For me... It

 

While I never had the 2nd gear grind, I did have the 3rd gear notchiness. I took great pains to shift carefully for over 10,000 miles and I could feel the gear bedding in better over time, then I changed the fluid, still using the original Honda MTF fluid, and it now shifts like butter. I feel your pain and seriously hope you find a solution.

 

Just out of curiosity, have you had TSB 054 (Transmission deceleration buzzing) done to your car yet? My '01 was grinding going into second as well. When I got my car back from performing TSB 054, the grinding was gone. I don't have a clue as to whether or not this TSB had anything to do with it, but it's gone. Oh yeah, on TSB 054, they replaced the clutch plate. There is also another TSB ( I don't know the code) that Tracy Honda performed when i took my car in for TSB 054. My 01' had trouble getting into 1st gear and especially reverse. They said that they would re-pack my shift lever housing. I guess there was moisture getting into the housing. Since I goy my car back, I haven't had any problems. Smooth as buttah! I hope this helps you out some!

 

It is possible for the clutch disc to drag, which very well would explain why TEGSTEG's tranny does not grind anymore. I would try to get the disc TSB performed, in light of having the internals already worked on. I don't know if there is an access port to the disc, but with the clutch pedal down, the disc should be completely free from the pressure plate and the flywheel. If not, when you shift, the disc will drag and most likely grind. It's hard on thier ego to say this, but if the tech does the disc TSB, he should know that the disc should move back and forth on the transmission input shaft with NO drag whatsoever. Hope this helps a little. good luck...

 

Stop going to Kolbe honda. I've posted about their lack of knowledge a couple of times on this board. When I took my car for its first oil change at around 6000 miles the service tech was upset and told me that I should have brought it in when there was 3000 miles on the car. When I told him that the manual says to only change the oil at ~3k when the car is being driven hard and under extreme conditions, he replied by saying that driving in California is considered as an extreme condition. I even showed him the excerpt from the manual but he felt like he knew more than the manual.

Couple of years ago when my mom had the timing belt in her accord replaced there, they managed to bust a nice gash in the radiator with their tools and had enough nerve to deny it when we took the car back the next day!

My advice is to avoid this dealership.

 

The 1-2 shift is probably the most tricky of all of them. I don't know what it is but it is the most fickle in terms of temperature and high rev grinding.

I don't have the 1-2 grind problem but my 1-2 is tougher than normal to do in the cold. It takes around 10 minutes for it to feel normal.

My 3rd use to be notchy but now that I learned how to adjust it shifts like butter and is my best gear now. I think it the gears have broken in now so it good for now.

Since yours is an 01' it should be broken in by now and shouldn't have those problems. Just get them to fix it till it is fixed. Any car designed for high performance but doesn't give the driver confident in its actions should just be badged a Civic and be economical and a town cruiser.

 

You arn't the only one, this 1-2 gear grind that i've had from day one is extremely annoying. I've just sent an email to the service department at my dealer for another appointment, and this time i've told them I don't want it back unless it's fixed. I don't understand why, but when shifting between 3-5k rpms is when it grinds the most. I've never had it grind when shifting below or above those rpms. I'm also having a bit of trouble trying to engage 1st or reverse from neutral and have to muscle the damn shifter into the gear. I believe my problems are caused by the clutch not completely releasing since when doing the upshift, i've found that especially when it's humid outside, I have to really pull hard to get the shifter out of 1st gear.

My clutch also seems to have an extremely high engagement point as the clutch won't lock unless the shifter is almost completely off the floor. Jeff at Ganley Honda has driven my car and he knows what I mean since he took me for a test drive in my own car after he installed my hardtop. I love this car, but they seriously better fix what's wrong with it. I have thought about trying the GM Syncromesh or Redline MTL-90 transmission fluids, but I don't think it would help in my case. I've got 5700 miles now and these problems have been there from the day I bought it and is very intermittent.

 

I have the same problem, had the tsb for 2nd gear grind done. The grind doesn't occur as often but it still does occur, so I feel your pain.

I tried the GM syncromesh and it does help when the tranny heats up, but it still grinds intermittently when cold. An improvement nonetheless.

I just learned to live with it. Was also an issue with the 2000 Si I had when shifting too fast. Something about Honda trannies I guess.

Anyhow, try changing the MTF out with syncromesh and getting the clutch tsb done, it may resolve the issues you've been having with your car and make it less stressful to drive. In any event, good luck.

 

I am switching out to the GM synchromesh on Tuesday. I'll let you know if it's better. One note though is that is seems to shift better when warm (running twenty minutes or better) and at high revs. It is slow though. Pause and nudge the shift lever until it wants to go in. If I double clutch though, it shifts perfectly. A quick up down on the clutch pedal between gears, and it snicks into gear without the least bit of resistance. Does seem like a design issue. Shouldn't have to double-clutch with syncros.

 

Exactly, if I double clutch, or even just rev match, the shifts are perfect and go in like a hot knife through butter, but we shouldn't have to do that on fairly brand new cars because that's what syncros are for.