Hard gear change 1st to 2nd

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
(since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
ideas?

Thanks
Steve

On May 10, 3:17 pm, jim beam <spamvor... (AT) bad (DOT) example.net> wrote:

adjust the clutch cable and get into the habit of flooring the clutch -
you're supposed to anyway.

by flooring i meant leaving an indent on the carpet/floorboard! I do
generally floor the pedal just not to that extent....

(steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com) writes:

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
(since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
ideas?

Thanks
Steve

Shift cable bushings are far more likely as the cause of the problem.
They can be lubricated, which will extend their life (if done properly)
or they can be replaced (good for another 16 years!).
Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

<steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutch cable
(since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
ideas?

Thanks
Steve

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems the be
the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should make a big
improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn... (AT) cybertrails (DOT) com>
wrote:

steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message

news:1178801798.437665.273910 (AT) e51g2000hsg (DOT) googlegroups.com...

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on it.
Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to 2nd...The
problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of driving...All the
other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its one of two
things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the clutchcable
(since the change seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any
ideas?

Thanks
Steve

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems the be
the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should make a big
improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

cheers mike! will do so....

Steve

steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn... (AT) cybertrails (DOT) com
wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message

news:1178801798.437665.273910 (AT) e51g2000hsg (DOT) googlegroups.com...

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on
it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to
2nd...The problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of
driving...All the other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its
one of two things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the
clutchcable (since the change seems easier when the clutch is
floored)...any ideas?

Thanks
Steve

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems
the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should
make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others
swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

cheers mike! will do so....

Steve

I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple mechanics
I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in transverse-mounted engine
gearboxes.
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6... (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote:

steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee" <michaeltn... (AT) cybertrails (DOT) com
wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message

news:1178801798.437665.273910 (AT) e51g2000hsg (DOT) googlegroups.com...

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km (european) on
it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift gear from 1st to
2nd...The problem seems to go away after the 20-30 mins of
driving...All the other gear changes seem fine....Im thinking its
one of two things...time for a tranny oil change or adjusting the
clutchcable (since the change seems easier when the clutch is
floored)...any ideas?

Thanks
Steve

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second seems
the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil should
make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although others
swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

cheers mike! will do so....

Steve

I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple mechanics
I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in transverse-mounted engine
gearboxes.
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
< 10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
does it get hard....

Steve

steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6... (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
On May 10, 8:52 pm, "Michael Pardee"
michaeltn... (AT) cybertrails (DOT) com> wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message

news:1178801798.437665.273910 (AT) e51g2000hsg (DOT) googlegroups.com...

Hey all,

I have a 91 civic 3-door with 140k km
(european) on it. Im finding it increasingly hard to shift
gear from 1st to 2nd...The problem seems to go away after the
20-30 mins of driving...All the other gear changes seem
fine....Im thinking its one of two things...time for a tranny
oil change or adjusting the clutchcable (since the change
seems easier when the clutch is floored)...any ideas?

Thanks
Steve

This is a good time for a tranny oil change. First to second
seems the be the first shift affected by low lube, and new oil
should make a big improvement. Honda MTL is preferred, although
others swear by Redline MTL.

Mike

cheers mike! will do so....

Steve

I use Castrol VMX in my '85 City's gearbox. According to a couple
mechanics I've spoken with it's /the/ oil to use in
transverse-mounted engine gearboxes.

I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
does it get hard....

Steve

That indicates to me that you need to adjust your clutch cable. It's cheap
(you can do it yourself) and if it doesn't fix it then you can look
elsewhere. It sounds to me like it's not de-clutching sufficiently.

Luck...
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

"~misfit~" <misfit61nz (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote

steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6... (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower speeds
10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching 20 km/h
does it get hard....

Steve

That indicates to me that you need to adjust your clutch cable. It's cheap
(you can do it yourself) and if it doesn't fix it then you can look
elsewhere. It sounds to me like it's not de-clutching sufficiently.

I would expect the effect of the clutch dragging to be approximately the
same at all speeds.

My last work truck was doing the same thing - hard 1-2 upshift, worse at
higher speeds and always worse than the downshift - but I couldn't get the
garage to bother with it. After a few months the gears started howling, and
I was nearly a hundred miles from home. After the tranny was filled the
shifting was much more normal.

Mike

Michael Pardee wrote:

"~misfit~" <misfit61nz (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote in message
news:46483710 (AT) news2 (DOT) actrix.gen.nz...
steven.sciriha (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
On May 12, 1:37 am, "~misfit~" <misfit6... (AT) hooya (DOT) com.au> wrote:
steven.scir... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:

I've also noticed that if I change gear (1st -> 2nd) at slower
speeds < 10 km/h it changes ok....only when at speeds approaching
20 km/h does it get hard....

Steve

That indicates to me that you need to adjust your clutch cable.
It's cheap (you can do it yourself) and if it doesn't fix it then
you can look elsewhere. It sounds to me like it's not de-clutching
sufficiently.

I would expect the effect of the clutch dragging to be approximately
the same at all speeds.

IME if the clutch is not disengaging properly it's more noticable at higher
revs.

My last work truck was doing the same thing - hard 1-2 upshift, worse
at higher speeds and always worse than the downshift - but I couldn't
get the garage to bother with it. After a few months the gears
started howling, and I was nearly a hundred miles from home. After
the tranny was filled the shifting was much more normal.

Ok, handy to know.
--
Shaun.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0