Car refuses to go into gear

[Trevor]

Hey, as i was bringing my 96 Integra GSI to a halt today i hit a bit of a bump and i think i crunched the gears a little (not to sure on that point, happened a little fast) but after that the car would not go into gear. Wasnt a sudden halt, just the bump threw my hand on the gearstick a little.

Goes into gear fine when the car isnt running, however when it is, not possible to go into gear at all. Can a clutch go suddenly? cos up until that stop the car went into gear easily with no forcing/crunching. Or is this some kind of gearbox problem? (i read something about bent selector forks or bent clutch disc) And if it is a gearbox problem, what price am i looking at to have the box stripped down and fixed?

Yes ive searched already, but most posts i found were about costs to replace clutch, rather than this mechanical problem.

Thanks for any advice.

[EG_2_TEG]

if its all gears, more than likely its the clutch

when my clutch went, it made the loudest BANG noise when i changed from 2nd to 3rd
couldn't get it into any gear after that

to get it into 1st, had to put into gear with the car off, and start with the clutch pressed in...

hope this helps

[Trevor]

Thanks, sounds a lot like what happened to me, cept for the loud bang, maybe i missed it over the radio and not listening for it.

Yeah i had to put it into gear then switch it on to get it out of the way, was probably bad for the car, but i was desperate.

Looks like 1 new clutch for me, bah was about to sell the car in a few weeks, why couldn't it have held off.

[wynode]

So does it happen in all the gears......or just first?

Possible you broke a shift fork......although it takes something quite serious for that to happen :)

[NEED VTEC]

it could be the thrust bearing..

[Trevor]

It did happen in all gears, was undriveable yesterday because it wouldn't go into any gears. However i got up this morning, thought id have a look at it, found my clutch fluid was really low. So i topped that up, and now its back to its old self. This seems really strange though, im not sure if the problems fixed, or its just gone away for a short amount of time. Could low clutch fluid be a cause of not going into gear when running?

[bennjamin]

maybe clutch master cylinder is stuffed - leaked out and thus the clutch wouldnt disengage/engage. If thats the case then this will happen again soon - let us know back here if it does !

[tinkerbell]

It did happen in all gears, was undriveable yesterday because it wouldn't go into any gears. However i got up this morning, thought id have a look at it, found my clutch fluid was really low. So i topped that up, and now its back to its old self. This seems really strange though, im not sure if the problems fixed, or its just gone away for a short amount of time. Could low clutch fluid be a cause of not going into gear when running?

look at the clutch peddle under the dash and what it connects to on the firewall - this is the master cylinder - if it is leaking it will appear on the piston that moves in and out of the master cylinder...

i think $80 from Honda for replacement :)

[McChook]

My money is on the slave cylinder

[sheepo]

how do you tell if the cluth liquid is leaking...???? look under the dash and .... check it out? O_o *blushes for asking sucha a question*

[ECU-MAN]

just bleed the clutch pedal hydraulic system, is it full of brake fluid ?
that will help determin the problem

[Trevor]

Ok well as i expected the problem is back. Same as last time, can change gears when not running, cant when running. The clutch fluid is still at the same level, however i checked the master cylinder and there is a residue on the piston as well as a fair amount on the thing the piston goes into (meh not good with technical terms). Also not sure if this info is useful but when i put it into 1st and turn it on, and hold it with the clutch, it shudders violently.

Not too sure whats going on, so getting a mechanic out in a few days.

[rtype]

it must be the bearing on the input-shaft of your gear box. to change this bearing the gear box have to be drop out. the bearing wouldn't cost that much, (it's a little bearing seat in the middle of the flywheel ) but it cost you labour to do it,

[tinkerbell]

Ok well as i expected the problem is back. Same as last time, can change gears when not running, cant when running. The clutch fluid is still at the same level, however i checked the master cylinder and there is a residue on the piston as well as a fair amount on the thing the piston goes into (meh not good with technical terms). Also not sure if this info is useful but when i put it into 1st and turn it on, and hold it with the clutch, it shudders violently.

Not too sure whats going on, so getting a mechanic out in a few days.

take it to a mechanic and explain it like you just have here, and he will look at your car and tell you what he thinks...

it might just need to be bleed if it was left to run dry...

or might be the master cylinder...

or even the input shaft bearing?

good luck :)

[ECU-MAN]

it must be the bearing on the input-shaft of your gear box. to change this bearing the gear box have to be drop out. the bearing wouldn't cost that much, (it's a little bearing seat in the middle of the flywheel ) but it cost you labour to do it,

your talking about the spiggot bearing Input shaft bearing is a big mumma the lives inside the gearbox.

[Trevor]

Update - took it to a mechanic today, worked perfect driving there, mechanic took it for a few test drives (both hot and cold), worked perfect. Looked it over, couldnt find any problems (didnt drop the box out tho).

Sum result = money spent to be told my car seemed to be ok.
Problem = I just know its not going to work tomorrow

Maybe i need a new mechanic.

[ECU-MAN]

u mean they charged you to have a look at it.

[wynode]

Well it could be anything.

So in order of least expensive.

1. Thrust bearing
2. Clutch not disengaging
3. Input shaft bearing
4. Bent/damaged shift fork