clutch replacement

[j12ball]

Well on the way to work today I lost 5th gear. I was doing 70 then all of a sudden it was like I was in neutral. I can shift into the slot for 5th, but it doesn't catch. The clutch wasn't grabbing 5th at all. So I talked to my mechanic and he said that it was the clutch. He said that when clutches go, you first notice it in 5th gear because the torque is higher in the other gears and the ratio is so low in fifth. Anyway an installed clutch runs at least $600, so I figured I could buy one and install it myself. I just wanted people's opinions on how difficult this really is. Also, would I need to yank the whole engine, or just the tranny? I'm prepared to spend quite a few weekends on it and I have the service manual that give the details, but I just want to make sure its doable for someone with moderate experience under the hood. Thanks for your help in advance

[Mantis88LX]

it probably is the actual 5th gear, becasue they tend to strip out on our cars. i heard its pretty easy to replace, u can do it yourself without having to remove the transmission

[shepherd79]

it is not your clutch, if it was your clutch than you couldn't get any gears.
so i would say it is your 5th gear. you may want to check with local junk yards for another 5 speed.

[carotman]

yes, your 5th gear has grinded bald

It's gone for good. It's not your clutch like the other guys said. I'm 100% sure about that.

You can get the 5th gear replaced for a decent price. You don't even need to take the transmission out of the car.

[HondaLuxury]

have fun changing the transmission, lol. i am a little bitter right now because i just got through doing an engine swap on my 'lude and it was a bitch..

[ACCORD EX]

check the tranny fluid first so other gears won't go bad !

MIKE

[greekguy7]

Its your 5th gear... not the clutch. On most of these cars, there is a cover on the side of the trans that can be removed to fix the problem.

Make sure you take it to someone who knows these cars, and doesnt try to sell you an entire trans rebuild job. The same problem happened to me. A local trans shop said it would run me between $125 to $225, I think, when I talked to them. The final bill came out to about $145 and its been fine now for over 75k miles

[j12ball]

Thanks for all the advice, I'm definitely going to look into that 5th gear replacement before I dive into getting a new clutch.