ITRCA

Ok, I have had my '98 Type R for about 3 weeks now, and have worked through several problems, but here is my newest one...
First gear is very hard to shift into, it takes some muscle to jam it into it. Sometimes when I stop while the car is in first it will shake like the clutch isnt fully disengaging, but not always. Second gear is fairly smooth, but third gear tends to grind when upshifting under a load. Fourth gear and fifth gear are smooth, but when downshifting from fourth to third, it will not go into gear unless you tap the throttle.
It grinds sometimes when downshifting into first when I am pulling into my driveway (going about 5mph with the clutch all the way to the floor), and second occasionally.
The other day, the car would not go into reverse after about 20 minutes of hard driving....it would only go in partially, then pop out.
Today, the car has begun making a sqeaking noise in neutral, but when I lightly put my foot on the clutch pedal, it goes away. Then when I press in the clutch pedal, it makes a hissing/hydraulic sounding noise. I checked the tranny fluid earlier today and it was fine.
The car has a Stage 3 Clutch the previous owner installed and a short shifter. I have come to the conclusion that my car is fucked up, but is it the transmission or clutch? Freeplay in the pedal seems to be about an inch, and the previous owner said he replaced it about 15000 miles ago. This new noise is worrying me too.
Thanks,

Matt

I don't think your car is fucked up - how could a '98 R be? - but the previous owner probably was. Sounds like the tranny/clutch unit was beat to death or not properly installed; tho the latter may not be true if it was ok for 15k miles. I'm no mechanic by any means, and probably have no place giving such advise, but in general Honda makes a super product that won't bite back at the owner who doesn't bite first. Have someone who really knows what he's doing check out your transmission and clutch. Good luck

Sounds like you killed some syncros and possibly a couple gears, if it's a recent thing, than more than likely, you can take most of the credit for it, though I'm sure, with a stage three clutch, he probably rounded off some teeth on some gears.

I recently had to open my tranny, and after adding all the parts, and that labor to get it reassembled, it was only like 300 bucks to just get a whole new tranny. From what it sounds like, you're gonna be pretty much in the same boat. A new tranny is like 2300, but if you can get acura to warranty it, you're straight. If one dealer won't warranty it, then take it to another, your on;y problem is that rediculous clutch you have on there. Well, any way, good luck with it, keep us posted, if you need some help.

Later,
Aj

I would be interested in trying to rebuild the tranny myself, but I don't have much car experience, only dirtbikes. Do you think this is something I could do on my own? When I first got the car, it was difficult to put into gear, but yesterday, I couldn't even get it into reverse, and the clutch is making a hissing noise when pressed in. The car has 90,000 miles on it, which could explain the tranny problems, and the clutch does hit pretty hard. I am pretty sure no dealer would do any warranty work considering the car is 5 years old, and has an aftermarket clutch, but is it worth a try?

Thanks,

Matt

No, it really wouldn't, it hadn't occured to me that your car was out of warranty, I guess I didn't read the part about it being a 98'. Any way, that's not really something you'll wanna do on your own, though if you do decide to, yu'll need a gear puller, and a diagram of the tranny, and when you go to take it apart, make sure you put it back togather exactly how it was assembled in the first place.

As I mention an ITR tranny new is about 2300, if you know some one, they'll knock off 20%, which is only like 1800 and change, all you really need is a resale certificate/tax ID, and they'll give it to you at a discount, and without tax. If you transmission needs a new reverse gear, first gear, first gear synchro set, third gear synchro set, new needle bearing, new throwout bearing, and new distance collar, and more than likely if you've been grinding it, a new third gear. That's a lot of moolah in parts, and that's assuming that all the other syncros ad gear aren't rounded off and are just barely working. You're looking at almost a grand in parts, plus the labor to get it reassembled by the dealer, or a trany shop, add another 350-400 bucks, you're probably not that far off of a new ITR tranny. Well, any way, add up all the parts and see where it leaves you, if you're only a couple hundred buck off a new tranny, it's kinda a no brainer, and if you need a new tranny and can't seem to get the 20% off, you can use my wholesale account here in FL.

Best of luck.....
Aj

What kind of clutch? I had the clutchmaster stage 3 carbon/kevlar, and had that same problem. Sold the car though. I also threw a jun flywheel on at the same time.

Yeah, jun flywheels dont last very long in my previous experiences, but I'd almost gaurantee, that in the case of both of you guys, it's your driving style rather than the clutch.

Later,
Aj

Sorry, it isn't my driving habbit. Nice of you to critisize me though, thankx. It actualy happened backing it off the lift. And on the test drive. Mine wasn't the same as his, mine was more of a hard to get in gear like the pressure plate wasn't releasing. I didn't have the problems under load. With the flywheel it also released really low, and that is one thing I don't like about jun. I don't know why their flywheel does that though. O ya, I would please like it if you don't critisize me or anybody else. Exspecially if you don't even know the truth of what you are saying. I didn't expect something like that from you. Maybe I just took what you said wrong?

paul98itr wrote:O ya, I would please like it if you don't critisize me or anybody else. Exspecially if you don't even know the truth of what you are saying. I didn't expect something like that from you. Maybe I just took what you said wrong?

I wasn't critisizing anyone, least of all the people that I try and help on a regular basis, but to be totaly honest, I'll do what ever the hell I want any way, last I checked, you don't know me either, especially not well enough to tell me what to do.

Further, to respone to your post, the point I was making is that: transmission problems don't just happen on their own, if you have a problem with your tranny, it's becuase you, or someone whom you bought the car from was rough on the tranny whether it was on a test drive or otherwise, if you got the car when it was shifting perfectly, and later on down the line it started to have problems, the only faulty component is the driver. As someone said before, Honda Parts in general take a pretty fare amount of abuse before they brake. My point earlier was, that a clutch in and of it self, will not cause the type of damage you both described.

I'm not trying to critisize anyone in particular, hell, I've grinded my fair share of gears, and anyone that says they've never grinded or missed a gear is a lier.

Another thing, in the case of your tranny, if it's hard to get in and out of gear, and you say the clutch engaugement is in a different point than it used to be, you may want to try adjusting it, as the way it is, it may not be allowing the throwout bearing to push the pressure plate in enough to disengauge the clutch. It sounds more like an installation problem than a tranny problem. It's possible that you rounded off all your syncros, but if it's in fourth and fifth as well, they're ussualy pretty hard to round off.....

Later,
Aj

I'll do what ever the hell I want any way, last I checked, you don't know me either, especially not well enough to tell me what to do

If you looked closely, I asked you not to, not told you not to. I figured you we're a mature adult and could handle me confronting you about how I didn't appreciat that.

paul98itr wrote: If you looked closely, I asked you not to, not told you not to. I figured you we're a mature adult and could handle me confronting you about how I didn't appreciat that.

Ancient Greek philosophers define wisdom as the knowledge of when to perceiver and when not, in other words, when to keep one's mouth shut. Whether asking or telling, it's not your place to confront me about my habbits or wording of my writing. If you don't like my posts, then you need not reply nor need to read them in the first place.

It seems we got off on the wrong foot, but I do not appreciate people telling me what I am or am not doing, and appreciate even less people then asking me not to do something that I wasn't in the fist place. I don't purposely critisize anyone unless it is due, and to be so imature as to put words in my mouth, and then get worked up and bent out of shape over something that you thought I may have meant, is completely rediculous.

I no longer feel the need to dignify this conversation with a response, frankly, I'm not critisizing you or anyone else, GET OVER IT.

Later,
Aj

OK, you're the better man. I apologize if I offended you in any way. You seem to be knowledgable of honda stuff, so I respect your opinions. Thanks for the help AJ

What about buying a Spoon tranny? I found one for $1750, and it seems to be superior to the stock unit, but one thing I realized is that there is nothing where the VIN is secured to the one I have now. Are they street legal?

Thanks,

Matt

Well, you have one big problem, Spoon no longer sells their ITR trannys.

Any website such as Inlinefour who still has them advertised has just left them up for reference or because they're too lazy to change their site.

In regards to the VIN plackard you're talking about, it can easily be detahed and put on the new one, and yes, it is street legal, the only difference is that it's a JDM tranny, so it has a 4.7 final drive instead of a 4.4, ie, shorter gears, not by much though.

Sorry to break the news....

Later,
Aj

Ah man, thats where I saw it too. Probably a stupid idea to buy a used tranny, since I am having problems with mine. I heard the USDM were on backorder as well. I guess I will continue my search.

Thanks,

Matt

MCP486 wrote:Ah man, thats where I saw it too. Probably a stupid idea to buy a used tranny, since I am having problems with mine. I heard the USDM were on backorder as well. I guess I will continue my search.

Thanks,

Matt

That's OK, that's where I saw it too. I called them, they said they just left it up for refference.

But, I just ordered a USDM ITR tranny a couple days ago, and am supposed to get it this week, they didn't tell me anything about being back ordered????

Any way, after the 20% knock off, the USDM ITR tranny brand new assembled by Honda, is only like $1800, better off getting a new one from honda and having a warranty(12/12) on it.....

Later,
Aj

Bad news, my problem has gotten so bad that I don't even want to drive the car until it gets to a shop. New symptoms; the hissing noise that was made when I pressed the clutch pedal in before has turned into an irritating sqeaking noise. It only happens when I press the pedal. The car will no longer stay in reverse...it goes into reverse, then will pop out with a loud thump and you can hear the gears grinding. Release bearing and reverse gear? I may not need a complete tranny, but how much $ am I going to end up spending on this if I drop the tranny, and do the clutch myself?

Thanks,

Matt



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Before you waste your time, trust me when I tell you IT'S NOT YOUR CLUTCH. But if you're insistant on finding out the hard way, dropping the tranny and replacing the clutch won't cost you a thing other than the cost of the clutch and three quarts of Honda MTF. I found Exedy Clutches online at EBay for only $230, which is a really good deal.

Just to give you a slightly better prospective, Acura will charge you about $400 to take the tranny of and put it back in, they also ussualy charge about the $350-450 to disassemble and reassemble a transmission.

A tranny really is not a difficult thing to take off and put back, and with all the moolah you would save, it's not a bad idea. Just make sure you have a clutch allignment tool, otherwise you can add on at least another hour or two to the install, assuming you can do it at all. If you decide to do it, let me know, and I'll be happy to walk you through it, I've done it more times than I'd like to count.

Oh yeah, that hissing noise that has now turned into a squeeking noise when you push the pedal, does it happen only when you are moving, or does it only happen between gears under load????? If it happens when you are sitting still, it's your throwout bearing more than likely, though it may be a combination of more than one thing, but if it were just the throwout bearing, it would not cause the problems you're having.

If it only happens under load between gears, I got bad news, and more than likely, it's the bearings on the top of your mainshaft, or countershaft, don't remember which one they are on. Any way, there are two of them, and they're only like 26 bucks a piece, but that's not likely your only problem if you can't get into gear. The only other thing I could imagine it being is like a needle bearing, but I think that's pretty unlikely.

Any way, my suggestion to you would be, first, before you remove the tranny, on the passenger side of it, you'll see two very large freeze plugs, one comes out with a rather large allen key, the other with a 1/2" drive ratchet. Remove all the fluid first using a 3/8" drive ratchet on the same side toward the bottom. Once you did that, remove the larger of the two freeze plugs, I think it's the one you need to use a 1/2" ratchet for. Any way, you may need to use like a mirror and flashlight to see in, but you should see about a quarter of a bearing and even less of a snap ring holding it in place. When I had very very similar symptoms to you, that bearing was visibly busted, there were metal shavings falling out of that hole when I removed the plug. You may want to use a magnet if you can't see it. If that's the case with yours, stop driving it immediately, because in my tranny, not knowing that the bearing was bad, and what the same noise you described was, I kept driving it, as it didn't seem to be anything wrong with the way it shifted, and maybe it was a throwout bearing, any way, it progressively started to get worse to the point where my car wouldn't go into second almost at all and when it did, it didn't feel like it wanted to stay, in addition, third was starting to get notchy. After finnaly removing the tranny and taking the bell houseing off, which by the way, you need a snap ring pliers to do, I noticed that one of the little balls from the bearing fell out, and the shaft was able to have a little play in it, causeing pretty much all the gears and syncros to get rounded off, some worse than others (4&5 were sorta okay). I just oredered a new one after being faced with over 1400 bucks in parts, and a reassemble charge of over $400. Though I hope it's not the case, it sounds like you're having the same problem.

Taking your tranny off will save you a couple hundred dollars, but let them reassemble the tranny, beucase unless you really know what you're doing, it's a really difficult thing to do, especially if you don't have all the tools to do it with.

Good luck, and as I said, if you need any help along the way, you can email me, and I'll give you my cell number and try to help walk you through if you need it.

Later,
Aj

I have to disagree with you AJ. It most likely is a bad clutch. I have a long unfortunate history with these occurrence. First my 93 GS_R, which I had bought brand new, had a piece of the clutch disc break off (typical spring retainer issue). This piece would circulate around, and occasionally find a happy home. This would cause enough friction to not allow the disc to stop making contact with the pressure plate. It only takes a minimal amount of drag to cause hard shifting. My 00 ITR (summer car) had a similar problem as well. Same repair scenario. Right now as we speak, my winter car (99 prelude SH) is having it's clutch replaced for not disengaging. Same symptom as described above. Impossible to go into first, hard shifting, car almost stalls at stop light, and also luches forward on startup.

I don't mean t contradict, but I have too much past relevant/similars issues to keep my mouth shut.

As an aside note. Thank Gos one of my best friends owns a Honda dealership. Does anybody want o guess what it would cost an average person to have a clutch replaced in a Prelude SH? Honda flat rate is 15 hours. 15 hours X $78/hour = $1170 alone. It would cost around 2G's. Youch! Luckily not for me.

Though I might agree with you about some of the symptoms, if it drives fine in certain gears, but not others, that ussualy would not be a bad clutch, especially if it's going in, but pulling out of gear. Could be, you never know till you get it off.

Besides, bottom line, you have a problem, and it needs to be fixed. Either way, you need to remove the tranny, if it turns out to be a bad clutch, then you lucked out. If not, you'll know it when you pull of the tranny, and the clutch and pressure plate is still intact.

Good luck, hope it turns out to be a clutch.

Later,
Aj

Just stopped and took a look at the clutch in my Prelude. Same typical broken off spring retainer on my clutch disc. This makes the third time for three different vehicles and same symptoms.

I guess we'll just have to waite to find out.....

Later,
Aj

Well, I will be throwing it onto some jackstands this weekend. I will keep everyone updated on the situation.

Thanks,

Matt

Man, I finally got my car fixed. The previous owner had installed a "Stage Three" clutch about 10,000 miles before I purchased the car. He told me it was "indestructible," and that I wouldn't have to buy a new clutch for a long time. Funny thing I ruined it within 2500 miles. What happened was that the pressure plate had fingers break off of it, and become lodged between it and the clutch disk. Additionally the release bearing seized up, which probably led to the pressure plate problem. The housing of the tranny got nice and torn up, but I can get away with putting it back together as it is right now. I will let everyone know how my test drive goes later on this evening.

Matt

Good for you man, i have the same problem as you atm my car is in storage with a screwed up clutch and i got a stage 3 with new pressure plate waiting, which i swear ill be meticulously carefull with this time! heres my symptoms and let me know if you think all i need is a clutch replacement (pressure plate) and a few synchros...

My car has trouble getting into first, shifting very slow into second, almost impossible to shift into thrid without pressing the throtte, fourth is fine, and fifth is a bit hard too, it needs some throttle... my guess is the need of a new clutch, synchro #2 and #3 (#5 maybe but, screw a fast 5th anyway) and clean the inside of my already messed up tranny, with new fluid and i should be set i guess.. does anyone disagree? and if so what synchros do you think i need, and is there anywhere other than honda where i can get em for cheap?

funny thing is im warranteed if i screw my aftermarket warranty holder like i did everytime:)