Turboman6

Hey howdy hey,

I'm new to this forum, and new to owning a Civic, so any help would be appreciated! Long story short, I bought a used 2004 manual Civic for $1000 with 150k on it last summer. The records indicated that it was most likely a repo and had been sitting a while. After getting it checked out and realizing that there were mainly cosmetic problems with the car (missing sun visors, dirty interior, scratches on the bumper etc.), I drove it home with the intent to fix it up a little bit. Fast forward about 6 months and since then I've replaced the battery, swapped out for a new timing belt/water pump, replaced the stereo, changed the oil a few times, and replaced the trunk latch. About 3 weeks ago, the car started whining in 2nd and 3rd gears, and something in the transmission assembly started to rattle/squeak. I took it in to my mechanic as well as a transmission shop and they both said that it was going out and needed to be replaced. $1300-$1500. So, my question is: Is it worth it?? I really like this car and I want to keep it for awhile, but I guess it's difficult to spend more money on it than I paid for it originally.

GusBuz

Did you ever check the oil in the trans?
As for the price to fix it, I personally think its a lot but only because I never take my car to any shops I do all the work myself on my cars. A rebuilt trans in my area goes for 350-500 from what I've seen.
Maybe someone else can chime in regarding the price for the replacement..

Wankenstein

1) Not unexpected on a used car without prior service records. Did the battery have an expiration date?
2) Normal maintenance on a used car with over 100k miles, without prior service records or knowledge of last replacement.
3) Optional
4) Normal maintenance
5) Reasonable considering age/mileage.

Does the noise stop when the clutch pedal is depressed/pushed to floor?

Turboman6

I did change the transmission oil after I noticed the sounds and it seemed low (?). Is that parts and labor for $500? Man, maybe I need to drive my car to California... Haha. And yes, the sound goes away when I press in the clutch. I'm going to take it to a third ship in the morning to see what they say.

Colin42

that's the input shaft bearing, trans needs to come apart to fix it.

read: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...save-some.html

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...t-bearing.html

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...h-install.html

Pulling the trans isn't hard, I did it in my driveway with hand
tools, pulled out through the top so I didn't have to drop the subframe.

If you can remove and install the trans yourself you'll probably save almost $1000, throw a new clutch in when the trans is out

Turboman6

$575 just to pull it out and take it apart... I feel like I could do that much myself, but that it might take me a month or so to button it all back up. Also, it seems like you can only diagnose so much without actually opening up the transmission. Both places recommended replacing all of the bearings as well as the synchros, in addition to a new clutch kit.

Colin42

When I pulled the trans it was my first time, swapped the trans and put in a new clutch in like 12-14 hours with a couple small breaks.

I took apart the trans because someone on here wanted the diff. all the bits are still in the garage. I would let a shop do the overhaul personally.

Do you have a JDM importer in your area? You could check how much they want for a low mileage trans. might get lucky at a junkyard as well. And if you have a non vtec motor, put in a vtec trans and you get more 'sporty' gear ratios

Turboman6

I have thought about finding a used/new to me transmission. I just found one imported from Japan with 50k on it for $450 in Vegas... I have family down there and we might go visit them soon, so maybe that might be my best route.

Wankenstein

Can you be sure it really has 50k on it?
How would you know?
How could you tell?

No one really knows for sure..just the words of JDM sellers.

Remove the transmission and install this kit: https://www.ebay.com/i/132431750204?chn=ps
Then you basically have a rebuilt transmission other than flywheel.

GusBuz

Rebuilt trans in my area go for $575 and if you do the work yourself you would save yourself a lot of money. Then just slap in a new clutch kit and you are good..

It all just depends how brave you are to try and tackle it yourself lol. Its not so bad tho

Turboman6

So I got the transmission removed and split apart and it turns out that that the input shaft bearing looks ok (I'm still going to replace it). But the output shaft bearing underneath the differential was SHREDDED. Only the ***** were left... Only problem is that the old bearing is stuck on the underside of the differential. Any ideas on how to get it off? Do I need a press?

ezone

Got pictures of the damage and what you are trying to do?


If it destroyed a bearing and the internal magnets didn't catch it all, just think about all that metallic debris that's been circulating around in the oil acting like a sandblaster or a rock tumbler.....

Slumpertcivic

I would put the whole differential in the freezer overnight and then use a cheap torch to heat up just the bearing and that usually is enough to get those kinds of bearings off. To install, put the bearing in oven at 200 15 minutes before install and again a frozen differential fresh out of the freezer.

I would be very worried about what kinds of damages have been done with all that circulating around. You know how the smallest pebble can jam up a shopping cart wheel, same thing goes for small bits loose metal getting inside a bearing.

How does the magnet look?

ezone

^Good point on thermal properties.
A Fry Baby/Fry Daddy filled with 80w90 gear lube makes a whole crapton of stink and makes everyone in the shop puking sick. Yes we used to do that at one shop where we did a whole lot of trans work LOL...but a hot bearing can sliiiiiide all the way home onto an ice cold shaft or whatever.


Lift the differential out and grab it?
Got pics yet?



I like to use a cutting wheel to slice into an inner bearing race....then crack it with a cold chisel. Once cracked it should slide right off the shaft or carrier.

I don't want to torch one except as a last resort, if you take the temper out of it it's much harder to crack it.
If you heat too much you could take the temper of of the shaft(s) and that would be bad.


If you are trying to get an outer race out of the trans case, there are pullers for the job. Maybe it can be rocked out with a small ladyfoot. Watch out for shims behind the race.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

A bit late to the game, but when I was looking at transmissions for my 2002, synchrotech in socal looked promising. Sure, they rebuild transmissions, but they also need up Honda trannies for trackable street cars. A member here went through then and got carbon synchros for his beast 7thgen. I did a price quote through them and it was just under $900 shipped to Vegas for a tranny, and they pick up your old transmission (you just have to schedule the pick up after you swap it out). That was some time ago (2012?) and their website layout has changed since then, but their prices seemed the same. It's worth a look, imo.

EX: http://shop.synchrotech-transmission...-C0105-441.htm
DX/LX: http://shop.synchrotech-transmission...-C0105-411.htm

Turboman6

Everything inside the case looks okay, all things considered. The magnet had quite a bit of shavings/sludge- like material on it. There were a lot of metal pieces on the axle side, even seemed like some got wound around the axle shaft. Oh, and the speed sensor was cracked (it hasn't been working since around the time the noise started).

ezone

That case kinda looks like it's loaded with debris, is it non-magnetic aluminum?

Still have the inner and outer races to contend with.

Slice and whack to remove the inner, or use a regular 2/3 jaw puller?

and an inside jaw puller for the outer race.....but it might just drop out or tap/pry out with little resistance if it's perfectly square with the bore and relatively undamaged

Turboman6

Success! I just finished hooking up everything yesterday and it started right up and shifts just fine. I ended up buying a used unit with 165,000 miles on it, and then I replaced the seals and input shaft bearing. The only thing now is that the brakes are bringing when I brake and they weren't before... Thanks again for the help!

Turboman6

Colin42

Gald to hear you got it fixed!
And do you mean grinding, scraping, or squeaking?
Maybe the backing plates got a little tweaked?
Chunk of something between the rotor and pad?

Turboman6

Silly me I had just put one brake pad in backwards, so I got it swapped last night and we're good to go. This forum was so helpful!