Goodafternoon everyone! My name's Conrad & I'm taking care of my younger brother's 2000 Honda Civic EX while he's stationed overseas. He's always had problems w/ the transmission (weird grinding noises and sometimes it won't shift into 3rd, 4th & 5th gear) so I went to a local mechanic (NAPA) to get it checked & he said the car needed a new clutch, flywheel, throw-out bearing, pilot bearing and pressure plate. I bought all the stuff that he told me to buy and he even replaced the master/slave cylinders free of charge. Guys, after getting all that work done & dishing out almost $800...the car will barely go into 4th & 5th gear & won't go into 3rd gear at all! Guys, I'm completely ignorant when it comes to cars so I figured I'd ask for your guy's help b/c I'm tired of getting the run around by all these mechanics that are just trying to get money out of me. I'm at the end of my rope here & I don't know where else to turn so I thought that asking for help on a Honda Civic Forum website would be the best thing I can do. Can anyone please help??

New Parts Installed:
Brand New OEM Valeo Clutch Kit (Pressure Plate, Clutch, Throwout Bearing, Pilot Bearing)
ACT Flywheel
Brand new OEM Slave Cylinder
Brand new OEM Master Cylinder

 

I've always driven automatics, but I wonder about the shift linkage itself.

What do you mean, "won't go into 4th and 5th gear"? Does it grind when trying?

 

It could be like Hobo said, a lot of play in the shift linkage due to bad bushings. Or the transmission could be shot. With enough abuse, the shafts can get bent or the synchros burned out. Can you move the shifter into all gears with the engine off, the car stopped, and the clutch pushed down?


Edit: Also the transmission should be filled with Honda Manual Transmission Fluid. If you can't find that it's OK to substitute 10W40 motor oil. Do not use heavy gear oil (which is used in many cars, so some mechanics may put it in by mistake), it will be hard to shift.