******Need Help With 5 Speed Tranny******

[89AccordLXI666]

Ok so n e wayz, I wanna buy this 87 Accord which is carbed, and it's a 5 speed manual tranny... the problem with the tranny is it wont go into 5th gear but all the other gears work which is 1 through 4th, but it wont go into 5th, now does that mean, that if 5th don't work, does that mean the the other gears are gonna eventually go too??? I dunno I wanna buy this car, since the car I currently own 3rd gear is gone and I want to buy the 87 Accord LX 5 speed, but b4 I do, i wanna make sure all the other gears won't go or something... Please if n e 1 can help me with this one I'd be greatly apreciated... thanks guy's lataz.. :super: :flash: :D :wave: :bow: :bow:

[socal3rdgen]

why would you want to go down on trim levels. you know that the lx will cut 22 horsepower. i would just replace the tranny on the lx-i first. and you'll still keep your 120 horsepower.

[89AccordLXI666]

I don't have the LX-i any more, i crashed her R.I.P. I now drive a crappy 1989 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo that the 3rd gear auto tranny is gone, and now i wanna buy this 87 Accord LX 5 speed manual tanny, but it wont go into 5th gear and I was wondering if I buy it, will all the other 4 gears eventually go??? Thanks lataz

[socal3rdgen]

oh sorry to hear that. your gears would not necassaraly all go out. your 5th is usally first to go. that tranny sounds like it need replacing anyways. i guess we need to understand your goals. if you want to get it and have the 4 gears for just city driving a while till you get some money go ahead it should last till then. just dont try to force it into 5th. but it does look like this tranny has been thru some shit. so as soon as possible. meaning if the 5th is gone. it souldnt effect the others. but its only a matter of time till the others go because of wear and tear of naturall use. thats why your 5th is already gone.

this seems right to me. someone confirm this.

[89AccordLXI666]

Thanks Socal3rdGen.... Yeah I believe the guy who is selling the 87 Accord LX said it won't go into 5th, but I'm not sure if 5th gear is acually gone, or if it just wont go into it, but I think he said it won't go into 5th gear... so what does that mean? Let me know when u get some info, your help and support is greatly apreciated... Thanks guy's :-) Lataz.

[89AccordLXI666]

can n e 1 help me??? Please? Thanks Lataz

[89AccordLXI666]

????

[Greg]

I've never changed gears on a tranny before, but I hear that 5th gear is right on the end and not hard to change.

I think there is a post on this board somewhere (I think in technical but I'm not sure) about it. just search for "transmission" or "gear" or something like that.

But I think someone claimed that you could drain your tranny and then take the tranny cover off and change 5th gear w/o pulling the transaxle off the car. Or maybe you can do it by loosening engine mounts while supporting your engine + trans on a jack, lowering it or moving it to get a little room, and then accessing the gear box w/o pulling off transaxle. I'm not sure.

Anyway, look for the previous post on it.

[89AccordLXI666]

Ok bro, thanks for the info.... I'll do a search 4 it now, Thanks alot for your help... Lataz :-)

[rocky2]

You may be able to talk the owner into letting you replace the oil in trany. If its got 90w in there 5th gear housing will explode. The proper oil/fliud in a 3g 5 spd, is 5w-30w. Then it may return

[89AccordLXI666]

True... I'll give that a shot, thanks rocky2. Lataz

[POS carb]

this should be in technical...

anyways, if you do the oil deal and it works don't let the owner know or the mofo will try to raise the price.

[hondaman87]

It's all set I finally bought the 86 Accord LX and I did get an oil change on it with oil filter and all, but I tested 5th gear and it goes into it but it feels like I'm in nuetral, so i think 5th gear is completly gone... dunno though.

[bobafett]

from what amber and i have been told, 5th gear likes to eat itself if it doesnt have enough oil, it sounds like thats what happened to your tranny. :)

hopefully you can get it taken care of though!

[87Hybrid]

Fifth gear sits on the outside of the main case inside a stamped steel cover that is bolted on the passengers siede of the end of the transmission so it is not directly in the main oil galley and is fed by galleys in the case that go out to the fifth gear. THe problen comes when you start to lose transmission oil the oil level nolonger is high enough to reach the botom of the teeth and keep the gear lubricated and cooled. Once the gear has been heated up it loses its temper and starts to wear the teeth away. There is usually enouth oil running in and out of the 5th gear pan (From turning corners and such) to drain the metal shavings and chuncks into the main case and get into the main gear set causing wear and stress on the reat of the transmission. You can check for this condition when buying an used transmission by pulling the 8 10mm bolts that hold the gear cover onand inspecting the gears. The teeth should not be sharp they should have a flat spot at the end of each one that has a machined appearance to it. the faces of each tooth (tha part of the tooth that makes contact with the tooth on the other gear) should be shiny silver not blue and smooth with with no divets or major scratches. Their should be no appearant play between the two gears play between the gears sets means excessive wear.
My trans had this starvation and lost fifth gear last year. The first trans that I bought as a replacement had sharp, blued gears with lots of play, that trans would have lasted probably 1500 miles before losing the gear completely. I took it bach showed the yard owner and he pulled a nother transmission for me to inspect. it was tight with no blueing of the gears.
O.K. You have heard me talk about blueing a couple of times now and might be wondering about why this is so imporant. The blueing is a tatle tale of excessive heat. Tn the tempering process the gear (or whatever is getting tempered) is heated untill it is glowing it is then submerged in a heavy oil which penetrats the metal and bonds with the carbon in the alloy and creates the tempered part of the steel. The problem with excessive heat is that it releases the temper and softens the metal. This detemperiong process is shown by a blue tint to the metal. I will try to find some good and bad examples of each for a how too.

[89AccordLXI666]

Welll I tried 5th gear and it just seems like the car is in nuetral but it isn't.. it's in 5th it just feels like it's in nuetral..... I can just buy the 5th gear sprocked and get it put in and I think that will work right? I found a new one for 40 bucks and then I would have to get a tranny specialist to put it in for me... do u think that will be cheaper 2 do? I think so but I dunno.... Oh well atleast all 4 other gears are working just fine... could it also be beacuse I may be low on tranny fluid that's causing 5th gear not to work? Let me know the info if n e 1 can supply me with it? Thanks guy's I know I can always count on you... Lataz :-)

[88LXi/87CRXSi]

I had the same thing happen, shift into 5th, and it's not doing shit. What happened to mine was just the spines on the inside of the countershaft 5th had stripped off. Your right on the price, $40 for the gear at Majestic.. plus a gasket, new nut and washer. It was fairly easy to replace (except for cleaning that frigging gasket off)!:mad: You'll have to remove the cover to find out exactly what's bad with your trans. You'll need a torque wrench,a 10mm & 22mm? socket and don't forget to put the right amount of oil (Honda MTF!?) back in. So far mine seems to be ok. Guess I'll see if being cheap pays off!

-Steve

[89AccordLXI666]

True.... Cool I check that out and see what happens.. Thanks for the info 88LXi/87CRXSi

[wallyyfm]

my first car was a re 88 LX. The thing only had 4 gears, 5th was stripped right out. I drove it like that for about 8 months then i sold it just because i got a new car. I just bought another in december, this one also only has 4 gears, 5th is stripped right out. the synchros, sleaves, bearing to replace just 5th is just under 200, u might as well get another tranny, but drive it till that one shits the bed, but i dont think tha'll be for awhile unless your clutch goes

[89AccordLXI666]

Would I be able to drive in 4th gear on the highway without a problem or am I going to screw the gears up like that? cuz when summer hit's I plan on going to Cape Cod in Mass for vacation and I do have to travel 495 south to get there, my only concern is driving in 4th gear all the way down there on the highway. Is that going to be a problem???

[wallyyfm]

i beat the poss out of my accord, i was able to do 120 with it at 7 grand, at 60 is about 3100-3200 on the tack, 75 is about 4000+, so the engine can take it, dont worry about that, but u wont get the same gas at 75 as u would with 5th at 75

[wallyyfm]

i meant piss, i dont think anyones beat the poss out of their car

[89AccordLXI666]

ok kool... yeah i noticed the gas does get waisted alot faster than normal, but that's cuz it's just at a higher rpm, but hey If I can still make it there and back with no problem other than gas, then I'm all set... Thanks bro 4 the help... lataz

[wallyyfm]

we all know u cant kill the engine, unless u run it out of oil, it can take a nuclear bomb

[89AccordLXI666]

Aight that's cool.... I just didn't wanna screw up the trannny or engine.... I am planning on just replacing the 5th gear and the gear is only gonna cost me like around $40.00 and then I have to get a Tranny specialist to put it in for me.... For now I don't have the funds to get a new tranny so I'm just going to replace the 5th gear itself, and I'm pretty sure it will be cheaper... I dunno we'll see bout dat.... Lataz. :-)

[wallyyfm]

im replacing mine in a couple weeks, i got a tranny for $100 off civtek i have to go pickup

[89AccordLXI666]

Sweet... why is your other tranny fucked up or is it still working?

[wallyyfm]

works just fine, gas is expensive, and 5th gear will help

[A20A1]

Originally posted by wallyyfm
we all know u cant kill the engine, unless u run it out of oil, it can take a nuclear bomb

Actually above I'd say about 6,500 rpm your running into some cooling issues. I'm still not sure on the oil though. I've added a spacer on the pressure releif valve for the oil to bump up the oil pressure. I'm pretty sure now that my first motor died due to detonation which was cause by lack of cooling and or oil. The motor always spun real nice @ 7,500 rpm... gave a nice smoothe ride, so I don't suspect it was horribly out of balance. I use 20w50 synthetic... but have used Straight 60... but 60 is too much of a pain when cold, the car barely idles and you can feel the drag.

You won't make much power above 6,200 rpm without a header exhaust and a cam regrind.

[wallyyfm]

its a carb, i dont race the thing, i meant 60 mph is about 3100-3200 on the tach, nothing about oil, a 3 g with only 4 gears is fine, 5th is just overdrive

[A20A1]

cool... yeah my cars cabed too.
I'm begining to have second thought about a manual tranny swap. I mean i have 2 manual trans's sitting around with all the shift linkages and needed parts to do the conversion... but once i stick it in i don't want to have to mess with it again. Besides with my auto downshifting is just a flick of the wrist... and no extra pedals to worry about so I can left foot brake... which I'm pretty much used to already.

[89AccordLXI666]

Yeah I do notice the gas is getting a little expensive for me cuz of the higher RPM's but I tested to see how the RPm's would be if I was doing 65MPH and the tach reads 3,500Rpm's which is pretty good... the only difference I'll notice is I'll be burning gas away alot faster, rather than if I had 5th gear working I'd be saving gas..... Lataz