This same issue came up in another thread too. This is the interesting post in the thread for me. Unfortunately, I can't verify the claim. Looking at part numbers on Majestic's site, the parts (flywheel, pressure plate, friction disc and mainshaft) all seem to be exactly the same across all years. I'm not sure how to explain the difficulties that those two threads describe. I do know that if you go to any wrecking yard, the 86/87 transmissions (A2Q5's) are considered bolt-on replacements for the 88/89 transmissions (E2R5's) and vice versa. The rebuild kit is the same for both. The shops could be wrong, of course. So whatever.
I rebuilt the AT on my '82 Accord many moons ago. I installed it and went for my first drive. It ran great. The next day, I noticed a slight tapping sound coming from the trans. Over the next few days, the tapping became a loud and noisy clattering and then a fierce fluid leak that blew a quart a week under the car and left a smoke trail behind me. I pulled the trans a few weeks later and found a bad seal. I also found the tops of my drive plate bolts skinned off and an ugly, radial crack in the drive plate. I had no idea what had happened until I found a mashed alignment dowel in the bell housing on the block. When installing the first time, I had somehow gotten the dowel caught between the block and trans and then crushed it while tightening the mounting bolts. Having it there pushed out the trans on one side by about 1/16". Very little, but enough to put everything out of alignment, flexing the drive plate to breaking point, causing the bolts to hit the block, breaking a seal and otherwise making a real mess of things.
No, I don't have Alzheimer's. The point of this rambling trip down memory lane is that there are all kinds of ways to mess up a big repair, and I say this as someone who has discovered more than his fair share. Sometimes, you know why and other times you can only guess. There are a few guys saying that the mainshaft does not fit into the crank on some transmissions, but there is almost no way to prove this conclusively. If you are bolting up the trans and it doesn't quite go on all the way, you cannot see what is preventing it from seating fully. You can only guess.
When I did my MT swap, I had the most amazingly difficult time of getting the transmission to seat fully against the block. I pushed and pulled and pried and shoved and cursed and swore and it simply would not go. I fought it for a couple days before buying a proper transmission jack that would hold the transmission at precisely the right angle for proper mounting. When I had the transmission at the right angle, it slipped on like butter. Maybe these guys are hitting the mainshaft on the crank, or maybe they are having other problems. It's hard to say for sure.
Again, I don't know.
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