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I have a Civic as the title says, and it now has 116,000 miles on it. Previous owner of the previous 50,000 miles before i got the car did all the required maintenance (though did leave me with mostly bald tires for this winter, which was... annoying, but at the same time extremely fun (drift much?)).

About 1 month ago, WELL after this area (Chicagoland) started to get cold, I started experiencing transmission problems. The problems are entirely unrelated to car\engine\driveline temperature; as they will happen 10 seconds after I start the car and 1 hour after the car has been driving around. It will happen if I let the car warm up for 5 minutes before driving, it will happen if I start driving 5 seconds after I start the car from an overnight stay.

• 1st to 2nd gear change will be blocked; I must go from first, twirl the stick around in neutral, then go from neutral into 2nd gear. So I end up going 1st, pulling it in the direction of 3rd gear into neutral, spinning it counter-clockwise from that position and into 2nd gear. 1st gear itself rarely has problems (sometimes offers resistance going into it at speeds north of 20mph even with the clutch fully in). 2nd gear also is reasonably problemless, though I have had two occasions in the last few days where it has straight up popped out of gear when I come up to a stop sign (and roll through at ~5mph) with the clutch fully in, and have selected 2nd gear several seconds before the stop. The moment I come off the clutch and power to accelerate, it pops out as somehow it wasn't full selected and didn't catch the gear.
• Originally it was just 4th gear, but now 3rd gear and (very rarely) 5th gear will be difficult to get into gear. Normally it slides into gear extremely easily, but if I try to directly shift into a gear from the previous gear (2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th specifically), I will encounter alot of resistance and 95% of the time it simply will not go into gear. To bypass this I must to the jiggling around in neutral for it to actually go into gear.
• As in 4th and 3rd gear; when I do get them into gear, about 85% of the time there will be a vibration in the stick. It will be firmly locked into place (but again, it won't slide smoothly in there is obvious resistance). The vibration is completely independent in it's severity and vibration rate of the engine & car speed. In other words, the vibration will be exactly the same if I'm going 40mph in 4th gear or 20mph in 3rd gear. I also will be able to move the stick around, and I will be able to move it forwards or sideways and sometimes I can eliminate the vibration by moving it 1\8th of an inch or something; but I have to hold my hand there or else it will pop back into its original place and the vibrations will ensue.
• 5th gear occasionally has given me the same problems as 3rd and 4th gear. I've gotten the vibration feeling on it about twice so far. I'm thankful of this as I spend 95% of my time in this gear...
• The few times I have gone WOT, the clutch has dropped the gear before. One time I did a soft launch in 1st gear, got to about 10mph, then floored it. After about 4000RPM, the clutch dropped the gear and all that jazz. This also has happened to me in 2nd and 3rd gear at WOT, around the same 4000RPM. Since I realized it can't handle it, I've stopped going over 1\2 throttle (even in 4th or 5th gear, though usually if I'm in those gears it's sub-3000RPM and has no power). However, EVERY time I have had the clutch drop on me was months before the rest of these problems showed themselves.
• I experience no undue transmission noise, no undue difference in how the clutch feels from when I got the car (or when I had drove the car years previously). The only odd noise it may make is, during the summer, the few times I've gone through drivethroughs I've noticed that when I put the clutch in, there is a VERY faint squeaking noise as I put the clutch in (can't hear it with the windows up). But there is no extra noise for when the clutch is in or out.

I don't drive the car aggressively. I don't do WOT starts, or go WOT at all. In the 4,000 miles I've had the car, I've maybe gone WOT a dozen times; mostly in 4th gear (passing people), so my driving style is extremely relaxed. On the average day I will never pass 3250rpm in any gear, and never give it more than 1\3rd throttle. I need this car to last me the next few years as it's cheap to run (average 33.5MPG!) and was free! Car is completely stock, if that isn't obvious from the rest of the post.

I recently drove a 08' Accord coupe (god DAMN it was nice; leather, navigation, 6spd manual, V6). The clutch felt incredibly light and fast compared to mine, and the uptake was CONSIDERABLY longer. My updake lasts, at best, about 1\2inch of pedal travel. The gear leaver was a short throw, but I didn't feel ANYTHING inside of it; I couldn't feel the sides or any of the internals of the transmission. It felt like I was just pushing a rod into the base of the car, and it woulds top halfway through with no feedback at all. The clutch was a bit sharp though, making it... interesting to drive. Overall though, felt incredibly different and cleaner compared to my car. But I digress.

Thanks if you can give me insight to what the problem may\may not be!

 
Rep Power: 216

There should be no need to downshift into first at that speed. 2nd or 3rd should be good enough. As for the hop out and block out, sounds like a synchronizer issue. They sound worn. You can look into those conditions further on some sites to give you a better idea. I heard the 01 manuals had a few issues as well. I'm not entirely sure, but some of the 7th gen owners will probably chime in for that part. The squeak....if there's moisture outside, my car does the same thing. A little grease seems to kill the noise. There's a thread floating around here somewhere about that as well.

 
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I don't actually downshift at all when I'm coming to a stop; I just put the clutch in and put it into neutral, or if I know I'm going to be starting off the second I stop, I put it into 1st gear as I'm coming to a stop, but I don't pull the clutch out, I just have it it first to have it in first.

Allright, I'll see what I can find. Thanks!