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I'm the original owner of a 2005 Civic LX with a 5-speed manual transmission. The mileage is a little over 62K.

I took it into the dealer two weeks ago for a routine, pre road-trip check. They reported that the right axle seal was leaking transmission fluid and needed replacement. A couple of hours later they called and said the mechanic had found some metal shards in or around the seal and this indicated a transmission bearing had failed and caused the seal to leak. They quoted me a price for tearing into the trans but were unclear about what it would cost to fix things once they were in there. I told them I needed a second opinion, had them replace the seal, took the car home and parked it and we used the wife's car for our trip.

One potential clue: I'm a clumsy driver and bumped the right front wheel against the curb a few days before I took the car in. I'm not sure how fast I was going but it was a strong, sudden impact.

I'm attaching a photo of the metal pieces they said were from the transmission.

1. Does anyone have any advice on or experience with this, or a similar, problem?

2. Specifically, should I consult a transmission repair specialist, or would a highly rated auto shop with Honda experience suffice?

I appreciate any help you can give me

Thanks,

Rick

 
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Can you put a ruler or something in the pic so we have a size reference of those pieces?

 
Rep Power: 517

Kinda looks like chunks of the ball cage from a bearing.










Sure looks like it would have came out of a bearing.
You have a problem!

I BET there is some wrong noises coming out of the trans.

No, you can't have an estimate until the gearbox is out of the car and opened up and inspected to see what sort of damage is found.




If your curb contact did not bend or damage anything, wheel or suspension, then I'd expect this trans issue to be unrelated.

 
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Thanks, ezone.

Attached is a new picture with a ruler alongside the parts.

I heard no unusual sounds when I drove the car home from the dealer. I made sure to use all the gears.

This question still perplexes me: do I take it to a well-reviewed independent general auto shop that has a reputation for being good with Hondas, or should I take it to a transmission shop with no particular reputation for Hondas? OR, should I just hold my breath and let the dealer work on it, trusting that even though their labor rates are higher, they know what they're doing?

Thanks again

 
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ps: my curb bump did not, as far as I can tell, throw off the alignment or suspension.

 
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That sure is the right size to be chunks of a bearing cage.......There's a failure in there if that truly came out of your trans.

You might not hear any noise.......yet.

Sure seems like most average drivers wouldn't notice unusual noises....at first.... if ever. Most people haven't trained themselves to notice "slightly out of the ordinary".


Typical day at work:
"Nope, it just up and quit on me one day while I was driving down the road!"
"BullButter, it had to sound like someone was beating on it with a sledgehammer before it quit."

I can't answer that. Every shop employs varying degrees of talent, and everyone does not have the same abilities and expertise. Very few shops anywhere employ a full staff of top-gun techs.
I would be interviewing the person that would do the actual work. Does the person sound not only confident (talk is cheap), but competent?

 
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FOLLOW-UP: none of the recommended "generalist" auto repair places in my area would/could fix a transmission. Some would replace a trans., but not repair it.

I went to a trans. specialist. They took one look at the parts shown below and confirmed it was a bearing.

Got it fixed (along with some other stuff they found) for about $1.5K

 
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Did you pay for a rebuild or a new/used transmission?

 
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I think "rebuilt" although it seems "repair" would better describe it.

 
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what all did the have to replace and did you get the old parts back?

 
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Good questions! I did not get a specific list of what was done inside the transmission. At a minimum, I guess, one bearing was replaced. Also, I got no parts back.

The price also included replacing some clutch parts that still had useful life but were getting on in usage. The logic was to replace them while the equipment was dissasembled and easily worked on. There was also a seal that was leaking that was replaced; but this seal, if I remember correctly, was between the trans. and something else.

Like most folks, and unlike most members of this group, I'm way out of my depth when it comes to auto. mechanics.