ISO Swap help

[Accord Bob]

hey im new to these fourms and i just got a 88 accord Lxi A20A3 MPFI 5 speed MT and well the Transmission is SHOT its an act of god to get it to go in to first when the car is running and it wont go in to 3rd at all it grands soooo badly and 5th is just like neutral and i have been looking for a parts car or just the transmission and well everyone i know is telling me to swap it so i looked at the mounts and there weird from all of the other honda accords i have worked on and i dont think anything will just drop right in

so im wondering if any motor will just drop right in and if not where would i be able to get a jumper harness and the motor mounts for it

also wondering if any other transmissions will bolt right up to it and work like it should

[Civic Accord Honda]

lol theres nothing wrong with an A20A3 they are good reliable and make some decent power So i would just replace the transmission or rebuild it, but if u really want to swap it no engine will bolt right in except for the B20A's that came in them from factory in japan. and finding one is going to be a huge pain in the ass.
so if you really want to swap check out
dick head racing, he made some mounts to bolt in any B-series engine.
https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67310

[Accord Bob]

lol theres nothing wrong with an A20A3 they are good reliable and make some decent power So i would just replace the transmission or rebuild it, but if u really want to swap it no engine will bolt right in except for the B20A's that came in them from factory in japan. and finding one is going to be a huge pain in the ass.
so if you really want to swap check out
dick head racing, he made some mounts to bolt in any B-series engine.
https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67310

well i cant find any transmissions or any rebuild kits for it

[Demon1024]

i think the tranny from a older civic will bolt up too,but i could and most likely am wrong. I think thats where one of mine came from - 4 speed
be even more fun to find an older than 3gaccord civic tho

[mephi]

Sounds like you might have gotten the wrong kind of lube in there. You are supposed to use SAE 30. 10w 30 or 40 will give you the best temperature range. If you don't mind the price, you could always use Honda MTF. It's magic in a bottle, and besides, you don't have to change it very often.

When you put 75w90 or similar heavy gear oils in these transmissions, it doesn't properly lubricate the needle bearings that keep everything turning. That is probably why 1st and 3rd don't work. The heavier oil also can't flow out to 5th gear and will chew the crap out of the gears until you have a second neutral.

How's the clutch by the way?

[mephi]

i think the tranny from a older civic will bolt up too,but i could and most likely am wrong. I think thats where one of mine came from - 4 speed
be even more fun to find an older than 3gaccord civic tho

I tried that once with a 88 civic. The splines are different count though.

You should be able to pick up a used manual pretty easily. Post in the wanted forum and I'm sure someone will have a spare floating around.

[Civic Accord Honda]

im pretty sure a civic trans wont work , i know a D-series one is completely different.

have you checked ebay for trans? i see alot of rebuilt ones on there

[Rendon LX-i]

couple of words for ya.........HONDA MTF.....FTW...i would use only that and that only. PERIOD...other shit dont work foams up...i tryed shit close to it..and NOTHING glazed the shit out of my clutch when i was at the track and i had alot of grinding....just remember HONDA MTF....switch your fuild and try it again...

[Hauntd ca3]

Sounds like you might have gotten the wrong kind of lube in there. You are supposed to use SAE 30. 10w 30 or 40 will give you the best temperature range. If you don't mind the price, you could always use Honda MTF. It's magic in a bottle, and besides, you don't have to change it very often.

When you put 75w90 or similar heavy gear oils in these transmissions, it doesn't properly lubricate the needle bearings that keep everything turning. That is probably why 1st and 3rd don't work. The heavier oil also can't flow out to 5th gear and will chew the crap out of the gears until you have a second neutral.

How's the clutch by the way?

i have 80w90 mobil gearoil in my 5 spd and is nothing wrong with it eh.
in the middle of winter it was a bit stiff going into gear for the first few miles but after that, sweet as

[mephi]

i have 80w90 mobil gearoil in my 5 spd and is nothing wrong with it eh.
in the middle of winter it was a bit stiff going into gear for the first few miles but after that, sweet as

Trust me on this. Straight from a Honda master technician and a whopping 2 years of technical school. THESE TRANSMISSIONS WERE DESIGNED TO USE LIGHTER OIL. Bigger transmissions uses heavier GL-5 type oils because they don't have the small tiny little needle bearings in the gears. They just use roller bearings.

The problem with the heavier oils is that it can't get into the needle bearings and flow into the 5th gear housing like it needs to. That is why the factory manual recommends SAE 30. Nothing heavier. Your transmission may work fine right now, but it will suffer an early death--synchros will stop working, gears will whine, and then your transmission will catastrophically fail.

This is what will happen to your 5th gear

https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67957

Sorry if there is any anger in here...It's just the beer.

[Hauntd ca3]

dude, i'm on the bourbon and coke myself
just my experiance, i've had no probs with the heavier oil and i put prob 60,000km on it since the swap to manual and no worries so far.
i might swap to a lighter grade when she's back in use, but again, just my experiance.
but,mind you i was doing 120 miles per night as a pizza delivery boy so the oil was always warm which makes a big diff
and all the rest of the time was spent on the highway.
in general day to day stop start running i can see why the lighter grade would be a good thing, but if all or majority of your driving is hot running , the heavier grade shouldnt make stuff all diff.

[Demon1024]

I tried that once with a 88 civic. The splines are different count though.

the gen before that i beleive. i know it wasnt the same years as our cars. i'm gonna go look for the # on it now. i tried once before and never came up with an accord tranny so...yeah i'll go look

[AccordB20A]

dude, i'm on the bourbon and coke myself
just my experiance, i've had no probs with the heavier oil and i put prob 60,000km on it since the swap to manual and no worries so far.
i might swap to a lighter grade when she's back in use, but again, just my experiance.
but,mind you i was doing 120 miles per night as a pizza delivery boy so the oil was always warm which makes a big diff
and all the rest of the time was spent on the highway.
in general day to day stop start running i can see why the lighter grade would be a good thing, but if all or majority of your driving is hot running , the heavier grade shouldnt make stuff all diff.

our boxes are different to their older a20 boxes remember, we dont have a 5th gear thats seperated out on its own its still inside the same casing cause we dont have an easy to remove end cap haha