97 Civic EX Coupe, 5-speed, 142K miles (60/40 highway/city)

OK... when I got my oil changed two weeks ago, the dealer mentioned that he thought the tranny was going bad and needed to be replaced. He said $4500 completely rebuilt and $1500 - $1800 used. That seemed way high to me. He mentioned something about the "bearings being noisy". (What?) Let me say that I don't know squat about transmissions from a working-on-them perspective, and unfortunately live in a townhouse where I just simply dont have the room to work on it (nor would my wife tolerate the mess in the garage)

Here are the things I noticed about my 5-speed.

1) 4th gear grinds approx. 60% of the time when going into the gear. not a bad grind, but noticeable. ("bad" is of course relative)
2) It will sometimes slip right back out of 4th within a few seconds of going into gear.

I think both point to a possible synchro problem. yes?

I am going to be giving the car to my little brother next year and don't want to stick him with a crappy 5-speed he has to get fixed. It is my daily driver until that time so I need to make sure it is mechanically sound. But labor rates are north fo $85 an hour at the dealers here in Chicago, so I want to do some homework... And I am not paying $4500 bucks...

My questions:
1) It seems a little "knee jerk" to suggest a whole tranny replacement, although I am sure they don't want to mess with just fixing one small part or whatever. (I know what they mark this stuff up for as well) Agreed?
2) Is it worth while to find a tranny shop here and have them inspect it?
3) what should I expect to pay for a synchro replacement? Should I do them all?
4) is it worthwhile to get the clutch replaced during this as well? (although it still feels very good) What is reasonable for this?
5) is there any other maintanance I should do during this endeavor? (I read in the forum about some bushings, but was a little confused).

It is still certainly driveable (runs like a champ ever since I bought it new), and other than the 4th gear issue, I have no complaints. I spent about 2 hours using the search before posting and that helped me understand the situation above, but I would like to see what others who are more knowledgeable think.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer...

 

Try going to other car shops (other than the dealership) and see what they say. Pretty much, get a 2nd, 3rd,& 4th opinions. If they 'all' say the same thing, then you know that the tranny would need to be replaced. And while you are at it, get prices from those mechanics...

 

Found several of your tranny through www.car-parts.com in the 250-300 range
Bought mine through one of the listed companies there for 150(1990 civic 5 spd) and it works like a CHAMP!

Good luck.. I don't think I woudl go through that kind of cost to get it rebuilt etc.

HD

 

So, theoretically, if it got to the situation of having to get a new transmission, I could get as late as a year 200 tranny right? It should be the same, right? (96 - 00 should be the same, I think) I am thinking the less miles on the thing the better...

Anyone?

 

def dont use that dealer... before you buy inquire about lsd... alot of these places install them for cheap.. whenever you remove a tranny, unless you know for certain your clutch is in excelent shape, change it. the labor to remove the trans again when compared to the cost of the clutch.. its worth the couple hundred for the clutch.. also get your flywheel rersurfaced