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View Full Version : Looking for input from B20A 5speed owners!



RobT5580
05-17-2009, 05:35 AM
I was talking with Mykwikcoupe and he brought up something that i was wondering about myself as well. We both seem to think our shifting is tough and not normal. I myself can recall because i was probably caught up with it being turboed but i thought it was smoother back then. So i would like to see what you guys think.

I hope to work with 88Lxi68 to see if any of his donor B-Series trannies will work but in the mean time im curious how you guys feel about it.

thegreatdane
05-17-2009, 06:06 AM
What's the question here? :)

RobT5580
05-17-2009, 01:45 PM
How does the shift feel per say when your shifting between gears. Myself and Mike think ours are rough and not as smooth as the A20 transmission. I can't recall if mine has always been this rough but i am curious to how other people feel about this.

I have been driving my accord a lot lately because my Subaru Legacy shit the bed but i definately want to fix this when time permits. I have been planning to swap gears because they are to short for a boosted motor so hopefully i can give some insight on this.

MessyHonda
05-17-2009, 10:31 PM
How does the shift feel per say when your shifting between gears. Myself and Mike think ours are rough and not as smooth as the A20 transmission. I can't recall if mine has always been this rough but i am curious to how other people feel about this.

I have been driving my accord a lot lately because my Subaru Legacy shit the bed but i definately want to fix this when time permits. I have been planning to swap gears because they are to short for a boosted motor so hopefully i can give some insight on this.

for now il just use my stock trans....i got a b18 housing to rebuild with some teg gears maybe some lsd....then i can use stock syncros

2ndGenGuy
05-17-2009, 10:43 PM
I just drove my B20A tonight. Shifting doesn't feel any different from any of the other Hondas from that period to me. Drove a 3gee about 2 weeks ago, my 1gee feels similar, as did the A18 trans. No different from what I could tell. But I'll be testing it out again tomorrow, so we'll see for sure then. :D

A18A
05-17-2009, 10:51 PM
Mine is a tiny bit rough, but I think that might be due to the shitty oil in it instead of the honda mtf everyone recommends. drives smooth as though

Rendon LX-i
05-17-2009, 10:54 PM
^^^ mine shifted real rough but after i changed the oil to honda mtf...works like a champ

Tomisimo
05-18-2009, 01:09 AM
My is rough too, especially when going in to 5th gear.

thegreatdane
05-18-2009, 01:34 AM
Mine is quite smooth and I dont feel any major difference between the A20 and B20 shifting. My B20 has actually been the smoothest shifting of all my 3rd gens. But not by much at all and the small difference was only because of lower mileage I'm sure.

I think your problem is more likely to lie in the shifter linkage. I've often experienced the shift linkage to get rough when it gets worn.

88LXi68
05-18-2009, 06:18 AM
rob, do you have a short shifter?

when was the last time the transmission fluid was changed?

mykwikcoupe
05-18-2009, 06:55 AM
I have a short shifter 1 in added to the bottom of the knob and it was shortened to the bend above the ball. I think thats about 2in of material removed. Im wondering if this has less to due with oil used of transmission condition and more to due with the LSD we used? Id really like to bring my trans into a shop to have them look it over and make sure i even reassembled it right but they are 75 miles away and thats the closest shop.

RobT5580
05-18-2009, 09:57 AM
I do run non-honda oil in it so that might be of help and yeah i do have a short shifter. I would lean on one of those two being a issue.

As for the LSD that would not affect this at all if anything i would suspect worn parts not.

mykwikcoupe
05-18-2009, 10:27 AM
I was just saying i think we are the only ones to open the case and modify the guts. i think mine is in the linkages not the stacks? I can understand the short shifter creating more work during shifting but why notchy?

88LXi68
05-18-2009, 11:42 AM
try getting the new Honda Mtf. it has similar properties to gm synchromesh. just added it in my new trans.

Civic Accord Honda
05-18-2009, 12:10 PM
never heard of a smooth shifting 20+ year old honda gear box...

RobT5580
05-18-2009, 05:12 PM
Come to think of it i use to run Honda MTF in my A20's and they were smoother for sure but it was without the short shifter.

On a good note i was over my friends house and he had a few honda trannies opened so im going to bring mine over and compare parts and see what i come up with.

2ndGenGuy
05-18-2009, 09:47 PM
You guys are right. It is a bit stiffer, notchier shifting transmission. I just took it out tonight. The ES and A20 transmissions are quite a bit more buttery. Maybe it's a USDM thing. I even had the magic MTF in it. I think it feels more solid though. Like more positive that you've engaged the gears. Could be the heavier build of the thing.

carotman
05-19-2009, 06:59 AM
Yup, my B20A is rougher than the A20A. I do have a short shifter that I installed when I swapped engines.

mykwikcoupe
05-19-2009, 07:17 AM
well rob its sounding like were being too precise about this. I was very nervous mostly because i forgot to run it through the gears prior to teardown. Since I didnt have a baseline of what it was supposed to feel like could only compare it to my a20a trans. If others here say itsd noticably tougher thats good enough for me until i can prove something is functionally wrong. Thanks for the input on this one guys.

Rendon LX-i
05-19-2009, 07:36 AM
Ahhh...Thats what i notice in my b16a also....fucker shifts alittle rought...gears go in solid but take some afford. SO i think its a jdm thing...I mean it shifts nice. YET i dont know what oil it has in it. my a20 is buttery like john said

MessyHonda
05-19-2009, 11:58 AM
you guys...lol you have to shift with your left hand to be JDM...duh

2oodoor
05-19-2009, 12:01 PM
you guys...lol you have to shift with your left hand to be JDM...duh

ahhh interesting point !!!
someone can let me hold a 5 speed and I will evaluate for you !!

RobT5580
05-19-2009, 01:15 PM
LOL....Well least its not just two of us i do recall the A20 being smoother but its been a long time since i drove one. I usually don't drive my accord this much either it will be nice to get in my subaru again because my accord needs some attention soon.

thegreatdane
05-19-2009, 01:30 PM
well rob its sounding like were being too precise about this. I was very nervous mostly because i forgot to run it through the gears prior to teardown. Since I didnt have a baseline of what it was supposed to feel like could only compare it to my a20a trans. If others here say itsd noticably tougher thats good enough for me until i can prove something is functionally wrong. Thanks for the input on this one guys.

I dunno... If yours was rough enough to immediately catch your attention I would be on the look out. If everything was in order I doubt you would notice anything. Again, I suspect the linkage more than the tranny.
Of course you may just be extremely picky...
Both my B20 lude and accord have had firm but smooth shifting. I remember when I got my B20 accord, I immediately noticed how much nicer the shifting felt.

A18A
05-19-2009, 02:02 PM
yesterday i just found on mine the 12mm bolt that goes through the shifter at the gearbox was completely loose lol, i tightened that and it feels better now. yay

RobT5580
05-19-2009, 02:29 PM
I notice it more when i go between my honda and subaru because that shifts really nice granted its not the same linkage nore setup. I will take a peek at mine when i get a chance and im hoping i get lucky with the B-Series tranny. I will let you guys know once i get a second my boss gave me 12 hours notice to come off unenployment which sucked but i will appreciate a decent pay check.

mykwikcoupe
05-19-2009, 03:55 PM
yeah anything is better than unemployment. I went from 16-1800 a week takehome to 541. May 1st we got a 25 a week raise on unemployment. i hate this. I havent had a budget in 5 years. This is the gay

RobT5580
05-19-2009, 04:36 PM
It puts you in check though. I am in a way glad i saw this because i have never really been hit by a recession because of my age. But i am glad because it emphasized savings to me granted my career is only beginning. I plan on being self employed soon so i will always have this in the back of my head.

I was the typical american that over spends and would live above my means and the past few years i have cut everything down that i can to attempt to become debt free or close.

Hope you get back to work soon it seems to be picking up over here.

RobT5580
06-11-2009, 01:43 PM
I was able to compare my B20A housing with a 99+ Civic SI B16A tranny and the bell is definately not a match. The upper housing is about 75% a match with the exception to the portion with a breather on the B16 tranny. Otherwise it would bolt up to our housings. Im going to try to look at some older cable trannies and work on some gear swaps at somepoint.

thegreatdane
06-11-2009, 03:51 PM
Interesting. Did you feel that those 75% were within mod-able possibility to make it fit (as in cutting non critical parts and rewelding) or do we cross it off the list entirely?
Matching B20A parts is what you do best :)

RobT5580
06-11-2009, 04:44 PM
It would probably bolt together but there would be a part of the B16 overlapping but thats not what i was looking for. I am more interested in other bell housing bolt patterns since it would help many others if you could bolt up a newer tranny. I myself would be happy with new gears which i think is not going to be a problem.

My future would appreciate a new tranny since i only have one spare and i worry that being boosted i could have a potential issue if i damaged both cases/internals.

2ndGenGuy
06-11-2009, 06:34 PM
Did you guys see that D-series transmission on B20A block thread?

b20a86lude
08-03-2009, 04:35 PM
dude thats very intresting

3gmodifier
11-19-2009, 11:13 PM
ok i know this thread is a bit old but i too noticed stronger detents on the shifting. i did a complete chemical flush and put in OEM Honda M/T fliud. it looks, smells, and even feels differant when touched. end result... WOW!!!!! i couldnt beleive it. it is so smooth. not too smooth but shit, big differance. my brakeless/heel to toe shifting is so much easier and faster. highly recomended.

RobT5580
11-20-2009, 03:38 PM
I was annoyed the other day at how hard it is so maybe i will do mine. How many quarts of fluid did it take its been a long time LOL.

Thanks for the input!

2ndGenGuy
11-20-2009, 08:55 PM
You'll need at least 3 bottles of MTF. That shit is bomb though isn't it? I've run it in 4 transmissions and every time I'm blown away at the difference.

kentwat
11-20-2009, 09:45 PM
Is that MTF only available at the dealer? I had to swap out my a20 5speed for another due to 5th gearitis. The new tranny worked great but the oil must be wore out because it has steadily gotten harder to shift. I thought it was weird putting oil in a manual tranny. So now may be the time for a fluid change.

2ndGenGuy
11-20-2009, 11:50 PM
Yeah Honda only. I run Redline MTL in my Miata and it's fantastic shit too, but it's a replacement for 90-100 gear oil. Can't use it in the Hondas, unless you get the 10-30 replacement stuff. But why bother when the Honda shit works so great.