Transmission Problems

[meth0d]

I'm having more transmission problems...

When I first start driving, I get a pretty noticable grind from 1st to 2nd. I first noticed the problem in November, but it didn't grind. At that point in time is was just stubborn to get 2nd into gear. Well, for the past 3 weeks, if I shift into 2nd normally, it grinds. If I totally baby the shift, it crunches, but doesn't grind. I've tried everything... rev matching, double clutching, letting the rpms fall to near idle. The only thing that works is shifting from 1st into 3rd and risk bogging the engine. But the kicker is 3rd gear is getting notchy and stubborn too, just like 2nd did in November.

Keep in mind the problem disappears after about 20 minutes of driving.

I always warm my car up about 3 minutes before driving.

Two questions:

A- Does anyone else have this problem (or similar problems), and
B- How much does a new (well, used but rebuilt) transmission cost. What about a transmission from a JDM Type S? I'm not going to buy one now, but I'm already on my second warranty rebuild, and I have no faith that this transmission will last longer than a few years.

Also, please keep in mind that I haven't driven my car hard at all since the last rebuild, and I don't think I've even hit VTEC for about 3 weeks. It's winter, I just go to and from work and shift under 3k. So these problems are definately not due to any kind of abuse on my part. Also, keep in mind that I drove MT cars before my Prelude, and never had any problems with them.

[Clutchdog]

Could it be anything to do with your clutch? I have a similar prob,but I think mine is normal. I just have the stiff 1st and 2nd but no grind when it is cold. But when she is warm, its great.

[meth0d]

Originally posted by Clutchdog
Could it be anything to do with your clutch? I have a similar prob,but I think mine is normal. I just have the stiff 1st and 2nd but no grind when it is cold. But when she is warm, its great.

It could be the clutch. I bought the car used and have no idea how the original owner drove the car.

Oh, one more thing is today, after shifting to 2nd, it "popped" out of gear. I shifted into 2nd, let the clutch out, gave it gas. Nothing but revs. Grabbed the shifter and felt that it was only "half-way" in gear, and I could feel gear chatter. I had to put it back into 2nd. :confused:

[Keith]

What year is the car? Still under warranty?

[Moses]

I'm having similar issues with my tranny... I'm not sure what to think. Either I'm crazy and it's just the winter talking, or it's time to seek warranty work. Although I'm pretty sure it's the former, I think I might try the latter anyways.

-Moses.

[meth0d]

Originally posted by Keith
What year is the car? Still under warranty?

2000. Definately still under warranty. However, I've already had the transmission rebuilt twice under warranty. We'll see what happens.

I'm not too concerned now, I'm worried about 2/3 years down the road when the car is out of warranty and I'm stuck getting a new transmission. I bought a Honda for it's reliablility, but it's the most unreliable car I've ever owned. Actually, it's beyond unreliable. It's a total lemon. :(

[meth0d]

Originally posted by Moses
I'm having similar issues with my tranny... I'm not sure what to think. Either I'm crazy and it's just the winter talking, or it's time to seek warranty work. Although I'm pretty sure it's the former, I think I might try the latter anyways.

-Moses.

What symptoms are you experiencing? The same type of crunch/grind as I described?

I did a search on preludeonline.com and found a thread about the exact same problem. It seems that it is not uncommon for the Prelude to display these quirks before the car is fully warmed up.

I plan on changing the transmission fluid tomorrow to see if that helps at all.

[Moses]

sounds to me like you got a car that was seriously abused during the break-in period and beyond. Probably used as a demo or something. And the ALL know what we do to demos! ;)

Trade it in for a different one. Trust me, not all preludes are like that! Dealers won't know it's a lemon, and won't care either...

-Moses.

[Jarek]

Yup, something is definitely wrong there... I have a 2000 with 42K and no problems what so ever.. only in winter have to be careful until the tranny warms up. Is there a lemon law in Canada? Ie, if you have the same major component fixed three times or something like that, you can request another Prelude?

[meth0d]

Originally posted by Quick_lude
Yup, something is definitely wrong there... I have a 2000 with 42K and no problems what so ever.. only in winter have to be careful until the tranny warms up. Is there a lemon law in Canada? Ie, if you have the same major component fixed three times or something like that, you can request another Prelude?

There's no lemon law in Canada unfortunately. :(

The only thing you can do is Canada is contact the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan, and they can force a manufacturer to either repair your vehicle or buy it back. However, this path is normally taken after a manufacturer refuses to cover you under your new vehicle warranty.

I'll let them rebuild the transmission again and see what happens. Any more grinding after that and I'll ask Honda to buy back my vehicle.