.


a bad clutch = holding the clutch pedal in longer for it to grab.

Bronwyn031

Follow Up,
Wednesday afternoon I received a call from the dealership telling me that they had good news for me.
They told me that my clutch was worn but also there was a defect with the 3rd gear catch something (forgot exactly what the guy said) and also with the Master Cylinder in the transmission.
Honda was going to foot the bill for labor but that I would have to pay the cost of the replacement clutch. They also told me that they would reimburse me the cost of my Taurus rental. I was sooooo excited that my heart skipped a beat.
I had bad mouthed Honda since hearing the cost of these repairs and in the end they came through with flying colours.
I'm thinking they could just have easily kept their mouths closed and have me pay the entire cost, but instead they admitted that there was infact a DEFECT discovered in my transmission.
Talk about redeeming oneself

btw the cost has gone from 1758.00 (repairs and rental) down to 500.00. I guess dealerships pay a markup for OEM parts or something because I found a OEM clutch for a 06 Si online for 328.00.

Still, I think that's more fair than what they were originally gonna charge me.

b2f_

FoSho

WOW.....Look at that....People LIKE ME at the dealership stepped up & got the kid some help! Man I guess all dealerships aren't evil....maybe just me huh gearbox? Sorry just my 2cents.....can't stand the dude

This is what I have been trying to explain to people.....don't be rude or crude....yes some dealers aren't very nice but most aren't. We're here just to make a living too. I take pride in my work and if you're in this business it ain't for the dollars....it better count for something! Warranty work is much easier for me to get paid rather than trying to convice some kid he has to pay for it. Honda has no problem paying me or other dealers! We are the professionals!

Time & time again people try to bad mouth us because we can't find anything wrong with there cars. I have rod in at least 10 new si's w/ 3rd gear complaints and found absolutely nothing!! I've drove em and rode with the owners. We also peform the transmission flush tech service bullentin as instructed by Honda...just so we don't have to look at it for free ( I think I only get like 12 bucks labor to do it too!!) This time they actually found a problem.....we have no problem fixing stuff that's broke.....it's just most of the time I can't find anything wrong.

Nothing said against the poster....but most people that have an Si are young kids you like to wrap em out.....I usually find the drivers to be the issue.....like I said....just what I have seen from experience!

How many miles do you have on the car? Sounds like whoever was working with you did the right thing. He got ahold of his DSM to provide assistance.
Good luck man!

P.S. (I work at a honda dealership if ya didn't get the drift)
Oh yeah and about warranty at other facilities is true....Honda must perform the repairs and it must be with Honda OEM parts.....Honda is only gonna pay me!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

sucks you still had to pay something for a defective part on a car that is still under factory warranty, but at least it wasnt the whole bill. glad you got it figured out.

FoSho

Well ya...I understand the guy paid some dough for that new car....however. I have seen clutches burnt up within 20,000 miles due to improper driving......If the clutch material is gone it's gone. It's not because it's defective, it's because it was worn off...........Fair is Fair.....

I Have one customer w/ a 06 si w/ 67,000 miles on it already. He beats on it pretty good and the clutch still grabs like the day he bought it. He his as happy as can be......no transmission issues what so ever. He travels the country for business & rack up miles

dopes6070

iTrader: (25)

The drivetrain in the 06+ SI is so similar to the RSX-S that if there where any widespread problems Honda would have fixed them a LONG time ago. Im glad they fixed your car for a reasonable price

ssamjangjustin

ah crap, my 08 si sedan would screw up when i shift to 3rd gear as well.
some times, it feels like it's going in all the way, and next thing i see is my shifter pops out when i release the clutch pedal, and i hear dreadful 'KREEEEEKKKKK'
yeah...

thank you for the heads up. I guess i am not only onw who feels that way

FoSho

Take it to your dealership, be polite, make them drive with you, show them this, have them drive it & make it duplicate........ride with em......if you're complaint is valid it will get fixed.......point & simple...........it's like going to the doctors office. If the doc can't find anything wrong he's not gonna give you a bottle of codine

dopes6070

iTrader: (25)

Honestly I did that a couple times in my S2000 when it was cold. I just changed my style of driving a tiny bit and it never did it again. It actually shifted smoother if I did a relativley quick shift vs gently/slowly putting it in each gear. It probably has something to do with the high end tripple cone synchros that the honda 6spd transmissions use. I dunno...

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

i guess they dont build them like they use too. my gsr tranny had 171,000miles on it with no grinds, pops or kreeks, in cold or hot weather. You can try some acura mtf. i heard they changed the formula awhile back to fix some grinds they were having with the manual tl type S tranny.

I did notice my tranny would shift slightly smoother with the acura mtf.