First time messing with a cable tranny.....

[Rooster]

Okay so its my first time messing with a CB7 or a H22 thats in it. Heres what happened. We were tuning the H22 on a vafc and did close to 20 dyno pulls before we were done. On the way home i was starting off in first when the car jumped and made a weird noise and would not go anymore. Now the shifter feels funny and the only way i can start the car is with the clutch depressed, as soon as i let it go the car shuts off. I know my way around Hondas but not really this kinda tranny setup. I was thinking clutch but before i tear this thing apart i wanted a little more feedback. Thanks guys and gals!

[H22Artman]

Okay so its my first time messing with a CB7 or a H22 thats in it. Heres what happened. We were tuning the H22 on a vafc and did close to 20 dyno pulls before we were done. On the way home i was starting off in first when the car jumped and made a weird noise and would not go anymore. Now the shifter feels funny and the only way i can start the car is with the clutch depressed, as soon as i let it go the car shuts off. I know my way around Hondas but not really this kinda tranny setup. I was thinking clutch but before i tear this thing apart i wanted a little more feedback. Thanks guys and gals!

how the hell do you have a cable tranny in a CB??
theyre hydraulic, and you always have to depress the clutch to start the car.

is it moving at all or just dying as soon as you let off the pedal? how much pedal is let off before dying?

i would suspect something broke internally. could be the throwout bearing/fork/fork clip/clutch disc/plate etc.....

youll probly find out as soon as you drop the tranny, which youre obviously gonna have to do anyway....

[foamypirate]

I believe he was referring to the shifting mechanism when he said cable, as Civics use rods for the shifting mechanism.

[H22Artman]

I believe he was referring to the shifting mechanism when he said cable, as Civics use rods for the shifting mechanism.

hmmmm... makes sense.
although it seems unrelated to his problem. even if his cables are jacked his car should still move when its in gear....

[Rooster]

I believe he was referring to the shifting mechanism when he said cable, as Civics use rods for the shifting mechanism.

Exactly.... not the cable trannys such as obd0 cars. Im in the process of dropping her now. I believe i undid the shifting mechanisim all the way, pulled the axle, slave, 3 nuts for the mount, and loosened the 2 upper tranny bolts before my daughter got home and i had to call it quits for the night. How many more tranny bolts are there that need to be taken out?

[92smokeaccord]

hmmmm... makes sense.
although it seems unrelated to his problem. even if his cables are jacked his car should still move when its in gear....

it wouldnt move if its in 3,4,5th gear.but op,from what u ask i would say that u snaped a shifter cable and it stayed in gear when it snaped.try that first and hit us back.

[Rooster]

it wouldnt move if its in 3,4,5th gear.but op,from what u ask i would say that u snaped a shifter cable and it stayed in gear when it snaped.try that first and hit us back.

where are the shifter cables? are you talking about right above the tranny?

[deevergote]

The cables are on top of the tranny, easy to spot. Undo the cotter pins and pull the cables off. If you snapped a cable, then one end should slide out of the sheath... it'll be quite obvious, I'm sure! Snapping cables isn't common unless they were kinked, though (though with an H22 swap, it's possible that damage was done during the swap)

Another possibility is that the throwout bearing is shot. Mine went when I was 2 hours away from home, and I had to press the gas to keep it from stalling out whenever I changed gears with the clutch (I shifted without the clutch for everything but 1st). It sounds like you have the opposite problem, though.


Check the cables. If they seem to be intact, check the shifter itself, to be sure the cables didn't come off there. If it was tampered with in any way (short shifter, etc...) then that's a possibility. If it was never touched, then it's unlikely.

The clutch pedal has pressure, right? So there's no issue with the hydraulic system, if that's the case.

If those things check out, then proceed with dropping the tranny. The clutch components should all be familiar to you if you've worked on other cars, so I assume you'll know what you're looking at (and if something is bad). Obviously, if there's serious wear on the clutch disc, scoring on the flywheel or flex plate fingers, pilot bearing issues, or a fried throwout bearing... then you're going to need to replace just about everything!


If you do replace the clutch, stay away from cheapie crap like XTD and F1 on ebay. If you aren't planning on making more than 200whp anytime soon, stick with an Exedy Stage 1 or 1.5 (if they're still around) and a Fidanza flywheel. They're MUCH better than any cheapo "Stage 3" clutch you'll find from a junk brand... trust me (that stuff that blew up in my car was XTD...)

[92smokeaccord]

where are the shifter cables? are you talking about right above the tranny?

there are 2 cables right above the catcoverter.they are a bitch to get to but once out it gets easyer.u have to take apart ur center consuel and un hook them from the shifter.then un hook them from the tranny(right under the air intake tubing befor the throttle body).then take the 2 10mm bolts inbetween the heat sheild and floor of the car(have to go under the car)and the 10mm bolt that is in the middle of the cables (also under the car).then do eveything u just did in reverse to put them back in.have fun god knows i did....

[Rooster]

The cables are on top of the tranny, easy to spot. Undo the cotter pins and pull the cables off. If you snapped a cable, then one end should slide out of the sheath... it'll be quite obvious, I'm sure! Snapping cables isn't common unless they were kinked, though (though with an H22 swap, it's possible that damage was done during the swap)

Another possibility is that the throwout bearing is shot. Mine went when I was 2 hours away from home, and I had to press the gas to keep it from stalling out whenever I changed gears with the clutch (I shifted without the clutch for everything but 1st). It sounds like you have the opposite problem, though.


Check the cables. If they seem to be intact, check the shifter itself, to be sure the cables didn't come off there. If it was tampered with in any way (short shifter, etc...) then that's a possibility. If it was never touched, then it's unlikely.

The clutch pedal has pressure, right? So there's no issue with the hydraulic system, if that's the case.

If those things check out, then proceed with dropping the tranny. The clutch components should all be familiar to you if you've worked on other cars, so I assume you'll know what you're looking at (and if something is bad). Obviously, if there's serious wear on the clutch disc, scoring on the flywheel or flex plate fingers, pilot bearing issues, or a fried throwout bearing... then you're going to need to replace just about everything!


If you do replace the clutch, stay away from cheapie crap like XTD and F1 on ebay. If you aren't planning on making more than 200whp anytime soon, stick with an Exedy Stage 1 or 1.5 (if they're still around) and a Fidanza flywheel. They're MUCH better than any cheapo "Stage 3" clutch you'll find from a junk brand... trust me (that stuff that blew up in my car was XTD...)

Very helpful post. I have done everything you said so its something internal. Looks like the clutch is gettin replaced very soon! Thanks guys!!!

On a side note ive had a XTD stage 5 in the racecar for a year now and shes still holding strong. Must be luck of the draw i guess.

[deevergote]

I didn't even know they went to Stage 5! I had a Stage 3. The throwout bearing seized, and pretty much fried everything else.

I replaced it with an XTD Stage 1, just because my friend that lives across the street happened to have it in his basement, brand new. I used a throwout bearing from Honda, though. I compared the two, and the difference in build quality is astounding!
It won't be in there for long, though... I plan on rebuilding or replacing just about everything under the hood.