s2kcanuck

I'm told there was a recall back when the 2004 AP2 was new, where the transmission would sometimes pop out of 2nd gear. Honda had (and still has) a kit to fix that problem, but the free recall expired long ago.

Unfortunately whoever owned my car when it was new didn't bother to take it in for the fix and now it's starting to bite, especially when the transmission is cold. In fact I'm experiencing more than one problem ...

- When cold, it sometimes is difficult to get into 1st gear unless I double-clutch. Same when going from 1st to 2nd.

- Once in a while even with the clutch pedal on the floor it'll grind badly when going from 1st to 2nd, requiring a double-clutch. Fortunately that is rather rare so far.

- Once in a while it'll pop out of 2nd gear when cold.

- There is usually a definite notchy sensation and sound when shifting from 2nd to 3rd.

It feels as if I have a combination of the defective gear problem and synchros that aren't doing their job. The local Honda shop estimates it'll cost about $2500 to fix the problem, and while the tranny is out of the car they might just as well replace the clutch while they're at it to save labor costs down the road.

Has anyone else had problems like these?

alSpeed2k

$2500, wow! I wouldn't bother taking it to Honda yet, Chuck. I had the similar symptoms on my car as well, over time I tried different remedies, but don't remember exactly what I did to fix it. Anyhow, my clutch and gear box is working great right now! Try these steps first:

1. Regrease shifter (the original grease was pretty much dried out) - most grease should be okay, I used the Honda Urea grease.
2. Change transmission fluid (I change this once a year, which I believe is a lot more than required) - OEM fluid is fine. It does feel slightly notchier when cold.
3. Adjusted my clutch rod free play.
4. Regreased and cleaned out my slave cylinder (ground down the nipple) - I believe this and #5 might have made the biggest difference.
5. Changed & bled clutch (i.e. new fluids), use a paper towel to clean out the reservoir too.

Another thing I did, which greatly increased the drivability in my car, was I adjusted the throttle cable. Before I noticed a slight delay when I step on the gas and before the car moved; taking the slack out of the cable made a huge difference.

I did all the aforementioned stuff myself, there is a DIY for all of these things on S2ki.

Good luck!

s2kcanuck

Thanks a bunch for the tips Alex! I love DIY, but haven't done much on my 2K except crawling under the ridiculously cramped, knuckle-busting dash to install the camera wiring.

None of your suggestions seem to be all that difficult, and it would make a nice winter project

alSpeed2k

Definitely worth trying!

DDonovan

I used to suffer from a notchy shift into 2nd as well as popping out of second from time to time..., both just stopped happening.

s2kcanuck

That's interesting ... yours is a 2007, right? I thought only the 2004's had this problem. Honda's recall was only for that year from what I understand. I was told that the manufacturer of the transmission eventually fixed the problem late in the 2004 production run.

Unrelated, but while I think to ask: What are the relative merits of synchros made of brass (AP1) versus carbon fiber (AP2)? There are times when I get the feeling they may be part of the problem, but that may simply be misguided logic on my part. The transmission recall kit, still available, also includes a new set of synchros.

zeroptzero

There was a recommendation to mix Amsoil MTF tranny fluid 50% and 50% Honda MTF2 as a fix for the gear pop-out issue, a lot of ap2 owners seemed to swear by that. Try a search, but I think that was widely used when the issue occurred.

alSpeed2k

^that's exactly what I have in my tranny right now, not sure if it makes much of a difference.

pearl_s2k

I think Alex pretty much nailed all the good things to try first, but there's another very simple thing that we did for our 04 (which was sometimes popping out of 2nd) that seemed to work: get a heavier shift knob. We got the OEM titanium... and the problem largely went away.

I don't think the issue can be pinned down to the syncro material, since the pop-out issue appears to largely plague 04s, and all subsequent years also used carbon. The AP1s have far more prevalent issues with their brass-syncro trannies than AP2s.

s2kcanuck

Well, it's time to revive this old thread for just a minute or so .. my tranny problem seems to have been solved by following a couple of tips from Alex.

I replaced the transmission fluid much sooner than would normally have been done, and I had the clutch pedal play significantly reduced. One or the other change (or maybe both) seems to have solved the problem. The tranny is still a bit notchy when cold, but it's very smooth once things warm up. In the limited driving within BC I've done this spring, I have not had any problems with popping out of gear or excessive notchiness.

So, Alex, your advice seems to have worked well .... Thanks!