It is awesome that my Edmunds posting is being passed around lol
I was just Googling more Civic forums to copy&paste my old and recent posts about the 3rd Gear Problem. I will assure you that from what I know, the fix is 100% true. Here are my original and recent posts:
Hello everyone I joined this forum just to respond to this thread. I have done so at other forum boards including Edmunds under the same name Vinc84. This is an issue I have looked heavily into and am in the works of getting my 07 Civic SI fixed for good. Please note that I am simply going to copy & paste my original postings from Edmunds on here. You can find the original Edmunds thread by Googling: Honda Civic SI 3rd Gear
or by visiting this link:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/558
It will be the very first link that Google draws up.
In my posts I heavily describe how I've experienced the fauly 3rd Gear issue, and I know many of you will be able to relate to what I've written. I've also written about my trips to the dealership and how my car was after I changed the MTF to Amsoil Syncromesh (My Honda Dealership looked this up on their updated service computer and agreed that this is indeed the Honda recommended fluid and yes if your car does not have it you should get it b/c it is now what ALL recent Civic SIs should have). And finally I write to inform about an official Honda released transmission fix, which is like a recall but at the same time not a recall. So please read and if you have any questions you are welcome to e-mail me at:
vinc@umd.edu
Here are my posts:
vinc84 - Dec 4, 2007 7:09 am (#26 Total: 30)
Tuesday December 04 2007 - 9:45am
Hello to all you other '06-'07 owners and to you curious would-be Si-owners.
I am currently writing this comment from my local Honda dealership. I have experienced the sluggish 3rd gear from since the first week I purchased my '07 Civic Si. The third gear started out being a little stiff but overall shifting was smooth. After the break-in period of about 1000 - 1500 miles, it got much worse. The first 3rd-gear grind occured somewhere between 700 - 1000 miles, and thereafter I'd say I get the missed-gear and/or grind at least once or twice every two weeks...each time that it has happened it wrenched my heart.
Anyways, I'm at about 14,500 miles now and I've gotten fed up with the 3rd gear issue. Last Friday I brought my car here and spoke to the manager of the service dept. and told him all about the issue. Apparently, Honda recognizes the 3rd gear issue for both the Civic Si and the recent S2000s as well. Both cars are recommened a transmission fluid swap from the original fluid to Amsoil Syncromesh (as others on here have already stated, I am just plugging that Honda verifies and in fact recommends this fluid). So I got my transmission fluid changed to the Amsoil Syncromesh for no service fee since my car is stil under warranty. The manager told me everything should run smoothly now and to give it another try and if the same problem persists even after the transmission fluid swap, then the warranty will cover for even a transmission overhaul if it is required.
Well, I drove my Si around this past weekend and I will say positively that the transmission fluid does in fact improve the smoothness of the shifting. However, my third gear still seemed 'damaged' from all the grinds it had received before I got the new transmission fluid. Even though it's improved a lot - it still hangs a bit. And as fate would have it, while driving yesterday the third gear didn't take and it kicked my shift knob right back at me...and if I wasn't already familiar with the routine then I would have grinded the gear yet again! Upset, I brought the car back and told the service manager that the problem occured again and that even though the transmission fluid probably would have fixed the problem if I got it changed from day one - it is simply now a problem with how damaged and frayed my 3rd gear is and also how damaged the shaft that slides in and out of the gears has gotten from being chipped at from the 3rd-gear 'grindage'.
Well, the result of that long story is that I am now sitting here at the dealership while the manager is waiting on confirmation with Honda Tech to see what parts they're going to need for a transmission overhaul. My Si is fully paid off, still new, and under warranty thankfully. I am expecting that it will be fixed to the state that it should have been in when I purchased the car. We as a consumer deserve the best in performance from our Civic Sis. If you are truely concerned about the long-term health of your transmission and you are experiencing the 3rd-gear issues - then I suggest you go look into it at your dealership and get it fixed while your warranty will still cover it.
It really is a shame that some of the '06 - '07 Civic Si transmissions are faulty by default from manufacture. If you're looking into buying one, then make sure the car has had the Amsoil Syncromesh fluid put into the car before you take it off the lot...it will make your life so much easier. I'm pretty certain you won't have any problems at all if you buy the car with the Amsoil Syncromesh already in the car.
I will be posting another update with further news about my car for the curious. Good luck everyone.
Vincent T. (Maryland)
'07 Civic Si Nighthawk Pearl w/ Nav
vinc84 - Dec 5, 2007 4:29 pm (#27 Total: 30)
Okay guys, I have big/good news:
The service manager at my local dealership got the word in and told me that Honda now officially recognizes fauly transmissions for its 6-speed transmission cars - as far as '03 Civic Si all the way to recent '08 models - including S2000s, Accords, and 6-speed Acuras.
There WILL be a fix issued in January 2008 - the exact date is not announced or known yet. This is not a total recall on all 6-speeds. Cars will be addressed in a case by case basis - basically if someone has a problem and it is recognized as being related to the confirmed 6-speed transmission issues - your dealership is obligated to fix your car for you free of charge, even if your car is no longer under warranty (past mileage or years).
The fix:
I didn't get very many details but basically I was told that for the the '06 - '07 Civic Si models (maybe '08 as well) that there is a transmission kit in the works that will fix the problems everyone is talking about - basically a crappy 3rd-gear and the hanging, grinding, and rejection when shifting. The tranny fix will change the gear syncrhos for gear 1 through 6 and will fix and improve the shifting of not only the 3rd gear, but of the gear box entirely. For those of us who get this fix, they will basically give you a new transmission - new fresh gears and re-synchronized, etc. Awesome.
Conlcusion:
So, everyone who's experiencing any problems at all - nows the time to bring your Si into the dealership and bring up the problem and ask about the transmission fix that's been announced. If the manager or service worker has no idea what you're talking about - tell them to contact Honda Motor Corp and ask because they should have been updated with instructions about the coming transmission fixes - the manager I spoke to didn't know but he had the intelligence to look into my problem further to find out if there was one.
Good luck everyone, by the Jan 2008 this issue should be taken care of once and for all, so go get your Si fixed. To anyone looking into buying the Si - I suggest you wait until January comes around so that the fix takes. Just make sure you're buying an Si that has the new transmission layout and the new required transmission fluid in it.
Vincent T. (Maryland)
'07 Civic Si Nighthawk Pearl w/ Nav
[
B]steve2333 - Dec 27, 2007 8:18 am (#28 Total: 30) [/B]
Thanks Vincent,
The information you provided was needed and accurately desribed the problems I was experiencing. It saved me the bother of trying again to get my dealership to work on the problem without "replicating" it first. I read your post to the Service Manager, and then he finally understood (or accepted what I had been telling them).
Steve2333
vinc84 - Jan 13, 2008 2:10 am (#30 Total: 30)
That's awesome Steve I'm glad you didn't have to wait for those service guys to replicate the scenario in their test drives. I find it probably impossible to replicate the issue unless one of them actually owned you car for a few days and drove it from cold start to run a few errands. And no one has the time or the trust to loan their car out to someone just to show them what the problem is.
It is good that your service manager took my post at face value. Originally I printed out this threat before I posted on it to show MY service manager. He tried to replicate the problem, but to no avail.
At least he knew about the Amsoil Syncromesh and changed that for me for free. But after that didn't really work to well, he found out about the transmission fix by Honda. So I'm thankful for that and I hope we all get that fix soon.
Did your service manager also learn about the transmission fix and have you received it yet or are you still in the process as well? Let me know how it goes for you, good luck.
Vincent T. (Maryland)
'07 Civic Si Nighthawk Pearl w/ Nav
email:
vinc@umd.edu
vinc84 - Jan 13, 2008 1:47 am (#29 Total: 30)
Hello everyone it's me again, I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.
It is now the middle of January 2008 and I haven't gotten in contact with the service manager at my local Honda dealership concerning that transmission-kit fix yet. He said he would call me when it's available but of course he probably would forget...
So, this coming Monday I'm going to probably stop by the dealership since I need an oil-change and new air-filter anyways, and while I'm there I'm going to see if the fix is available yet. I seriously hope it is because my car has gotten MUCH more sluggish since my last post. I'm now at 16,000 miles and I'm beginning to think my clutch is burnt or something. It just doesn't feel the same way anymore. Or maybe I just need that oil-change and air-filter but I doubt those two maintenances would make my car sluggish like that at all. (20% oil life, air-filter I think is recommended for change at 12- 15k miles.) It is definetly drive-train related.
I mean, when I really want my car to go fast, I can MAKE it go fast, but I feel as if I have to really press on the accelerator more lately. I don't remember having to try as hard or give as much gas for it to push, and I really don't get that "kick" when i accelerate anymore. But defintely not a full blown clutch just yet.
In either case, I've already sort of been promised by the service manager that if my clutch was worn out or entirely "burnt" then he would go ahead and associate it with the faulty 3rd gear issue. Hopefully my clutch and everything is fine, but if they're not then I hope they will indeed fix it without me having to pay for the parts or service.
Although of course someone could always say it is the driver's fault and that the driver pay for it - but in this case, since Honda is officially taking responsiblity for the faulty transmission issue - I believe they'll cover any other RELATED issues and treat it as a special case since it is highly probable that those other mechanical problems are related to the gear/shifting issues. So if you're going in to get this fix, remember to ask them to perform a full vehicle inspection in case your clutch and whatever else is screwed up.
Has anyone else already went ahead and found out more information or received the gear fix? If so, please explain to the rest of us how it went and how your SI is doing now. I'll update again after I find out more information about the fix - whether it's available or not yet, etc.
If anyone has questions or comments you are welcome to email me:
vinc@umd.edu
Vincent T. (Maryland)
'07 Civic Si Nighthawk Pearl w/ Nav