crx, b18/sir tranny, 5th gear popping out into neutral

[Jdc]

Hey ya'll and such related greetings. Having a real piss off of a problem with my car. My crx has a recent b18 swap from a 92 integra, that was installed with a jdm sir transmission. The problems are a 3rd gear grind, and 5th gear pops out into neutral every few minutes. Sometimes it pops outs after only a minute or so, it's unpredictable. 3rd gear doesn't always grind, and as I said 5th is a guessing game. The rear engine mount is missing the metal sleeve part right now that takes up the space in the eurothane part of the mount, so the engine has a little movement. I didn't think that would cause this because it's less movement then stock mounts. The shift linkage is also very stiff to shift and the shifter is angled towards the driver. I'm going to remove the shift linkage tomorrow and hopefully free it up so it shifts smoother, and do my best to install the metal sleeve part in the rear mount. It's the sleeve that goes though the eurothane in the hasport mount. The bolt then goes through to secure the hasport mount to the larger bracket that attaches to the engine/tranny with 3 bolts. I did not do this swap, just hoping I can fix it. I tried to be as clear as I can, let me know if it's just a mess of words. Any help would be great. Advice on installing the sleeve as easily as possible would be much needed. Thanks very much in advance!

Dylan

[Jdc]

Help! Car will be shoveled out in 9 hours or so, and attemted to be fixed!

Hey Dylan,

The trouble with your 5th gear popping out may be related to other problems you have mentioned. To me, 5th gear popping out, the fact that the shifter is stiff, and the fact that it is sitting at a funny angle suggests that your shift linkage is under stress. That is to say it is under mechanical load, either tension or compression.

You mentioned that you are missing a motor mount - it could be that is causing your engine/trans to sit incorrectly in the chassis, and subsequently place a strain on everything attached - including the shift linkage.

In my opinion the place to begin is with the engine mount. Ensure all of your mounts are installed, and tight. That is your foundation upon which all else is built. Research the swap and make sure you don't need special motor mounts. Check the geometry of your fornt axles - does everything line up?

Once you are sure the engine and trans are seated correctly, then you can mess with the shift linkage. The problem with 3rd grinding may be an inidication that this transmission has some wear - namly in the 3rd gear syncro. You may have to shift more slowly, until it can be rebuilt. Of course, if your shift linkage is incorrect, it's possible your clutch cable (if it is a cable trans) is also out of whack. Though if that were the case you would likely grind all the gears.

Jim

[Jdc]

Thanks a lot for you input man! I'll check that stuff out and post later. The car has aftermarket mounts designed to put a b-series engine into a 88-91 honda civic/crx.

Hey no problem, sorry it more of an educated guess as I am not much of a Honda man (I like them, I just have very little time working on them).

Let us know what you find!

[Jdc]

Well I fixed multiple other problems today with the crx today, but I haven't been able to get to this stuff yet :( The idle was at 2K and would NOT go lower no matter what I tried. I finally figured out that I had to manualy lower the idle with the set screw on the TB! Should have asked a carb guy about that :lol: The other thing I did today was install a half rad, in place of the stock full size rad that was leaking. Well let me tell you, it was nearly impossible to get that thing to fit!!!!!!! I had to severely "customize" a few upper rad hoses before one would work, and I had to angle to rad back about 3 inches so it's very close to the head, just so the hood would close. The half rads are quite a bit taller then the full sizers. Anyways I do not like the ghetto half rad setup, so i'm going to go back to the stock full size if I can find a good deal on one. I guess i'm done with this post that has nothing to do with my original questions, but i'll get to that stuff tomorrow!!!

[Jdc]

Rear mount is now properly re-assembled and engine is aligned properly. Son of a bitch is still popping out of 5th! :x I'll update after taking apart the shift linkage to see if there's a problem with it.

[CRXZC]

When I did a B16 in my CRX I ended up getting 3 bad transmissions from Montreal... never know what you're going to get.

My first one had absolutely no 5th gear 90% of the time, it was a constant fight to get it in.. and it would pop out uncontrollably. Probably a poor synchro - try b17gsr, he has rebuilt a few b-series tranny's...

http://www.b17gsr.blogspot.com/

[Jdc]

Yup....... It's funny because I was told the tranny was mint when I got the car. I must have be so insanely hard on the tranny the night I got it that I screwed up 3rd and 5th gear :roll: Ya right, I drove it like it was about to fall apart because I thought it just might! I'm the fucking idiot for not checking it out though, just sick of BS all the time. I bet it didn't help that when I went to drain the old fluid to replace it there was about 100ml that came out. Could explain a lot I suppose. I know if I was doing a swap I would check all the fluids and make sure the levels were good at least.

Man, sorry I'm not sure what to say, I was hoping the engine mount thing would have cleared it up. So the transmission had almost no fluid in it when you went to drain it?! That's not good.

Yeah like CRXZC said it might be signs of a damaged transmission. Any luck with the linkage?

Jim

edit: do you have a receipt? How long ago did you buy this thing? Maybe you can bleed another transmission out of them by asking nice first and then threatening to take it to small claims.

[Jdc]

Well I traded a car for the crx so i'm screwed for getting anything. I don't care about getting ripped off, it's my fault for not checking the car out properly before doing the deal. I guess you live you learn. I just want to get everything taken care of so it's a decent daily driver. Thanks for the help Jim!

Hey no problem,

I'm sorry it didn't work out. Did you trade in the CRX already? What did you end up getting?

I had a 92 Sonata a few years ago. The day I found the ad for it I showed up and took it for a spin. For what it was it had lots of power (3.0 mitsu V6), I liked the style of it, the body looked solid so I bought it on the spot. Later on I found countless little problems, nothing serious but it all added up to a car that made me nervous to take very far. When I sold it, it had 400 bucks of new tires on it. Boo-urns. But oh well, I guess used cars are always a risk. Anyway all that to say I feel your pain!

Jim

[Jdc]

I traded my 91 Integra for this top notch CRX.

[Simpo]

Hey guys,

I tried too installing a half rad in a EF. Never worked out. Better put the full rad (since there's a guy in Montreal selling brand new rads for 50$ on ebay).

As for your 5th gear popping out. I've read all comments and I'm surprised no one talked about this.. there's a spring in the transmission, I can't remember just like that where it is, I could search a bit later tho. That springs put a pressure to keep the 5th gear in. I've heard of this problem in my course.

3rd gear grinding.. my friend got a clip from the old crx owner.. can you hear Clutch slippin'?

[Jdc]

No clutch slip man....... I got the half rad in there but when I open the hood I get scared looking at how it's installed. I got a full rad thanks to the best seller in the WORLD (blackfoot AKA: Chaz) I'm hoping when I get the linkage working better, it will solve the 5th gear problem :roll: Wishfull thinking....... I know my 3rd gear grind won't go away, but Honda tranny's last a cream load of a long time shifting diligently. Thanks for the reply Simon, now hurry with my intake! :mrgreen:


Edit: Half rad f/s $50