Hi guys, i know this might need to go in "under the hood", but since it's regarding a regularly tracked car, i'd like to get your input first.

prior to my last track outing, i changed my trans oil with Honda's own stuff. when i was at the track, i noticed several times that i had to wait a moment longer before i could shift into third. it felt kinda like in winter before everything warms up except everything was well warmed up already.

does this portend an overhaul? if so, what parts should i expect to require changing? lastly, for those who live in the NYC area, could you recommend a shop who would be willing to cater to our special needs.

thanks.

frank

 

Honda fluid sucks when hot. Try a more race-oriented fluid.

 

do you have a recommendation?

 

Not necessarily. The fluids that hold up best on the track (e.g. Redline MT90) are balky and notchy when cold. In SoCal, it's not too bad, but in the Northeast...

 

Just send a PM to crash. He has a good working used tranny for sale for pretty cheap.

 

Doubt there's anything wrong with his tranny as long as it works okay on the street.

 

Your tranny is probably on the way out. My transmission started doing that , mostly in 1st gear, but it got worse and worse until I could not shift into 1-4 at all. You can probably drive for a couple of months in this condition before you'll be forced to change the tranny.

 

Again, a few grinds on track with Honda fluid does not mean his tranny is terminal! It just means the fluid got too hot for a few minutes. Granted this probably caused a bit of undue wear on the synchros, but if it shifts fine in street driving it's perfectly OK.

 

He said he had to 'wait a few moments' before being able to put it into 3rd, and he said this happened several times. This isn't just a case of a simple accidental grind. I've had this exact same problem, his synchros are failing. Like I said he can probably last a few months, maybe more without problems, but it'll get worse.

 

^No, cause he said that it happened *at the track* while the fluid was overheated and not working properly. What I'm saying is, IF the behavior is back to normal with cool fluid (i.e. on the street), then he hasn't done anything catastrophic, and if he uses better fluid the next time he's at the track, he should be fine. (The drawback there is that if he hardly ever goes to the track, the the good race fluids will drive him nuts on the street cause they take forever to warm up properly.)

P.S. gpw, change your clutch fluid while you're at it.