[mackarasagi]

Alright, try not to give me too much grief on this one, but:

Got an automatic 05 Civic, but the transmission on it is messin' up--BAD.
Like it won't go over 4 grand at all, if i try to it's like its redlining or some crap.

So I figured its time for a 5-Speed swap, I was wondering if the transmission for D-Series are equal across the board. I was talkin' with a friend about it earlier and he said that one of the main discrepancies would be that I have a hydraulic transmission (?) so the swap would definitely be some work.

Now I have another friend who says he can get me a 5-Speed from a D16, the question I have is will the transmission from his D16 fit onto my D17?

Also, if you have any idea what is goin' on with my car some info or feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[mackarasagi]

Alright I wrote this last night tired as hell, but here are some other things so maybe somebody can help if I put this stuff up too:

Sometimes the motor will cut off on me suddenly if I sit at a light for a long time then I gotta put it in neutral & crank it back up.

Also, the 'Check Engine' light is on (I know, it's probably supposed to do that, but just in case.)

Oh yeah, and if I can swap out the transmissions will I need a new ECU? (I keep hearing some people say yes while others say no)

 

[mitchel71]

i've never heard of a trans making a problem like that, how bad do you abuse it?

Honda Transmission Specs - HondaShowOff.com Forums

theres a website for transmission specs.

yes a d16 trans will fit, but you'll need to get trans mounts

Hasport Performance

theres where you'll find the mounts you would need.

and i don't think you'll need a new ecu but you might need to get it reprogrammed.

personally, i would take it to a trans shop get it fixed and sell it to buy a standard. so much easier. even if all your body parts need to get swapped over it'll be a lot less mess than all the work for an auto->standard swap

first you would need to mounts pedals, run the fluid lines from the pedal to a new brake booster to the clutch. its a lot of work.

 

[mackarasagi]

Thanks man!!! Yeah it's a lotta work, but to be honest I've been through so much with this car that I won't give it up for anything. So I'm just gonna work at it to get her where she needs to be

 

[syst3mcr4sh3r]

You can take it to a transmission shop if you feel like just handing them your wallet and saying run with it...I personally haven't taken my car to a shop since I first got it because other than machine work, there's nothing they can do that I can't do for free myself, or have a buddy help with. If it were me, I'd swap to a 5 speed as well. I actually am getting ready to do that in my civic within the next month or two. I know it's a fairly straightforward and simple swap for my generation, the main consensus seems to be that if you have just a little mechanical ability, a few friends, and a 12 pack of beer, you can have the tranny swapped pretty quick. Until someone that knows better chimes in, I know that the fact that it's hydraulic is actually no problem...I think Honda stopped using cable transmissions around 1990. Avoid using a transmission from before then and you should be fine. If the ECU stuff is similar to my generation, then you can keep using the same ECU but it will throw a CEL because it can't find the torque converter, but other than that it runs fine. You can change some jumpers and what not on the ECU to fix this problem, or get an ECU from a manual. As the other guy said, you'll need different mounts as well, and of course everything that goes along with manual cars - everything clutch related like all the lines, pedal, reservoir, a flywheel, clutch, pressure plate...this is what is actually time consuming for my generation of Civic, getting all these parts. Now, if you have the budget, you can just buy this stuff new and have it immediately. If you were planning to have a shop put a new auto in, you'd be spending a crapton anyways, so if you have enough time to wait on new parts and putting them in, might as well get a 5 speed.

Now, remember, everything I know about this is for 92-2000 Civics...theres a few DIYs out there for both generations in that era. As for post-2000, I'd guess a lot of it would be similar, but I can't promise that, nor can I promise that doing the swap is best for your situation...I don't know what your timeframe or budget is, or if you have a spare vehicle to get around should things not go as planned.

Hopefully there's some veterans on here that know a bit more about specifics for swapping your year.

Edit// Also, are you sure it's your tranny that's acting up, and not your motor? The motor just up and dying on you...I don't know if that could be transmission related. That used to happen with my Eclipse, I'd be sitting in traffic and it'd suddenly start chugging and then die. The problem was a clogged fuel filter. Same with my Camaro, and there the problem was fuel pump. And with it feeling like redlining around 4000, how do you mean "redlining?" Vibrations, noise? How are you sure the problem is the transmission?

 

[mackarasagi]

Mmm well to be honest it all feels transmission related. As for the 'redlining' bit, it just refuses to go over 4 grand, literally, like if I try to press it it'll just keep tacing out at around 3800-3900. It's a really weird issue, nobody I know has ever heard of an auto acting up like this.

As for the manual swap, I got a friend that's generous enough to lend me the manual trans from his `95. I also have some guys that can probly help with the swap as well.

I think I'll ask around about the clogged fuel filter & fuel pump issues though, I never thought about those. Did they cause you the same issues that I'm having? (Well other than the stalling out part)

 

[Aquafina]

88-00 trans will take a lot of work to make it work in a 01+ Civic. You need a D17 trans.

 

[syst3mcr4sh3r]

They caused me loss of power, basically. The Eclipse was real hesitant to start and would often want to die. The Camaro worked great until the pump got hot and then I lost all fuel pressure, I had to keep pushing the clutch in and out to make it slowly jerk forward till I got somewhere I could pull over. It was also a real pain to get it to start.

If Aquafina says it's gonna be too much work to use trannies outside of your generation, you should just look for that D17 tranny. That was what I was worried about...I really don't know jack about post 2000 Civics. You can still do the 5 speed swap, I'm assuming, just have limited choices on what to put in.

 

[DanSej6]

I'd be looking at the engine check light first and foremost.
I had a similar problem on a VAG car that was an automatic.
Turned out the CAT had collapsed and was clogging up the exhaust.

 

[mackarasagi]

Man you guys are being seriously helpful!!! I am honestly startin' to go with the fuel pump theory cause it seems to be causing the same issues that I'm dealing with now. Like I had tried to start the car up the other day & it took a couple of cranks before it actually started. Now if this is the case is that better or worse then a transmission? (Probably a stupid question but I just wanna make sure all my bases are covered)

DanSej6: Mmm, I'll look into it, I could've hit something hard & not even paid it any mind....

 

[mackarasagi]

Serious Transmission Help Needed!!!! - HondaClub.com - Online forum for Honda and Acura owners

Alright, if you guys want, read what this guy said & see if it might make sense. I'm hopin' the problem isn't this serious, but I'm willing to keep an open mind on it.

 

[syst3mcr4sh3r]

If you get a tranny from a 95 Civic (the EX, same one I'm looking for for my swap) then that'd take care of the problem if it's a torque converter issue. As far as I know all D stuff hooks up together, so long as you stick with hydraulic...Aquafina did say it'd be easiest with a D17 tranny but do your research and make sure you know what works. It may be that the 95 EX transmission will work just fine. I didn't even think about the torque converter locking...that fits the "redline" feeling better than a pump going out. With my Camaro's pump, when it started dying, my revs dropped to barely above idle, and if I tried to give it more than a tiny bit of throttle it'd kill it because pressure dropped off immediately. If yours is still going through its RPM range fine, it's just that that range is now limited to 4K (I think you said) then this other guy might be on to something. Regardless of what transmission you choose, the manual swap would probably be the easier (definitely cheaper) fix, especially if you have friends to help and you can find a DIY guide appropriate to your year, or close enough that you can figure it out. I can give you links to the 92-95 conversion and the 96-2000 conversion...they are almost identical. My guess is post-2000 would be pretty close.

92-95 Swap here on D-series http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-forum/77708-how-92-95-auto-manual-swap.html
96-2000 Swap on Honda-tech http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1337459
Parts list for 96-2000 on Club Civic (you'll likely need the same stuff, just different mounts) http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=157624

 

[syst3mcr4sh3r]

Oh, and yeah, look into the CEL as DanSej6 said. Find out what code it's actually throwing before you start putting parts into the car.

 

[mackarasagi]

Awesome, thanks for the links man! Yeah, I'm lookin' up symptoms of torque converters & fuel pumps for Honda's to see what I can get

 

[Aquafina]

No, 88-00 transmissions are not straight swaps with the 01-05's.

 

[mackarasagi]

Alright guys, issue is solved!!!! Finally got my car to an OBD Sensor thing & it read the codes P0340 & P0420, which means either somethin' dealing with my camshaft position sensor circuit is messin' up and/or, as DanSej6 had said, my catalytic converter is messed up.

Thanks for all your help though guys, super appreciate it!

 

[syst3mcr4sh3r]

No problems. If it is the cat, are you going to put a high flow cat in to replace it, for future mods to breathe easier?

 

[drob]

i had the same problem at one time, it would tach out at like 3,500 and my CEL was on, turned out to be the map sensor? and mine is a 01 5 speed

 

[mackarasagi]

Yeah, I'm lookin' into exhaust systems to just go ahead & replace the whole damn thing. I've been planning on it for a while anyways....ya know, every time somethin' on my car messes up I end up performing a mod I was gonna do anyways, funny.

drob: Hmm, I'm not sure if it is my MAP sensor, the only codes that were thrown were for my Cat & Camshaft position sensor circuit.