my gear box is stiff especially in my first and second gear on my 96 acura integra. does anyone know what it can possiblity be.

 

you could try changing you transmission fluid, worked for me. I used GMs synchromesh.

 

I don't know what you mean by "stiffness", but I had had some difficulty shifting from 4th to 5th, and sometimes from 1st to 2nd.
I took it to my mechanic and told me off the bat that it may be the clutch. Hondas and Integras get these symptoms when something's wrong with the clutch.
It turns out that he was absolutely right. A piece of metal had broken off inside the clutch mechanism. In addition, my '97 Integra had 124,000+ miles on it.
It is now shifting very smoothly- like new!

 

had a similar problem, to save u the money of buying a new clutch, i'd suggest starting off w/ bleeding ur system and checking all your fluid levels if there is still a problem then it's possibly the clutch

 

Whatever you do, don't do this. Use Honda MTL, or something designed for the tranny, I like Redline MTL, some do not. It may be clutch master or slave cyinder going, or low on fluid, check that to

 

I recently went through a similar problem on my '96 with 115K. Hard to shift, clutch grabbed low, and trans noise. Problems:

1. clutch was worn and also missing a piece that broke off, got a new clutch, plate, etc...
2. Trans Fluid was extremely dirty, changed.
3. Trans had a bad bearing in it, had it rebuilt with new bearings.

After repairing all of the above, car shifts like new.

Since your trans is not making noise, I'd start with the easiest to inspect/change. Clearing out clutch fluid is cheap and easy, so is inspecting the clutch hoses/tubes for leaking or kinks, next I'd look for leaking around your master and slave cylinders. If you notice any, replace. If that doesn't fix the problem, I'd also change out your trans oil if that hasn't been done for a while. If the car is still is broke, you're likely looking at a new clutch if it hasn't been replaced yet. Worst case, synchro's are worn out, but I don't think that's the case since it is hard to shift into every gear, not just certain gears. Someone else please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

^^ exactly, always start w/ the cheapest idea first, then work up to the full transmission rebuild.
-first just do a basic bleed, refill on the whole system, sometimes all our cars need is new gas, oil, brake fluid, tranny fluid etc, i've always used HONDA MTL tranny is too important to risk anything else IMO

-next check the top of the clutch pedal/firewall for liquid, generally if it is leaking there, your master cylinder is leaking, 30 bux, 20 minutes, easy as pie.

-then continue on to the slave cylinder

-THEN clutch

-and if you still have an issue....tranny

-judging by the mileage on your car, and if it's running on the stock clutch, i'd expect/think of getting that replaced

 

i thought it wa only hondas automatic transmissions that had problems with the transmission fluid compatibility?

 

i donno, i've never been man enuff to risk it....there are just certain things i stick w/ OEM, and refuse to do otherwise