Lude Generation

Sorry for long post. Any advice appreciated, guys....

The gearbox has always crunched into 5th(Not uncommon, I know) and I had the transmission fluid replaced about 4 thousand miles ago to no effect. But the gearbox has never liked any very quick gear-changes even with the clutch to the floor. (I've never had a problem with any other car). I think I've got used to smooth gear-changing by roughly matching the revs (subconsciously) and not rushing things too much, and I've been kidding myself that maybe they're all like this. Recently, however, engaging first has been getting more awkward, and yesterday the car plain refused Reverse gear on three occasions.

Those of you who know the car will know it's done less than 50k and has a service history off which you could eat your dinner. A couple of thousand miles before I bought her (Maybe 7k ago) she had the clutch replaced (Non-Honda garage, too far away and too long ago to chase up). I have the receipt to suggest it was done. The gear changing does not improve by pumping the pedal, so I'm guessing it's not a lack of pressure caused by a leak in master/slave(?).

Also, the thing kind of has a very long bite point, which almost seems to move/change!

Any ideas?

1) Could the clutch fitted be just not up to the job?
2) Could I be completely wrong and I should check for leaks?
3) **intermission** I went to the tattoo at Edinburgh last night, and can recommend it. Yes, a 99 please. **/intermission**
4) ? Aaargh! Help! What do I check first? Where do I start?

If I do have to change the clutch itself, what's the likely parts/labour, and given that (When the car is warm) I sometimes drive it like I stole it (from the Russian Mafia), should I upgrade it to some other spec? I don't care how heavy it is.

Anyone still awake? Any thoughts appreciated, cheers guys.

I can't give advice on your problem but you are looking at a garage labour time of 5.6 hours to change the clutch. That's the auto data book time for it just had my box and clutch changed.

Cheers, W1ggz

have you thought about changing the clutch fluid ?

struggling to get reverse and 5th, sounds mightily like a bent selector fork in the gearbox to be honest common on early atr's, maybe because they get more abuse then old man 5ths.

i maybe, and i hope i am wrong, it could be the clutch, either a loose spring on the friction plate stopping the clutch being fully engaged/disengaged ut i would have thought you would have felt it, i did when mine did this.

i'd be suprised if the clutch went again so quickly unless they used naff parts previously, but if the car has done less than 5ok and has had a clutch change to me it means one of two things, a; it was beat on pretty hard by the previous owner which could have resulted in scenario one or, b; it was replaced to try to rectify an issue in the past which also leads me to scenario one

or the clutch wasnt fitted properly 7k mies ago

Or c the previous owner was a woman and didn't understand you need to lift your foot off the clutch pedal??

If it crunches into 5th and refusing to go into gear it could be the syncro inside the box. It's unlikely the clutch and if you had that changed then they probs changed the brake fluid and gear oil.

Thanks for the posts, chaps.

As I am currently drunk I will extend you the courtesy of sobering up and giving proper consideration before responding Some interesting thoughts, though

Ideal time to upgrade to the ATR box and well come back to this topic in a year or so to discuss why it crunches

Going off just these symptoms;
Problems going into 1st, reverse and 5th, never liked any fast gear changes and long biting point... it would be worth trying bleeding the clutch cylinder first, as a simple/quick attempt to fix it. Not much effort and nothing lost if it doesn't help. (Might as well bleed through all new fluid for the small amount it takes).

If that doesn't fix it and the clutch was only changed 7k miles ago and you have the receipt, I'd take it back to the place that did it and suggest to them that they might like to take a look..?


Could be any of the things everyone has suggested, but fingers crossed not that serious