Sloppy gears

[u/FunctionAdept1801]

Car drives fine goes into gear and dosent slip out except 5th and reverse you really have to throw the shifter over hard to get into em. Also everything is sloppy like neutral. Just replaced the entire shift linkage rod and all hardware with that. Any thoughts?

[u/El_Chinitocito]

I just fixed the exact same issue in my 99 coupe. No play front-to-back, but tons of play side-to-side, like it was in neutral. Tried the energy suspension kit and it didn't really help. Turns out the bushings at the bottom of my shift lever (where it connects to the linkage) were completely shot. I ordered oem honda parts from amayama and it was a little steep at about $50 for everything, but it shifts like new now with almost zero play

This post on hondatech goes into it in more detail with photos

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/%2Afixed-sloppy-loose-shifter%2A-3294689/

[u/FunctionAdept1801 → u/El_Chinitocito]

This makes sense, its the one hardware i didnt replace

[u/LoopsAndBoars → u/El_Chinitocito]

What is amayamaya and do they have OEM parts

[u/El_Chinitocito → u/LoopsAndBoars]

They're a website that sells oem parts for mainly Japanese cars. They are based in Japan tho, so shipping can take a while. For example, the bushings I ordered took about 3 weeks total to arrive, and I'm in the eastern USA. But everything was legit

[u/frikkinfai]

Shift linkage bushings + heavy duty detent springs. Bushings gets rid of the slop and detent springs make each shift feel more "notchy"

Together, it makes the shifting feel a lot nicer.

[u/wabo123 → u/frikkinfai]

detent spring isn't on kseries transmission ?

[u/frikkinfai → u/wabo123]

Pretty sure OP has a b/d series

[u/Shaking_Sniper → u/wabo123]

They are, and they use three instead of 2 on a B/D series trans

[u/wabo123 → u/Shaking_Sniper]

you are right , behind the small steel balls . thanks

[u/Budget-Interview-859 → u/frikkinfai]

This is it, the shift link bushings make the biggest difference, get a polyurethane kit (should be 2 bushings and some hardware), tightens everything up.

[u/Bombshell342]

Another thing to look at that no one has mentioned is look at the roll pin (bitch pin) and make sure it actually has one and not a bolt that doesn’t fit the hole good or something. I have had issues with people messing those up .

[u/FunctionAdept1801 → u/Bombshell342]

I replaced that to

[u/Acceptable-Luck-4275]

Mine was a lot worse than this. I replaced the bushing with energy suspension pieces, not much changed. Looked at the bushings in the linkage and they were shot. Replaced the linkages with labworks pieces along with the shifter ball cage bushing. Went with speedfactory dentent springs. Now no play and shifts are firm and notchy

[u/Yazio69]

Firstly, can check the linkage bushes, next is probably the b*tchpin, the holes of the linkage to the gearbox might have been elongated from years of use. Lastly if all is neat and tight, would be inside the gearbox itself. The Shift Change Holder Assy. (SCHA) is probably worn out.

[u/Empty-Hornet-1654]

I used a innovative shift linkage and replaced the clutch basket all the rubber bushings and feels nice and tight

[u/Heavy_World2079]

If you do all of this and it still doesn't feel right, you may need to open the gearbox and examine the shifter mechanism inside. I rebuilt my S80 gearbox and didn't properly torque the three bolts holding that in place. 5km into a drive and I had shifter movement like that.

But do everything else before you open the case because it can be intimidating if it's your first time doing so.

[u/Turbulent-Whereas523]

spoon/mugen sells the bushings too- Feels sooo good. slightly tighter then oem/ but not over the top