1999 Civic Manual Transmission

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BrianD

New Member
My friend has a 99 Civic, I believe DX that's been sitting in his driveway for 2 years. He told me recently that I could have it, I just have to get it going. Well, I have to say I was instantly impressed with Honda's when I dropped a new battery in and it fired right up like i'd been driving it every day. Only problem, i can't get it into gear. If I shut the car off I can put it in reverse and it will back up but then I can't get it out of reverse. So I have a clutch, i just have to find it. I've never worked on a honda before, i've done Volvo's my whole life, so if anyone has any ideas it would be most helpful.

I checked the slave cylinder and it's full of fluid, I can't find the kick down cable though for the clutch. I see two cables coming out of the wirewall, one goes to the throttle and the other goes to, what I believe to be, the ABS box. I wasn't able to get under the car as I didn't have my jack.

TIA

Brian
 
I'm confused, you say you have a clutch for it, but then you say you are looking for the kick-down cable. Is it an auto or a manual.?

Edit: well i see the title now
 
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The kickdown cable is what makes your AUTOMATIC transmission go to a lower gear when you floor it

What did you do to make it start doing it? It sounds like the clutch isn't disengaging all of the way...

Will it let you get into other gears when it's running?
 
Thanks for the replies, I've had to teach myself how to do all this so when referring to the "kick down" cable I was thinking of a cable attached to the clutch. It is indeed manual and it will not get into any other gears. I can only put it in reverse if the car is off and that's it. One thing I noticed is if I put in the clutch the pedal will stick down and I have to pull it back up with my foot.

I've been trying to read up on transmissions for Honda's but all I find are parts websites. If you have anything you can recommend reading that would be great as well.

Thank you
 
Well you said you have a slave cylinder, so you probably have a hydraulic clutch, so you aren't going to have a cable. Did you mess with the slave/master cylinder for the clutch? It sounds like it needs to be bled, or replaced. You could also have a hole in your clutch line. What's happening is there is no pressure getting to the slave cylinder, or the slave cylinder isn't operating properly, so the clutch isn't disengauging. I would try bleeding it first... but be careful driving it around, because if something else is broken, the clutch could engauge without warning and your car can take off if it's in gear.

To bleed it, pump the clutch a few times, then have someone loosen the bleed screw while you hold down the pedal. Make sure that you keep a constant eye on the master cylinder so that you don't run dry and suck in air. You will have to refill it several times, especially when the line starts to get almost bled. Do this until you aren't getting any bubbles out the other end, and the fluid looks clean. I believe that you just use regular honda brake fluid.

As far as finding something to read, honda manuals are going to be pretty much the same as any other manual transmission, so if you are looking on information on the basics, you can look for general manual trans information.
 
Also, if bleeding it seems to make it work, and you haven't messed with anything that would cause it to lose pressure, it means that you have some other issue that is causing you to lose pressure, and you should figure out what that is before you start driving it again.
 
In an effort to help your troubleshooting abilities, I'm going to think aloud.


Only problem, i can't get it into gear. If I shut the car off I can put it in reverse and it will back up but then I can't get it out of reverse.

Hrm. Only reverse works. Sounds like the clutch is screwed. Can you shove it into another gear while it's off? Try running it through all 5 with the engine off.


I checked the slave cylinder and it's full of fluid, I can't find the kick down cable though for the clutch. I see two cables coming out of the wirewall, one goes to the throttle and the other goes to, what I believe to be, the ABS box.

If the MC is messed up, or you have a LOT of air in the line. Have you tried bleeding it?

can only put it in reverse if the car is off and that's it. One thing I noticed is if I put in the clutch the pedal will stick down and I have to pull it back up with my foot.

OK, so you can't put it in any gear other than reverse? Hrm. When you pull the pedal up, do you feel anything helping it come back up?

When you push it down, is there any resistance, or does it feel as light as the gas pedal? Take a look under there, and see if there's a spring on the pedal. It'll be up at the top.

When you have someone move the pedal with their hand up and down, look at the front right side of the transmission. You'll see the slave cylinder, and a rubber cover over it. Pull the rubber cover off, and take a look at the fork. Does it move when they pump the pedal? If it does, you have other problems. If it doesn't, it sounds like air.



Ok. Check out all those things, then get back to us.
 
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