motor/trans/clutch? issues

General tranny info covering all models & motors.
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motor/trans/clutch? issues

By brandoff88
- Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:10 pm #300315 so one day i was driving down the road noticed a little knocking noise form engine only during first couple thousand rpms...thought...well rings are shot(or so i thought) maybe piston knock or valve train noise...never got any worse.....well drove 20 mies outside of town NO problems doing 55 the whole way, then went to turn put clutch in and car died....all lights came on.....parked car checked oil and whatnot...everything was good...started it back up sounded rough and like a metal gremlin was jumping around in my engine on crack...funny i know...gave it gas, started running better, backed up about 30 feet all good, shifted into first drove back into parking spot, gave car gas and died :? .....would barely crank....thought to myself ...fuck just siezed engine :x ....but low and behold 6 months last when i buy a new engine and take old head off....motor is in tip top shape....next im thinkin WTF did i just drop 1300 bucks for nothing :x ....so im thinking maybe clutch is bad :? . maybe tranny :? ...but no grinding or weird noises...everything just siezed....and like i said would BARELY crank over....never had a problem wiht car, well it started burning more oil and smoking a little...but figured out valve guides/seals were bad...but i sitll am trying to figure out what the eff happened..im still putting the new motor and trans in but i would like to rebuild this one and build it for boost or another car for the wife......like i said i looked at all the cyinder walls and pistons and aside form normal carbon build up looks to be in good shape...(walls are all clean so any ideas what i did...and motor is JDM d15b vtec with ex tranny and exeddy stage 2 clutch...drained oil in old motor to see if there were any metal shavings as well....none...need to drain tranny too but i really want to keep it for spare parts or another build....so ANY help would be FANTASTIC :thumb:
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By teal_dx
- Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:42 pm #300325 What does the tranny oil look like? Did the shifter feel normal when you were driving? Have you separated the old block and trans to see what the clutch looks like?
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By brandoff88
- Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:31 pm #300328 [quote="teal_dx"]What does the tranny oil look like? Did the shifter feel normal when you were driving? Have you separated the old block and trans to see what the clutch looks like?[/quote

i have not had a chance to seperate them as they are still in the car let alone drain the tranny, but thanks to you DIY on removing from bottom that should go smoother now, and i will get back to you about the tranny fluid and yes shifter felt fine i clutched in and went to sift and realized i had no power, nothing absolutely nothing out of the ordianry aside from knocking noise at low rpms and acceleration....
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By brandoff88
- Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:57 am #300352 nope no lights whatsoever except when they turn on when ignition is on and the the intial lights go away

Edit: i mean like when you turn the car on and all the lights flash on and off thats what it did then i turned the ignition off and started it back up and no lights were on
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By teal_dx
- Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:43 pm #300396 Ok, for a piece of mind, put the car on jack stands and put the tranny in neutral and turn the crank by hand (with a ratchet)
It should be kinda hard to turn because you're fighting the motor's compression. Next remove the spark plugs (no compression) and give it a try. Listen for any sounds coming from the inside. With the motor off you can get your ear closer and maybe hear something you didn't hear before. Then put the car in gear and try again, listening to the tranny.
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By brandoff88
- Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:42 pm #300416 ok well its been rainy the last few days here and my car is sitting in the backyard on jackstands ... so when it gets a little less..well wet haha i can go out there and crank it by hand, but the only thing is i have the head off the old motor already so i can look at the pistons as they move, should i put it back on? (also as a side note, remember that lower middle nut on the IM, i figured out if you remove the bracket thats attached to it from below from the back of the block you can just undo the head and take the last bolt of without stripping it :thumb: i know its alot of work to get the head bolts out but it beats hours of frustration because of one bolt 8) ) also i can send you some pics of the oil and stuff from the trans when i drain it...im was hoping it was the trans because i can just rebuild the motor and use it as a spare, and i wanted to reuse the stage 2 exeddy clutch but i read when you do swaps you should change the clutch too if its got more than a few hundred miles correct? if so poo because i dont want an oem clutch i liked the way the stage 2 felt...also because your so knowledgable i figured id ask this too, i read on here that a 2 1/2 inch ram air and 2 1/2 inch exhaust system(cat back w/new header) would actually decrease my overall power because lack of back pressure...is this true :? sorry again for all the noob questions but im used to dealing with v8 motors and as always your advice and forums have helped me tremendously thanks to you and the gurus who put up with people like me :hehe: :P
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By teal_dx
- Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:23 am #300459 Just look at the edge of the clutch and see how thick it is. If it has plenty of pad surface left then it is OK to re-use. I would replace the pilot and throwout bearing though.

FOr the intake/exhaust, it all can depend on what else has been done to the motor. Sometimes you will lose a little low end power but gain top end power.
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By brandoff88
- Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:28 pm #300486 well the guy i got the car from said he put it in brand new last febuary and i only drove the car for 8 moths then the motor shit out...so yeah...but other than the ram air and 2 1/2 in exhaust not really anthing special...its going to be a sleeper :thumb: but ill probably buy a cam gear and some other goodies once i find a job...i spent most of my money on the motor and tranny and a few body parts as well as the header and exhaust...so yeah...well it finally stopped raining, im hoping i can find something clean to drain the tranny fluid in so i can look at it and also do i need :? to put the head back on to listin the the block when i crank it by hand because i figure i can hear alot better with it off?
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By teal_dx
- Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:30 am #300536
brandoff88 wrote:do i need :? to put the head back on to listin the the block when i crank it by hand because i figure i can hear alot better with it off?

Since it's already off, try it with it off :thumb:
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By brandoff88
- Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:30 pm #300576 ok i didnt know if that made a difference because you said to do it then take the spark plugs out and i got to thinking wait a second...lol but i will definitly try it in gear and stuff and see where my issues is currently coming from...hopefully i can pin point it, if not i may just keep the parts i know are good for spares and scrap the rest for some extra cash for more goodies :thumb:
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By brandoff88
- Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:13 pm #300701 also since we are on the transmission section, any ideas on how to remove the axles easily without taking off the whole wheel hub? my manual says to remove axle nut, but currently its being a PITA!!!!!!! i unstaked it with a center punch but its on there effin tight man...used wd40 to try to free it up (no PB blast) but its still not budging and i dont want to strip the nut...
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By newyorkhatch
- Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:28 pm #300702
brandoff88 wrote:also since we are on the transmission section, any ideas on how to remove the axles easily without taking off the whole wheel hub? my manual says to remove axle nut, but currently its being a PITA!!!!!!! i unstaked it with a center punch but its on there effin tight man...used wd40 to try to free it up (no PB blast) but its still not budging and i dont want to strip the nut...


As far as I know, there is no way to get it out without taking that nut off or taking the whole hub assembly off like you suggested. I would try to find someone with torches to give it some heat and break it free or start ripping that hub apart.
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By brandoff88
- Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:30 pm #300703 im about ready to hack saw the fuckers out....anyone know how much i can get a set of remans for? the only reason i say this is because the axles are the only thing keeping me from dropping in my new JDM d15b and its been sitting on jackstands for almost 2 weeks waiting...and im getting VERY impatient....
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By newyorkhatch
- Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:12 pm #300708
brandoff88 wrote:im about ready to hack saw the fuckers out....anyone know how much i can get a set of remans for? the only reason i say this is because the axles are the only thing keeping me from dropping in my new JDM d15b and its been sitting on jackstands for almost 2 weeks waiting...and im getting VERY impatient....


If your doing this on a small budget I would go grab some from the local junkyard as new ones will run $200+ all said and done. Used ones on ebay are going for 140-180 in working order..if you got a couple more days to wait but from the sounds of it you don't. This set is $120 shipped, cheapest i found in the 5 minutes I searched http://www.ebay.com/itm/92-00-HONDA-CIVIC-AXLES-D16Y8-D16Z6-D-SERIES-D16-/290646993154?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43abe92902&vxp=mtr
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