My '07 civic LX shifts like cXXp. First noticed this at about 16K miles while in traffic, tough to select third gear, up or down. Now 2nd, 3rd, & 4th give me some trouble. Dealer said they don't see any problem. It's out of warranty now and every time I shift I can just picture the edges of the gears being worn away! I wish I bought the automatic.

 

How many miles on the Civic? Check whether the manual transmission fluid (MTF) is low. If the MTF level is fine, drain the fluid and refill with genuine Honda MTF.

 

Sounds to like you got a lemon.

 

30,7xx miles on it, I need to check the fluid level, but the dealer service thinks it shifts just fine. To me it's bad, I've driven many cars with a manual trans. and none of them ever felt this bad at 30,000 miles. I don't hot rod this car, I drive for better MPG's. Besides that 1.8 wheezer is soooo slow why try to wring any speed out of it.

 

Check that fluid level. It requires removing only one bolt to check. Any independent garage can do it if you don't work on cars at all. Use the Honda fluid if you need some. Definitely don't use the 80W gear oil that is used in many other cars. If it is low, it usually is because of leaks at the seals where the CV axles go in.

You should have a 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty on the whole car. It is important to document your problems with the transmission that the dealer might be trying to blow off. If the transmission were to completely fail later, even out of the warranty period, it would still be covered as long as you first reported the problem during the warranty.

Also check the fluid in the clutch reservoir. When the clutch doesn't disengage fully it will be hard to shift. Though, this problem usually is most apparent when trying to shift into reverse.

 

+1^ I was definitely thinking clutch fluid. :-) Does that gen civic use a cable setup for shifting?

 

The dealer looked at the car again and per something called "service news" decided to change the transmission fluid. That was yesterday and after driving it today to and from work (in +15 deg F) I think it does shift better. They were tight lipped about what they did and why so I will grill them about it tomorrow. BTW they used 3 units of FP# 8429094, description was FLUID, M 08798-9031.

 

i'd tell them to go to hell if they say there isn't a problem, and have them try, try again. have the guys in the service department go for a ride with you, and demonstrate the issues you're having. if one employee doesn't agree with your findings, get another... or ask for their supervisor. a warranty is a warranty... if it's not honored, it's against Honda's policy. you have a brand new car - why suffer?