OK I know what is happening, well sorta.

I got my car back home after 35 hours of driving(towing), 1800 miles.

besides some problems with the service department braking some things - I have still yet to get this worked out with Honda.

The countershaft (the problem) was not dis-assembled at the problem area, and nobody ever asked me what the conditions were when the tranny failed - that right there tells me that nobody cared what happened. Whoever showed up to check it out just did so to say "Ok I looked at it, um . . . NO"

Well here it is:

The 1st gear needle bearing failed, locked, and forced 1st gear into the syncro ring overheating that as well.
The syncro rings disintegrated (and fused themselvs together) as did the needle bearing. Second gear, and reverse gear were affected also but not as bad. I suspect reverse would have failed if it didnt free-wheel on the counter shaft. Reverse is not constantly engaged like the rest of the gears.

The needle bearing failed due to lack of lubrication, and since its the second furthest from the oil pump it seems logical that it would be the first to go. Reverse gear is the furthest but does not need the lube like first does because it doesnt need to spin . . . ***Look Below***

In 6th gear the oil pump turns the fastest ever, and Im sure up around 7000 RPM it either cavitates or sucks air. I think there has been a fix in the newer transmissions to change the ratio of the oil pump. For instance in 6th gear at 6000 RPM the oil pump is turning at 7636RPM and at 9000 engine RPM its at 11,454 RPM if you can get it to 9000RPM in 6th, lemme see there are ten cycles per revolution = 114,450 pumping cycles per minute, seems like a lot to me, but then what do I know about mechanics and stuff.

What else, it doesnt pump oil unless the car is moving . . .
at 1000 RPM in first its turning at 329 RPM, thats a heck of a window 329 - 11,454 RPM . . .

The mainshaft and counter shaft feed oil to the bearings much like a crank shaft, but the oil pump is at the back of the tranny, at the end of the middle section.

Seems to me they should have run the pil pump off of the mainshaft, then they could keep a constant pressure related to engine RPM and therefore load requirements, assuming that when your in VTEC your running the car hard

Pics in a moment . . .

**NOTICE** reverse gear is in fact not 'freewheeling' like I had said, it is turning the opposite direction right beside first, but still alot slower.

 

OK top row, left to right: Old reverse syncro hub(overheated) Older reverse syncro hub(not overheated) Reverse gear still on the 'spacer' or what I would call the inner race.
Middle row left to right: DOUBLE cone syncro for second gear, inner/middle/outer ring - second gear
Bottom row L to R: Umm what's left of the inner ring and middle ring then the outer ring and first gear



These are the bearings for first and second, second is still recognizable, first is, umm, well, no more. Reverse needle bearing is still inside the reverse gear/inner race. I haven't pressed it out yet.



Please excuse my crappy camera. Any questions? anyone want pics of other parts?

 

I suggest to Honda that they take care of me now to shut me up.

If I find the oil pump cavitates at a certain RPM (I have an extra tranny to test this on)
I will have proof of a design flaw. And if changed on newer tranny's, that Honda knew about it,
yet said nothing to the American consumers . . .

The end bearings (the bigguns) were OK, just fine. I only thought of those(earlier posts) because I couldn't imagine what was going on inside until I broke it down.

I strongly suggest to all early model owners to express your concerns about longevity. Especially if your car has seen more than 100MPH in any gear, on the street or DYNO.

If lubrication is lost for more than a few moments, it could mean eventual failure, and ultimately total transmission damage.

 

Do you guys usually double-clutch when downshifting? With the motor running at such a high RPM range, it's tough on synchros if you don't.

 

That has nothing to do with this tranny failure - oil pump

The syncros can take it anyway - down shifting, you mean revmatch, blip the throttle to match the approx RPM the mainshaft is turning in the next gear - does not affect syncros when your already in gear.

 

Cmn,

If possible, could you post a pic or link to the service bulletin regarding the oil pump? I'm sure there are several here that would like to see exactly what it says, if it mentions specific VINs or manufacturing dates, etc.

Thanks...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MacGyver
[B]Cmn,

If possible, could you post a pic or link to the service bulletin regarding the oil pump?

 

Reportedly the transmission own lubrication pump that is driven off the transmission secondary gear is racing based to provide lubrication regardless of G-loading.

 

Reportedly the transmission's lubrication pump that is driven off the transmission secondary gear is racing based to provide lubrication regardless of G-loading.

 

It's Portuguese.

Good luck finding a translation,
Tanq