91 civic 3rd grinds should i buy?

[JASON33240SX]

THis guy at work said he would sell me his 91 civic hatch for $800 it has 268 000kms and 3rd grinds a tiny bit, but it has balls, i have a 92 tempo 3l v6, i put a tuned muffler and cut the converter of it has 233 000km but the civic would still smoke it probably and it has more ks and its stock. How long would third gear last if i baby it? Either way its like a 1.6 or 1.5 it would save way more gas to. I think sell the tempo whikle its still running what do you people think?

[Rex]

You could easily drive without 3rd gear for years.

[JASON33240SX]

how long do you think it would take til it burnt out completly?

[BadMojo]

You could easily drive without 3rd gear for years.

It's a Honda, blessed with the ability to rev high but a paucity of torque...just drive it in second and shift at 9000rpm.

As to your question, if it's got a bad synchro it could last a few months or a few years...it's hard to tell. My 240SX grinds into 2nd when it's really cold outside.

Depending on how bad it is, you might be able to lessen the problem with a fluid change. Honda guys seem to like GM or Pennzoil (the Pennzoil is cheaper) Synchromesh for their gearboxes.

Honestly, if the transmission isn't complete **** when you drive it and the rest of the car looks decent, I'd take the Honda and ditch the Tempo. I had an '87 4 cylinder Tempo and it was, honestly, the worst car I've ever experienced. The engine was unbreakable, but the electrical system and most of the rest of it was complete and utter crap.

[JASON33240SX]

Ya my friend got theese platnum 4 bosch plugs so i put those in , but i bagged the **** out of the tempo but it doesnt blow yet, i drove it in first at 60km for a minute but it still runs good and alright power, my first car was a 88 camaro v6 auto, it lasted 7 days, since the iv owned 7 cars.

[nametakennow]

Ya my friend got theese platnum 4 bosch plugs so i put those in , but i bagged the **** out of the tempo but it doesnt blow yet, i drove it in first at 60km for a minute but it still runs good and alright power, my first car was a 88 camaro v6 auto, it lasted 7 days, since the iv owned 7 cars.

You're the kind of driver that scares me.

[book-ends]

Hello,

Tearing apart a manual transmission is quite easy. If you have a FSM for the car, you will see that it isn't that difficult. Replacing syncros or a gear is a snap once you get the transmission out and opened up.

[[Zero-S]]

You're the kind of driver that scares me.

Agreed.

[SmithSR]

I like this thread. It shall stay for now

[574-240sx]

You can shift around it, I shifted around 3rd gear syncro for a little more than a year in my 95 civic, until the shift fork broke off in the trans one winter day. I imagined it would have lasted awhile, if the shift fork didn't break off. If you shift into a different gear push the clutch, and don't release the clutch, slide it back into third and it won't grind. I have done this several times when I need 3rd gear in my civic. I found another trans for 75 and put it in a few hours. Many honda people should be doing swaps local, you should be able to pick a trans up for dirt, if it nags you that bad.

[GoinBoostYey]

You can always goto a junkyard and pick up an ef chasis transmission(ef = 88-91 civic) for dirty cheap. My 91 civic si has 110k on it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'd go for it...

Stupid question, but: Have you tried double clutching? It could just be a synchro issue. If that's the case then just learn to double clutch (that Camaro should have taught you to do that) if you haven't already.

But even if you can't have third gear at all, you should be fine with the RPM range of that tiny engine.

You should put a wing on it. That'd fix everything

[HashiriyaS14]

I'd go for it. You can shift around 3rd for the time being, but you probably just want to open the transmission up and actually fix it at some point, like everyone said.

You can get a complete ZC engine/transmission for pretty cheap too, I don't know what's in the Civic now.

[GoinBoostYey]

I had a zc engine for a while they are nice, but parts for them suck, they are cheap, but not much different from an sohc vtec. as for double clutching, that is used on downshifts as far as I know, you watch to much Fast and the furious.