NEED ADVICE: A/T Rebuild/Overhaul OR Replace for 96 honda civic LXI

**bigazowl** · September 16th, 2009 09:26 AM

Good day to all tsikot members.

Guys just need your advise, kasi my A/T got sliding problems already (the 3rd gear doesn't shift automatically but other gears are working well pa naman)

Btw, my car nga pala is 96 Honda Civic LXI.

Now two mechanics advised me to have it "overhauled" or "replace with surplus".

I visit a shop w/c specializes in A/T along Visayas Ave and the name of the shop is Automatic Transmission Master. I have my car checked by them and they advise me for an "overhaul" of my A/T. They quoted me around 40K+ (15K for labor, 21K for A/T rebuild kit and ATF's) and it will be finished within 3-4 days.

I also canvassed sa Evangelista for an A/T replacment and one of the shop (the shop name is Initial D something) quoted me around 9500-12000 for A/T japan surplus plus 3500 labor but it will be done within the day. The warranty though they gave me is only 15 days.

Now i'm kinda confused and puzzled of what sort of action I should take. I don't know what are the pros and cons of both overhaul A/T or replacement A/T.

Can you guys help me out?

Thanks in advance.

**oj88** · September 16th, 2009 09:40 AM

I think I saw a poster that Honda casa is also charging 40-50k for an A/T rebuild. If you plan to hold on to the car for 2, 3 or more years, a rebuild would probably be the best route. Though, I've never had an A/T rebuilt, I guess that it goes without saying that you should choose the shop wisely.

An A/T swap could be a hit or miss thing. You're lucky if you get a fairly new one with low mileage on it. Otherwise, you'll be in the same situation in a few months or so, at worst. Go this route if you plan to sell the car in the near future.

**aejhayl17** · September 16th, 2009 11:03 AM

hindi ba't sliding problems ,whether at or mt, should be a failure/fault in the clutch assembly, particularly clutch disk, pressure plate and release bearing.

if its in the transmission, does it jerks upon changing gears? if not, it maybe in the clutch as i said.

anyways, did you try to gather opinion from your dealer? try to get a problem assessment/price quotation for your car, they maybe know better than outside shops.

**voltscastillo** · September 16th, 2009 11:12 AM

apart from the casa, there's precious few tranny rebuilders here in the phils who can do a good, reliable, honest and economical job of rebuilding your transmission. they are so few i haven't seen any shop with good reviews, anywhere, but i'm sure they exist, hehehe.

faced with a dearth of choices, i would say that the way to go is surplus. if its from japan it most probably is kosher. kung galing dito sa pinas yung inooffer sayo, forget it, laspag din yan.

i was in the same situation as you many years ago. i opted for surplus. 30k MINIMUM ang charge ng casa (pero may certificate daw yun). surplus na lang, 10k lang japanese pa.

**speed unlimited** · September 16th, 2009 11:54 AM

As what you said rebuilding transmission is more expensive and you did not mention about the warranty of there job. For a surplus Automatic transmission is also not guarranty that you will get a better one . If you will get the surplus make an arrangement to the owner of the shop regarding the warranty to extend more . !5 days is too short and regarding the labor prize if the transmission brake down in the specific date of warranty .You will not pay them the labor again . And have the reciept all the condition you arrange written with the warranty. It also depend on your budget at all. Anyway with all the suggestion of our co .tsikoteers its your decision which one to choose. GOODLUCK.

**bigazowl** · September 16th, 2009 12:42 PM

Thanks guys for all your responses, it gives me more enlightenment. I'll let you know what will be my final decision

Originally Posted by speed unlimited

As what you said rebuilding transmission is more expensive and you did not mention about the warranty of there job. For a surplus Automatic transmission is also not guarranty that you will get a better one . If you will get the surplus make an arrangement to the owner of the shop regarding the warranty to extend more . !5 days is too short and regarding the labor prize if the transmission brake down in the specific date of warranty .You will not pay them the labor again . And have the reciept all the condition you arrange written with the warranty. It also depend on your budget at all. Anyway with all the suggestion of our co .tsikoteers its your decision which one to choose. GOODLUCK.

Originally Posted by voltscastillo

apart from the casa, there's precious few tranny rebuilders here in the phils who can do a good, reliable, honest and economical job of rebuilding your transmission. they are so few i haven't seen any shop with good reviews, anywhere, but i'm sure they exist, hehehe.

faced with a dearth of choices, i would say that the way to go is surplus. if its from japan it most probably is kosher. kung galing dito sa pinas yung inooffer sayo, forget it, laspag din yan.

i was in the same situation as you many years ago. i opted for surplus. 30k MINIMUM ang charge ng casa (pero may certificate daw yun). surplus na lang, 10k lang japanese pa.

Originally Posted by aejhayl17

hindi ba't sliding problems ,whether at or mt, should be a failure/fault in the clutch assembly, particularly clutch disk, pressure plate and release bearing.

if its in the transmission, does it jerks upon changing gears? if not, it maybe in the clutch as i said.

anyways, did you try to gather opinion from your dealer? try to get a problem assessment/price quotation for your car, they maybe know better than outside shops.

Originally Posted by oj88

I think I saw a poster that Honda casa is also charging 40-50k for an A/T rebuild. If you plan to hold on to the car for 2, 3 or more years, a rebuild would probably be the best route. Though, I've never had an A/T rebuilt, I guess that it goes without saying that you should choose the shop wisely.

An A/T swap could be a hit or miss thing. You're lucky if you get a fairly new one with low mileage on it. Otherwise, you'll be in the same situation in a few months or so, at worst. Go this route if you plan to sell the car in the near future.

**ghosthunter** · September 16th, 2009 01:01 PM

My car has had a tranny swap because my original A/T failed already (too much abuse). I went for a surplus tranny. It has been nearly two years and the surplus tranny is working well.

**bigazowl** · September 16th, 2009 01:10 PM

* ghosthunter

Where did you get your surplus tranny and how much is it? How much is the labor as well?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

My car has had a tranny swap because my original A/T failed already (too much abuse). I went for a surplus tranny. It has been nearly two years and the surplus tranny is working well.

**oj88** · September 16th, 2009 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by aejhayl17

hindi ba't sliding problems ,whether at or mt, should be a failure/fault in the clutch assembly, particularly clutch disk, pressure plate and release bearing.

You shouldn't compare A/T clutch packs with an M/T clutch. On an M/T vehicle, the clutch sits between the engine and the M/T assemblies and are relatively easy to service.

A/T vehicles uses a torque converter to couple the output shaft of the engine to the input shaft of the A/T. The A/T clutch packs are used to provide linkage between the individual shift gears and are buried deep inside the transmission. To service an A/T, you will have to literally dismantle the whole assembly to get to them. It's not uncommon for an A/T vehicle to have 5 or more clutches scattered deep inside the assembly. It takes skill getting to those clutches and even more skill to put everything back together properly. Hence, the expensive labor component.

The Honda 5-speed A/T alone has 6 clutches:

**aejhayl17** · September 16th, 2009 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by oj88

You shouldn't compare A/T clutch packs with an M/T clutch. On an M/T vehicle, the clutch sits between the engine and the M/T assemblies and are relatively easy to service.

A/T vehicles uses a torque converter to couple the output shaft of the engine to the input shaft of the A/T. The A/T clutch packs are used to provide linkage between the individual shift gears and are buried deep inside the transmission. To service an A/T, you will have to literally dismantle the whole assembly to get to them. It's not uncommon for an A/T vehicle to have 5 or more clutches scattered deep inside the assembly. It takes skill getting to those clutches and even more skill to put everything back together properly. Hence, the expensive labor component.

The Honda 5-speed A/T alone has 6 clutches:

now i know

6 clutches on a 5 gear at transmission? ang dame!