My Hoopty

[Ichiban]

Yeah, if bent, a shaft would cause some sort of issue. But wouldn't the damage be greatest in the middle, where the runout is the worst? The bearing at either end means that at either end, the shaft runs relatively true.

I've had plenty of bent shit in a lathe. Runs good at the chuck, runs decent at the center end, the middle, mmmm not so good.

[ecogabriel]

even tho i didn't want to come on here much anymore i still like to check threads and thought i would post in this one,

I was just wondering if both transmissions were from LX-is, and had the same gearbox number(someone could of swapped in with a DX/LX one in a lxi at one point) and the DX/LX one has diffrent gear ratios then the LX-i one so was just thinking maybe that could be a problem why the gears didnt fit right

I agree.

I am not a technical person regarding gears, but in order to have different slight ratios one needs slight different gears. Adding/substracting one single teeth on the larger gear will made the trick but in order to fit given the same axle distances one would have to change slightly teeth measurement and the overall diameter of each gear so they will fit in the same axle distance.
Technicians please help!!!

I have seen the website Lost suggested; in fact I believe he mentioned it a while ago in another thread. It looks like a (very) serious place

[Dr_Snooz]

Another long post. Sorry.

I was able to spend some time working last weekend. The shafts were assembled in the correct order and direction, etc. Thrust washers were where they should have been, were the proper thickness, etc. I checked runout on the shaft visually by spinning it in the case and there was no wobble. The case does not appear to have been bent or distorted in any way.

My brother is here for Christmas and he is wise in the ways of auto mechanics. I had him take a look at the mess before we carted it off for warranty replacement. Here is the final hypothesis:

1. The gear blew out because it was mated with a gear that had a different wear pattern. A total of 4 teeth were lost all around the shaft, so that rules out a bent shaft because all the teeth on one side of the shaft would have blown out if that were the case. The teeth all broke at the top outside edge of the tooth, indicating that load was not distributed evenly across the gear face like it should have been. Putting the heavy load of engine break-in on the outside edge of those teeth could easily have broken them.

2. My difficulties shifting were most likely assembly error. The shafts were assembled correctly, but when I put them in the case, they got jumbled and might not have seated correctly. This was indicated by the shafts not being parallel. I had to re-assemble the blown trans for the warranty core and after I put the shafts in, I was putting the top case on when my brother said "something's not right." Sure enough, one of my syncros had come out of the syncro sleeve and was sitting against it, instead of in it. Consequently, the gears on the mainshaft were offset from the countershaft by about 1/8". I re-checked my post-mortem pics (below) and the syncros all look right. I don't see any offset, but it's the only explanation that makes sense. This kind of problem could easily have resolved itself after the gear exploded.

Anyway, I'm not entirely satisfied with this, but the trans is gone now and I'm moving on. I will definitely, never ever be mixing and matching gears again. Yikes!

More post-mortem pics:

[ecogabriel]

A while ago I stumbled across a book about Honda transmissions.
It explained different things about them but one thing I remember is a disassemble-reassemble explained in it including photos. About the book I only remember reading it in Barnes and Noble and that it was not expensive; it might be useful if you would consider rebuilding another one.

I hope you get your ride soon on the roads again.

[Dr_Snooz]

Well the replacement trans arrived and it's the worst of all by far. Everything inside was coated with thick black grunge that the degreaser failed to remove. The oil looked like this:



I'm sure this one went 200,000 miles and never once had the oil changed. Everything was out of tolerance and there was so much friction that every wear surface was scored, polished and in some cases, blue. If that wasn't enough, the splines on the countershaft were toast. I called the wrecking yard and they don't have any more of my trans. Because I'm still under warranty, they are going to refund my purchase price though. Yay!

Lostforawhile recommended Man-Trans and they claim to have the trans. I notice that they don't build one until you order it, so it's possible they have a bunch of cores that are as destroyed as what I've seen so far and will call after I've ordered and tell me they don't have it after all. Anyway, I'm going to go that route and keep my fingers crossed. The only alternative is to spend every Saturday dropping trannies at the Pick-N-Pull until I find something that isn't complete garbage. That's highly improbably and I definitely am not interested in wasting much more time than I already have.

I'll keep you all posted on my experience with Man-Trans, www.man-trans.com

[Civic Accord Honda]

damn 3g trans!
a fresh rebuilt one should be nice tho!
i loved my rebuilt one until i blew it up lol

[Rendon LX-i]

damn that blows. My im suprised how mines hanging it had 200 thousand on it and i hear the main bearing screaming at me when i first run it...so i know its going to need a rebuild soon.

[lostforawhile]

the only complaint I could find was one, and it sounds like they attempted to do everything possible to fix the problem but just had a bitchy customer was all. He was complaining because the car was down and he had to drive 60 miles to the nearest depot to return the bad transmission, and he was complaining about losing his job because the car was down, In his case I think he should have gone local if was rushing that bad. I know they have a good rep around here and they've been in business for a long time, hopefully they can get you straightened out.

[lostforawhile]

here's the BBB rating of them, according to the BBB they had complaints, every business does, but they have a very good rating on trying to do everything reasonable to solve them. they are still rated an A+http://northeastflorida.bbb.org/codb...y&id=160444139

[Dr_Snooz]

the only complaint I could find was one, and it sounds like they attempted to do everything possible to fix the problem but just had a bitchy customer was all. He was complaining because the car was down and he had to drive 60 miles to the nearest depot to return the bad transmission, and he was complaining about losing his job because the car was down, In his case I think he should have gone local if was rushing that bad. I know they have a good rep around here and they've been in business for a long time, hopefully they can get you straightened out.

I read that one too. I thought, man, they were going to take all his stuff and find out what was up. Any other shop would have told him to pound sand.

[2ndGenGuy]

Man, you have some bad luck with transmissions. Or maybe I've just had good luck. My A18 trans, I got from some guy for $100 on Craigslist. Also, got a junkyard transmission in my 1gee. Though admittedly the 3rd gear syncros are worn, but it's been fine for 2 years otherwise. But I've got a spare in the shed that I'm going to put in. Look for a car that's been hit really hard. Because obviously it was driving when it got totalled out.

[Dr_Snooz]

IT'S ALIVE!!!! My car runs and is better than I remember it. God I love this car! The new trans is awesome, shifts like a dream and is so much lighter and peppier.

The new trans arrived from ManTrans carefully packed in a sturdy box. The trans was completely encased in expanding foam, which is great.





The expanding foam got into the diff case and that was slightly a drag.





The workmanship overall was very good. The tech used form-a-gasket of some kind to seal the case, instead of the paper gaskets that Honda used. There were no stripped out threads in the case or any other cheesy crap like that. The only gripes I have about the overall build is that the rubber boot over the shift lever was left off.



And the reverse light switch they sent was mangled.



None of this was insurmountable. Most importantly, IT WORKS!!! Woohoo!!!!




I don't mind telling you that it was an Olympian struggle for me mounting that new tranny to the block. I fought for one solid day and failed to get it installed. I left the shop with the tranny sitting on the ground next to the car. Then I went and bought one of these.



I fought for another solid day and failed again. All my powers of swearing were useless. Again, I left the shop with the tranny sitting next to the car. Finally, on the third day, I got it right. I couldn't have done it without the jack but figuring out the right way to do it took a lot of trial and error.

That jack from Harbor Freight pictured above is awesome, by the way. The platform is nice and wide and the hooks keep the tranny from sliding off the end. The chain lashes the tranny to the platform. The best part is that the platform pivots in all four directions via those screws. That way, you can get the twist and rotation just perfect on the trans before you try to slide it in place. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I'm all good now, driving around with a big goofy grin again. I can finally do all the stuff on the Bimmer I've been putting off. Stuff like getting the windows to roll down again, the seats motors to stop twisting the seats, the door locks on the driver's and right rear passenger's doors to work again...

...and the heater core. *shudder*

[lostforawhile]

I'm glad everything worked out for you with it!! i would contact them and tell them the reverse switch was mangled and they will probably send you a new one.

[nswst8]

What was the charge for this rebuilt trans?

[Civic Accord Honda]

Very win!!! Congrats man!

[2ndGenGuy]

Oh man yeah getting the tranny mated to the motor is a pain. I always do it by hand, but have two people doing it. Someone up top to line it up and get the first bolt in, and someone underneath to muscle it up. I can't imagine doing it by myself. Nice work man. Tough stuff!

[fallen40379]

i will be doing this soon too, but we got an auto shop with all the engine stands, jacks and what not i could ever need. Wish me luck. Oyea, i need a good place to get a rebuild kit or a rebuilt tranny

[nswst8]

I did it by myself in the drive way. But I did have the Rad and condenser out for total front access. And I used a regular car jack. I am very agile =-)

[lostforawhile]

I did it by myself in the drive way. But I did have the Rad and condenser out for total front access. And I used a regular car jack. I am very agile =-)

i've always done it myself th same way, if you take a long bolt with the transmission bolt threads and cut the head off, then screw it in, it acts like a pin to slide th transmission into, this is how i put on some chucks at work, some of them weigh as much as the engine. put pins in and slide it on to the pins.

[Dr_Snooz]

What was the charge for this rebuilt trans?

It was $650 to my door, including the $150 core charge. Not too shabby considering the junkyard trans was $140, the rebuild kit was $160 and the rage was priceless.

[nswst8]

$650 for a fully rebuilt manual trans, hell thats great. You didn't have to send in a core? And if you endorse them, I guess I'll be ordering one soon. I like to keep one on hand.

Thanks for the update on this.

[Dr_Snooz]

$650 for a fully rebuilt manual trans, hell thats great. You didn't have to send in a core? And if you endorse them, I guess I'll be ordering one soon. I like to keep one on hand.

Thanks for the update on this.

Some people keep Y2K kits. Some people keep extra toilet paper. You keep spare transmissions.

[lostforawhile]

If I ever get the money I can drive down there and pick it up at the counter, I'm only an hour and a half away. no shipping and i'll bring the core with me. it works great but the case seals are all leaking and it leaks out the shifter seal, which involves taking it apart. probably a lot of miles left in it though. they are cheaper I believe because all they do are manual transmissions, no autos

[MessyHonda]

looks good

[nswst8]

Did the $650 include shipping?