H22 Trans Leaking from top

[G. Wiffington]

Hey have you guys ever experienced trans fluid leaking from the shifter
plate that has four 10mms that bolts to the trans case? It is the little plate
that the clutch fluid hose & slave cylinder clutch line bolts to.

I just found out mine was leaking from that area yesterday & was coming out
pretty bad.

I kinda googled around but didn't see much so I just went ahead & pulled that
plate off cleaned the area up, scraped off the tiny tiny tiny bit of sealant
that was only put around the bolts, & finally resealed it myself. I also added
a bit more of trans fluid to replace any that was lost.

I left it alone lastnight after I resealed it so I hope that it fixes the leak
because it was leaking all the way down the side of the trans where that huge
bolt on the side is. So that was how I kinda ruled out the axle seals. It was
also wet from trans fluid on the trans mount itself.

Any one experience this?

[G. Wiffington]

Well two secs after posting that I found that the shifter lever has an oil seal..

91215-PK5-000

anyone ever replace this seal?

[Rilas]

There are 2 seals in that unit not just 1. Granted 1 of them might be in the transmission housing side. Either way both should be replaced.

Also I had another issue where someone before me hammered the vent tube down. It was sitting on a flat plate only allowing like 5% of the tube to vent pressure to the atmosphere. I had to take it apart and hammer the vent tube up off of the plate, so the transmission could properly vent. When it wasn't venting it was leaking trans fluid out of the seals as well. Random problems that we run into.

[G. Wiffington]

Alright so I read on a prelude forum that on the older h22 trans you could just
pull the seal but on the newer trans you literally have to pull apart the trans?

I really hope this is not true. Does anyone know about this seal??

[G. Wiffington]

There are 2 seals in that unit not just 1. Granted 1 of them might be in the transmission housing side. Either way both should be replaced.

Also I had another issue where someone before me hammered the vent tube down. It was sitting on a flat plate only allowing like 5% of the tube to vent pressure to the atmosphere. I had to take it apart and hammer the vent tube up off of the plate, so the transmission could properly vent. When it wasn't venting it was leaking trans fluid out of the seals as well. Random problems that we run into.

where is there a second seal at?
I was looking on majestic for a 1995 prelude under manual trans shift arm-
shift lever & I only see one seal #16 & then #15 is the boot.

[G. Wiffington]

Quote from 3geez: "there is an oil seal that drives in there,just like any other oil seal on the car. problem is the engineers at honda were smoking some really strong green tea the day they designed it. on earlier hondas the rod was straight,and the shift rod slid over it and attached with a roll pin,replacing the seal was easy,you removed the shift rod, used a puller to remove the seal, slid a new seal over the end sticking out of the tranny,and drove it in. then the green tea smoking idiots at honda decided,lets make a t shaped end sticking out of the transmission. that way when the seal leaks,they'll have to tear the transmission apart to replace a 5 dollar seal."

[G. Wiffington]

Quote from 3geez: "there is an oil seal that drives in there,just like any other oil seal on the car. problem is the engineers at honda were smoking some really strong green tea the day they designed it. on earlier hondas the rod was straight,and the shift rod slid over it and attached with a roll pin,replacing the seal was easy,you removed the shift rod, used a puller to remove the seal, slid a new seal over the end sticking out of the tranny,and drove it in. then the green tea smoking idiots at honda decided,lets make a t shaped end sticking out of the transmission. that way when the seal leaks,they'll have to tear the transmission apart to replace a 5 dollar seal."

Lol nevermind I think those older preludes have a totally different trans.

Disregard please.

[Raf99]

i can get you photos tonight if you like. But ya, there is one seal for the top part with the 4 bolts and then the seals for the shifter shaft which goes in the side. The outside rubber isn't really a seal and more keeps dirt out / just slips over the end. It's the inner seal you probably have leaking. Which part on your is leaking?

I can also tell ya how that seal comes out. Definitely don't have to take the trans apart / out. Unless you drop something down into the trans while working on this; with the top off it's just a big hole into the master / slave shafts.

[G. Wiffington]

Thanks for the input. Yeah I looked on a wrong prelude site lol, I guess the
older ones were way different, like a B series trans or something.


Yeah it actually looks pretty easy. I was lucky to find Tishock's video from 2013
that shows exactly how to remove the shift lever. Gonna stop by the dealer
on the way home from work & change that seal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=NnTk4mDpSDM

[Raf99]

Seal - #16. Should come out pretty easy once the shifter is removed.

[G. Wiffington]

Awesome.
I should be able to complete this tonight or tomorrow.
The seal wasn't available so I had to wait a day to
get it from the dealership. Then it has been pouring
down raining of course.
& my daily '03 civic now has some wiring issue where
the tag lights, running lights, & side markers are no
lighting up...great! found the DIY for that so I will need
to solder these three wires in the harness that leads to the
trunk lid.

So hopefully this will be finished tonight or tomorrow
after I fix my daily.

I will try to take pictures since I haven't seen any DIYs
on this seal. (even though it should be pretty straight forward)

[Raf99]

Cap comes off with 4 x 10mm bolts


Tadda...


Take this lower hex bolt out...


Take out the 12mm and fitted washer piece, don't drop them!!!


Slide out the arm/shaft whole holding the janga metal linkage pieces inside, don't drop them!!!


Your problem bushing ...


No bushing in the other end as it is closed ended..


Pry out with a screw driver, should come out easily...


Replace bushing......

[G. Wiffington]

MY Man!!!!!!!

That was a great set of pictures in detail.

I didn't see you post that until today & I did the oil seal this weekend.

It went off exactly as you instructed.

But, the only thing that I had a hard time with is actually removing that shifter
arm when it is in the engine bay! The Clutch fluid hard lines that bolt to the
inner portion of the fender was in the way, so you could not pull the shifter
arm out of the hole. I was so confused about what to do. I actually
considered lowering the trans but I was weighing out the options.

What I had to do was just unbolt the bracket that holds that small junction
point for the clutch lines.
It's where the hardlines from the clutch master cylinder meet the
rubber clutch hose that connects to the hard line for the salve cylinder.

If you aren't sure about the junction point thing I was talking about, it
is a circle shape that has two 10mm towards the center & two 12mms
that hold it to the fender portion of the engine bay (passenger side obvi).

I was able to gently push them out of the way so I could pull the shifter arm
all the way out. The rod that the shifter arm uses is really long so that is
why I could not pull it all the way out without having to undo that bracket
for those clutch fluid hardlines.

After removing the shifter arm I pulled the dust boot & the seal actually
came out with the boot. I cleaned the area nicely & was able to tap the seal in with a socket & a hammer.
It was a little bit hard trying to tap in the seal because of how little space
you have to work in. It is weird because like in the pictures above the seal
doesn't really look like it sits flush in place. I just kept tapping it easily
to make sure it sat all the way in.

I put it all back together & it all turned out great! NOT A SINGLE LEAK
FROM THE TRANS!! What a relief.

I did notice something though..I tend to wiggle the shifter to make sure it
is in neutral when I drive & I saw that when you push the shifter to the
left when you are inside the car, it pushes the shifter lever outwards vs
pulling in towards the trans.

I wonder if from me wiggling it so much that it pushed the oil seal out
of it's place???


Anyway, thank you for the pictures. They look really good & I am sure
this will definitely help someone in the future.

[Raf99]

MY Man!!!!!!!

That was a great set of pictures in detail.

.........

I did notice something though..I tend to wiggle the shifter to make sure it
is in neutral when I drive & I saw that when you push the shifter to the
left when you are inside the car, it pushes the shifter lever outwards vs
pulling in towards the trans.

I wonder if from me wiggling it so much that it pushed the oil seal out
of it's place???


Anyway, thank you for the pictures. They look really good & I am sure
this will definitely help someone in the future.

NP man!

To answer your Q. No the seal should stay put. The metal on the shifter shaft should be smooth enough that it slides easily in the rubber portion. And I noticed too that the rubber bushing doesn't go in all the way, or appears to not go in all the way. This is normal.