5th Is gone Help please!

[kukerdan]

Hey everyone,
I was driving my 1989 Lx-i 5 speed to work the other day, doing about 75,
and it felt as if the car slipped into neutral.. the shifter was still in the 5th position,
and the gear was gone, she is now a 4 speed.
What do you guys think happened? teeth on the gear go bye bye? linkage? somthing else?

If its not the linkage... whats transmissions can fit into this car?
I wouldnt mind somthing with closer gear ratios and a higher top speed, limited slip would be nice too. Whats a nasty trans to throw into this car?

Thanks

[Demon1024]

now that your a member theres a search use it its been asked before several times. and what kinda of oil you got in your tranny?

[Hauntd ca3]

dead syncro hub maybe?
you'd hear or fel a bang if it were the gear stripping

[kukerdan]

10/30 or 5/20 gtx synth blend

[vongiese]

5th strips out in these - do a search. I bought one with stripped 5th gear. Bought a used tranny for $75. pulled the fifth gear set out of it and put it in my car. Remove the battery and battery tray and a fewother things - then about 10 10mm bolts and pull tranny cover off - there's 5th gear set. Piece of cake really cause you don't have to pull the tranny!

[AZmike]

If the fluid is at the correct level then doing this is your best bet. Be sure to have a good, properly sized punch for the spring pin on the shift fork.


5th strips out in these - do a search. I bought one with stripped 5th gear. Bought a used tranny for $75. pulled the fifth gear set out of it and put it in my car. Remove the battery and battery tray and a fewother things - then about 10 10mm bolts and pull tranny cover off - there's 5th gear set. Piece of cake really cause you don't have to pull the tranny!

[MessyHonda]

or you can buy the 5th gear from honda....mine was like 150 bucks with the counter 5th gear

[sepulslaya]

ha! i just kinda got used to the fact that i too have a 4-speed now; i had no idea it would be so simple to fix. what's strange is that my 3rd gear syncro seemed to be out until i lost fifth gear, then a month or two later i noticed it was shifting smoothly into third gear again. spooooky! this car heals itself. sometimes i try 5th to see if it's healed that problem too but no such luck. =)

[Demon1024]

Your not supposed to use synthetic oil in the tranny. heard that somewhere here i think. might have been you problem

[russiankid]

Best thing to use is Honda MTF or 10w30. I have read people use 20w50 without a problem, so that can be used too.

[MessyHonda]

honda mtf is the best....also to fix 5th gear all you need is like 200 bucks for the gear and the counter gear from honda and like 3-4 hours of work....best thing is that you dont have to take off the trans to swap it out.

[russiankid]

honda mtf is the best....also to fix 5th gear all you need is like 200 bucks for the gear and the counter gear from honda and like 3-4 hours of work....best thing is that you dont have to take off the trans to swap it out.

Cheaper to just go to the junkyard and get the parts.

[sepulslaya]

Be sure to have a good, properly sized punch for the spring pin on the shift fork.

i'm hoping this will make sense when i get out to the junk yard and actually look at it.


okay someone said "you'd hear or feel a bang if it were the gear stripping" but i didn't hear or feel anything either. it just simply stopped working like it was in neutral. might it still be a stripped gear anyway?

[AZmike]

There is a 5 mm spring pin that holds the fifth gear shift fork on the selector shaft. It needs to be removed to replace the fifth gear assembly. With the transmission still in the car there is somewhat limited access so a quality drift with a slightly tapered end makes the job much easier. A 3/16" drift is pretty easy to find and will work well on the 5 mm pin. You'll also need a 30 mm socket. One of the shaft nuts is left handed and there is a torque sequence when reinstalling them.

The transmission will make noise in fifth until you've ground off enough of the splines on either the shaft of the synchro hub. Hopefully it's the hub or you're probably better off starting with another transmission rather than replacing the shaft. You may want to inspect it before buying any parts.