Rep Power: 291

any one else having an issue with first gear being difficult to shift in and out of? and their stock shifter having an *** load of side to side play? (2003 lx 5spd) (24k miles) (round 1" of play) hondas telling me the play is normal.... i think its bs... just seems to be getting worse. and they are saying they cant replicate any of the other issues..

 
Rep Power: 315

take of the pastic console covering the shifter area.

Look at the white plastic surrounding the shifter, if you can see that your shifter has been
hitting it I know the cause of your problem.

The shift linkage bolt inside of the tranny is backing out. Pretty soon it will come out all the way and you will have no gears to shift into. It will take a tranny mechanic about 2 hours to flush your tranny and find the bolt, put it back in and some locktite on the end of it.

I know...that is what happened to me.

 
Rep Power: 291

yeah sometimes I have trouble shifting into 1st but never out of it

 
Rep Power: 0

sometimes i have a hard time putting it in 1st gear... its like i have to really force it in.

 
Rep Power: 291

wtf... i guess ill try another honda dealer, then if all else fails talk to american honda see what they say. maybe go to another shop and send honda the bill.

 
Rep Power: 291

ok so what i did was i called american honda (phone numbers in owners manual) and bitched at them for a while, and thier becoming involved now... so everything its all getting fixed know, the shifter, drivers seat, and the trunk leaking.... and yes they know it has aftermarket modifacations. best part if the honda dealer still cant diagnoss (sp) it and it fails after my warrentie is up it will still be covered....!!!!! so if your honda dealer's given you **** call up american honda and tell em what is going on... they said its wierd for a dealership to reject warrentie work since the dealership gets paid for the work either way!!!!

 
Rep Power: 0

same prob here........ its normal... you little buggers are always having problesm! awwwwwww

 
Rep Power: 291

what???

 
Rep Power: 0

i found that its hard to get into first someone's so a solution I found was just let off the clutch and the push it back in and then put it in 1st and it should go right in when that happens.

 
Rep Power: 0

I had that in my other vehicle before the civic. If you always have your foot on the clutch while stopped, it tends to make it extremly hard to put it into gears. I was told to just pump the clutch after awhile.

 
Rep Power: 291

more often than not i have it in nutrueal (sp) when stoped

 
Rep Power: 0

i have same problem..
1st gear doesnt get in unless the car is at complete stop..
when the traffic light changed from red to green and car was breaking,
i had to shift into the 1st gear but i couldnt..
car was running even under 5mph
it felt like something was blocking the shifter..
so i had to either

stop the car completely then shift it into the first(which takes long time and drivers back of my car gets mad)

or

shift into 2nd gear to roll the car (when car is running even slower than 5mph and i shift it to 2nd gear..u kno what would happen)

i thought it was just normal caused by safety system or something
but after i read someone posted about this as his problem
i was kinda surprised..

 
Rep Power: 0

You don't need to shift down to 1st unless you come to a complete stop. 1st is there to get the vehicle moving from a stand still.

About shifting into 1st, I have never been in a car that doesn't have some resistance shifting into 1st every now and again. Duh! And the reason there is resistance when the car is moving, even very slowly, is because you aren't supposed to be going back to first.

 
Rep Power: 0

but when i shift into 2nd gear and hit the gas, it feels like the car is being soooo heavy or something..

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, if you need to haul fanny then that is what you need to do. It feels that way because it's a higher gear and the rpms are lower. It only last a second and it's all you need to putt around a parking lot or take off without the need of pedal to the floor acceleration.

 
Rep Power: 291

if im going under 5mph and try and start accel. in 2nd the car bogs down.... like any stick if ur in to high of a gear...

any way im going to the dealer as were american honda's directions and dealing with the lead techs... to try and figure this all out. american honda organized my trip in so well see what they say about it tommarrow night...

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, the car is going to bog a little under 5mph, but do you really need snap your neck acceleration at that speed in a parking lot or leaving a stop light that you didn't come to a stand-still, no.

It's like traveling at 50mph in 5th gear and having to slow down to 40 for someone is front of you. Do you need to downshift, no. You just take a weebit longer getting back to 50.

 
Rep Power: 291

try starting your car in 2nd.... doesnt work to well.... same effect under 5mph with my civic...

** took car in this morning and the lead tech knew exactly what i was talking about, and said there is way to much play in the shifter, i get it back this afternoon, so ill say what if anything they find then**

 
Rep Power: 291

well just talked to honda... so far it turns out that the shifter cables were bad, and they had to "special order" them... the timming belt tensioner also turned out to be bad, and a mount bracket was shot. as far as the seat turned out to be shimes and a few brackets/bolts, the trunk was a bad seal...

my advice if a dealer is givin you **** call american honda and work it out wit them, and be persitant keep on them about the problem and itll get fixed...

ps honda and american honda both are fully aware of ALL the mods i have done, and i didnt have any warrenty problems