Looking to buy S2K with broken transmission
 

Hello, I'm looking to buy a particular S2000, it's a 2001, it's not perfect but my biggest concern is the transmission does not go into 5th gear. I initially thought it may have been a synchro issue but after test driving it, it does not even grind while trying to go into 5th. It feels more like trying to go into a gear that is not there (like trying to go across from reverse, comparing to my 6speed accord). Weather clutch in or clutch out, load or no load the trans does not want to go into 5th. all the other gears work perfectly fine which I thought was very strange. I do not know much about RWD powertrains or shift rods so I'm hoping someone can help me address this issue. I am still considering buying the car and attempting to repair it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Nor sure I follow, 5th is not across from Reverse. Sure you're thinking of correct H pattern?

BTW, there are no shift rods. Shifter sticks right out of top of trans.

Issue could be many things. But if you budget for replacing trans with used (and clutch since it'd be silly not to do that at same time), you should be good.

A trans from an ap2 is considered an upgrade. Stronfer syncros, better gear ratios. But ots entirely possible issue isn't actually a bad trans. But if you budget for that it should cover whatever real issue is.

Check in here before you have clutch done, as there are some things that have to be done correctly, and a random shop that hasn't done them won't be familiar. Starting with which parts to use.

DEFINITELY don't go to a Honda dealership for service. They're notorious for being clueless about these cars.

Best case scenario is just a badly adjusted clutch. Free fix.

Mid case scenario, it needs a clutch. Figure $1,500 parts and labor

Worst case scenario, it needs someone to open up the transmission and fix an internal issue. Or you buy a good used trans. Probably do a (factory Honda) clutch while you're at it. Budget maybe $2,000 to $3,000 parts and labor in this case.

If the price of the car is good enough to cover worst case, go for it.

One of my customers AP2's (2004) has the very same problem but even worse - his gearbox cannot go into 1st gear! The car was abused before and had an absolutely terrible clutch change job done to it wreaking havoc on that poor KA6MT. It got so bad that he had to force it into gear just to get it moving. I told him that's going to destroy the gearbox... even 2 subframe bolts were seized. That's how bad his car ended up.
I managed to save it with a new clutch so it can actually drive now but the damage was already done to 1st gear. He needs a new first gear at the very least, new shift fork/s, syncros or a whole new gear set (while he's in there).

Rebuilding the transmission if you do it yourself comes out to like $1,600-2,100 in parts and tools(depending on the tools you have, $300 is just from buying a press). It's time consuming, more than anything, it's not particularly difficult except for the snap ring. This is new synchros, gear sets(if you can find them), bearings, seals, o-rings, etc.

Considering used AP2 transmissions are over $2k now, rebuilding is starting to make sense. Considering, if you do it according to the manual, you have essentially a new transmission. No guessing game associated with used boxes.

Is a AP2 transmission plug and play?

pretty much, you just need to change the output shaft so it mates up to the ap1 driveshaft

...or create a frankin propshaft, with an ap2 flange on one end, ap1 on other.

You already have the ap1 output shaft from your old trans, but labor is a bit more involved than changing propshaft flange. So it comes down to parts cost vs labor cost (labor free if diy).

If you change the flange, make sure you torque that nut to spec. It sets the preload for one of the tapered roller bearings in the output shaft. If you just ugga dugga the flange nut on the transmission, the turning resistance will be too high and you'll create a lot of heat, this heat will melt the grease in the prop shaft, and hurt the longevity of the bearing and your transmission fluid.

Burred gear collar, 100%.

Find my posts in a thread called “lost 5th gear after a track day”.

You may be able to fix it in 5 minutes.