Had a similar problem with 5th in my old civic (b-series). 5th wouldn't go in and the car began making a unique noise, sounded sorta like a whining throwout bearing. Was driving it around the block and boom, no more tranny - broke a shift fork and it locked 1st and 3rd gears together if I recall. Get it fixed before it goes completely.

 

 

As mentioned before, there is a good chance it can be forced. A number of failures have been resolved that way... here is my post from the past:

After regular use and a lube change it is back to normal since.

 

I had a similar problem a while back. I forced it as instructed, and i havent had any problems since. Plenty of spirited drving and track time and its fine. IMO a replacement gearbox is overkill.

 

I would try the force into gear before shelling out teh $$ on a good used one. If you're going to replace it anyway, why not try that first. Even if it's only a temporary fix, if it gives you 6 more months on that tranny, it's worth it and if you're replacing it anyway, it's not going to get any worse.

 

I might try putting more pressure on mine tonight, it's worth a shot. I met with the appraiser today, tomorrow I'll find out if USAA will pay for a rebuild.

 

Add me to the list of people who "fixed" their own transmissions. I was surprised that it worked. It just needed a little more force than I used before and now it works fine again :-D