High revving in 5th gear please help

[Euchreguy]

I have a 1989 Accord LX with 138,000 miles on it and it is my daily driver. Recently, it has been having problems getting into 5th gear, it won't go unless I release the clutch and push it back in and then it will finally go. Well, today, I was in fifth gear on the highway cruising at 70 and all of a sudden the engine revved up really high, and the tachometer read about 5500 RPM and the speedometer shot up to 95 miles/ hour. After about half a second, it came back down and drove on like normal. This happened to me about 3 more times on my way home today and it seemed like it was only doing it in fifth gear. Are these problems (not going into fifth and the revving/speedometer rise) related and any advice on what I should do to fix them?? Is my car safe to continue to uise for my 120 miles/day commute?

[Bass Man]

Replace the oil and check the seal on the CV-axles. I think you might have a CV axle that wasn't installed right and the oil drained out of there, causing the 5th gear problems (These tranny's like to tell you their low with 5th gear... lol), and the cv might be slipping out. I had that happen to be, but it was usually in 3-4 when I applied power.

It doesn't sound like your clutch, because it's showing a higher speed instead of staying the same and having the RPM's rise.

[2drSE-i]

What Bass said. Your speedometer is reading high because the axle is spinning super fast (not that its connected to the wheels, but w/e)

[Euchreguy]

OK, just drove it in this morning, same problems but it wasn't just in 5th gear, it's been in 4th as well, it seems to be going better when I'm at slower speeds and this might be because it's not working as hard... I will check the CV seal tonight... is it a difficult process to check the CV seal and replace the oil? I am not uber-familiar with cars but I can do it if I know how to do it and if it's not TOO difficult.

[2oodoor]

sounds like the clutch needs adjusting now before it burns the disc on out, if it hasnt already
True , always check the oil level in tranny when fifth starts "talking and giving you sh*t"

[AZmike]

The speedometer measures the speed of the differential. A slipping clutch would only show up as a high engine speed, not a high differential speed. As mentioned above, I'd check that both inner CV joints are fully engaged in the transmission.

[maka_RTH]

The speedometer measures the speed of the differential. A slipping clutch would only show up as a high engine speed, not a high differential speed. As mentioned above, I'd check that both inner CV joints are fully engaged in the transmission.

Indeed. If your speedometer is going up as well, then the power is going through the differential as well. You can check your tranny oil from the filler bolt (remove it, and you should be able to stick your finger in and the oil level should be just inside the filler hole). It's number 8 in the pic:



You get to it from the passenger side. Also, on the back of the tranny is where the cv joints join the tranny, make sure they're both in solidly, no play. Start with these things, if you can't find anything wrong.., it could possibly be internal problems

[Bass Man]

Like stripped CV axles, but it would get way worse way fast.

[Euchreguy]

I think my transmission is out of commission. I tried to replace the tranny oil and when I drained it out I had less than a quart in there and when I plugged it up and added more oil it POURED out the other side. My mechanic thinks it's a bad axle seal. Also, I can't drive anywhere... When I put it in gear, I can hear something spinning but the car is not going forward, also the speedometer still goes up as the engine revvs higher. My mechanic thinks that it is a problem with the transmission that maybe since I didn't have enough oil in there that it got too hot and burned up. He does not work on transmissions, other than to replace them but he found a used transmission for $200 and he is going to install that, replace the clutch, and fix the seal all for $250 + parts. Do you think this is the route I should go or should I check and see if I can get the transmission fixed. Which will cost more?? I'm on a pretty tight budget.

[Oldblueaccord]

Just like the other post its sounds like your CV shaft is out of the trans enough to not transmit power to your wheel and let all that oil leak out. Try pushing the CV shaft back into the trans housing and see if the car will move.

If it does then that is the problem. Usually it means your engine mounts are letting the trans move around to much and let the CV shaft pop out.

wp

[Euchreguy]

OK, you guys are awesome!!! It DOES seem to be a problem with the CV axle popping out. My NEXT question is WHY would the CV axle pop out and HOW would I go about repairing it. If I replace the seal and snap it back into place will this fix it? I know Oldblueaccord had said there might be a problem with the engine mounts and I will certainly check those out, however, is there anything else that could be the problem, anything else I should be checking out? I obviously don't want this happening again in a week.

[carotman]

There is a circlip that holds the CV shaft in the transmission. It may be missing or doesn't have enough tension.

I doubt that bad engine mounts would make the inner joint come out of the transmission. Bad mounts would make the joint itself come apart.

The worst case scenario would be a bad differential that moves inside the casing and makes the joint pop out.

[maka_RTH]

Yeah, first/easy fix, is make sure the CV joint is back in the tranny, then you can fill it up with oil. You could even pull it out and inspect it just to see if it is damaged on that end. You can get a replacement one from your local auto parts store for like $50-$60 usually (after you give them your old one). Hopefully it is a problem w/ the CV joint, and not the differential.

[Euchreguy]

So all I have to do is replace that circlip and that will hold that CV shaft into the transmission?? That would be WONDERFUL!!! and once again, this site ROCKS!!!

[Bass Man]

If you got issues with your alternator, then now would be a good time to change it if your pulling the Drivers side CV.

[Euchreguy]

Thanks guy for all of your help, I told the mechanic what to do and he fixed it, however when I went to pick it up I heard something rattle when I went over bumps, he told me it was fine even though I had not had that rattle before. On my way home, I blew a break line because my caliper was not put on correctly... so, more car problems. Needless to say, that guy is not getting any more of MY business. Thanks again for your help guys.

[Bass Man]

Wow. I don't even know how that could have happened! lol

[Euchreguy]

well, apparently he didn't tighten it on all the way because the caliper only had one bolt and that bolt was hanging on by just a few threads... but NOW my brakes are fixed and everything is going well, however, the breaks feel like they have a small bleed in them... when I'm at a stop light my foot will slowly drop to the floor... I had the mechanic RE-CHECK them after he had replaced the break line and he said he saw no leaks, he did free up the rear brake adjusters because they were frozen up and he replaced the rear brake cylinder that was leaking as little but I am still feeling it today... but if there is not leaks I guess I'm OK, the only other thing TO do is probably replace the master cylinder but I don't really want to do that... I'm ready to be done putting money into this car for now...

[carotman]

Your master cylinder is shot. You need to replace it. The internal seal is now shot.

What happened is that when the brake line broke, your pedal went to the floor. When the mechanic replaced the brake line and bled the system, he put the pedal to the floor many times too.

The problem is that over time, crud/dirt will build up just past the master cyllinder internal seal. Since you always use the same pedal travel when you brake, that amount of dirt doesn't interfere in any way. When you push the pedal to the floor, that dirt scrapes the seal and will eventually wear it.

If that caliper would have been bolted right, I'm sure your master cyl would have been fine for a couple of years. The same thing happened to me when I converted to rear discs. My previously fine master cylinder went down the drain

[Civic Accord Honda]

yep happend to me after i disconeted my brake line.. first it was just slowly going to the floor next thing i know im going down a curvy mtn road and my peddels on the floor and i have no brakes O_O

[Euchreguy]

Master Cylinder - better to buy new? or is remanufactured just as good?? I know sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn't... your thoughts??

[Lil Mike]

well for me i think about how long im keeping the car for, how much money the new and reman'd ones are worth but most likely i would choose a quality reman or if the price is close to a new i would just splurge the extra money and get a brand new one.

[Civic Accord Honda]

new is only like $5-10 more ....

[Euchreguy]

Is it difficult to replace a master cylinder?? A buddy of mine is going to help me out and I was just wondering if I am getting myself in to a world of hurt trying to work on this myself... I can't afford to keep going back to the mechanic.

[Civic Accord Honda]

Is it difficult to replace a master cylinder?? A buddy of mine is going to help me out and I was just wondering if I am getting myself in to a world of hurt trying to work on this myself... I can't afford to keep going back to the mechanic.

nah not hold but def go to autozone and buy a 10MM flare nut wernch there only like $6 .. without one you will strip the brake line nuts so its a must.. but other then having to get that its all stright forward unbolt old one remove bench bleed new one(very easy to do it comes with 2 hoses u jsut contect them to the master cylinder and push the pump in and out with some fulid in it to get all the air out of it) then install the new one the same way you removed the old one. then bleed the brakes and presto