Rep Power: 0

I had the clutch replaced on my '06 Civic (5MT) about 2 weeks ago, at 140K miles. A few days afterward, the shift lever became very hard to move into 1st or 2nd gear. I was able to get the car moving in 3rd gear, and less than a mile further the car started shifting normally again. A day or two later, the same problem occurred again. After getting the car moving again, the problem disappeared and the car shifted normally again. I took the car back to the Honda dealer who had done the clutch replacement, and the mechanic who did the clutch replacement spent 2 hours checking, tightening and lubricating the shift linkage, test driving the car (<1 mile), and consulting with other mechanics. He could not identify a problem, and asked me to leave the car all day so he could examine the car more thoroughly. The mechanic felt that the shift linkage was fine, and that the problem was in the transmission, but he wanted to identify the exact problem. I replied that if the transmission was bad I was going to scrap the car, so it really didn't make sense to spend much more time looking for an intermittent problem. Driving the car home, it shifted and otherwise drove about the way it has since it was new, with no unusual noises and no difficulty shifting gears. Does anyone have any ideas about what could be happening? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 
Rep Power: 242

Air in the clutch system? If the slave cylinder is not able to push the throw out bearing enough to relieve the tension on the pressure plate it can be difficult to go into gear.

 
Rep Power: 0

That makes sense. Would the air in the system work its way out or should I ask the dealer to bleed the system again? The car has been fine since those two episodes.

 
Rep Power: 242

I would have it bled again. It can be a PITA to bleed the clutch. If they didn't do that when you took it back in then I would have them do it. I would be surprised if they didn't as that would be one of the first things I would suspect but would be good to ask about it.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks, I'll get in touch with the dealer in the morning.
mark