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

[bigazowl]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

[oj88]

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]

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!

[oj88]

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

6 clutch packs to be exact.

1st gear has 6 clutch disks
2nd ,3rd, 4th, & 5th has 4 clutch disks each
Then there's the torque converter lock-up clutch.

Gastos nito pag oras na nya.

[brody89]

Boss,

Try mo sa Carbucks banawe malapit sa MAX, had the same problem with my honda last year. bale lahat around 19 k lang ang singil sakin. 3 days ginawa tapos 2 months warranty pa. Try mo mag ask sa kanila boss kasi baka nag bago na presyo ngayon. Nagtanong din kasi ako kung sansaan dati ang mamahal ng quote eh. Sila na yung pinakamura at so far hindi naman ako ulit nag ka problema

[bigazowl]

Boss,

Try mo sa Carbucks banawe malapit sa MAX, had the same problem with my honda last year. bale lahat around 19 k lang ang singil sakin. 3 days ginawa tapos 2 months warranty pa. Try mo mag ask sa kanila boss kasi baka nag bago na presyo ngayon. Nagtanong din kasi ako kung sansaan dati ang mamahal ng quote eh. Sila na yung pinakamura at so far hindi naman ako ulit nag ka problema

Thanks bro. I'll make a visit on your mentioned shop this coming weekend.

[Chikselog]

parehong pareho po tayo ng problema..though di pa napapacheck ng dad ko yung amin.. 96 lxi a/t rin po.. it skips 3rd gear when in D4.. i'll be reading na lang po through this thread and will post some questions sa mga susunod na araw
ang tanging sabi lang sakin ng dad ko, puro D4 palagi gamit noong huling may ari (babae) kakilala kasi niya..now i use D3 pag city driving, at pag bumilis na ng konti, let's say mga 50km/h and on the nlex, D4..

[mikhailer]

here's my opinion on this...

-A/T transmission on hondas are tightly sealed. based ito sa mga nababasa ko sa mga threads and google. slight wrong configuration / alteration ng parts can affect a lot sa performance
-kung mag papa rebuild ka, you must be 100% sure na magaling yung gagawa and they had done it several times already
-another thing you should consider is japan surplus parts are great replacement specially dito sa pinas. why? 5 years lang max age ng mga koche dun, i think this will answer the quality of the product. double check mo na lang din, bunot mo disptick then amuyin mo yung liquid sa loob. it should smell sweet and or sour not burnt. if its burnt wag na yun...
-price: surplus 15k all in VS 40k rebuild.... layo ng difference dba
-mas sure ka sa replacement since nde pa nabubuksan yung tranny, 15 days is long enough para malamang mo kung palyado yung tranny na nabili mo.

[bigazowl]

here's my opinion on this...

-A/T transmission on hondas are tightly sealed. based ito sa mga nababasa ko sa mga threads and google. slight wrong configuration / alteration ng parts can affect a lot sa performance
-kung mag papa rebuild ka, you must be 100% sure na magaling yung gagawa and they had done it several times already
-another thing you should consider is japan surplus parts are great replacement specially dito sa pinas. why? 5 years lang max age ng mga koche dun, i think this will answer the quality of the product. double check mo na lang din, bunot mo disptick then amuyin mo yung liquid sa loob. it should smell sweet and or sour not burnt. if its burnt wag na yun...
-price: surplus 15k all in VS 40k rebuild.... layo ng difference dba
-mas sure ka sa replacement since nde pa nabubuksan yung tranny, 15 days is long enough para malamang mo kung palyado yung tranny na nabili mo.

Thanks bro for the advise. I guess i'll go for replacement na lang cguro

[bigazowl]

parehong pareho po tayo ng problema..though di pa napapacheck ng dad ko yung amin.. 96 lxi a/t rin po.. it skips 3rd gear when in D4.. i'll be reading na lang po through this thread and will post some questions sa mga susunod na araw
ang tanging sabi lang sakin ng dad ko, puro D4 palagi gamit noong huling may ari (babae) kakilala kasi niya..now i use D3 pag city driving, at pag bumilis na ng konti, let's say mga 50km/h and on the nlex, D4..

nde pa la ako nag-iisa hehehe. Anyway nde ko pa na-try yun ginagawa mo na D3 then shift to d4. I only use D4 din. Hindi ba mas lalong masisira yun when your shifting from D3 to D4, curios lang ako hehehe, ngayon lang din kc ako nakagamit ng A/T.

[Chikselog]

nde pa la ako nag-iisa hehehe. Anyway nde ko pa na-try yun ginagawa mo na D3 then shift to d4. I only use D4 din. Hindi ba mas lalong masisira yun when your shifting from D3 to D4, curios lang ako hehehe, ngayon lang din kc ako nakagamit ng A/T.

di naman po siguro makakasama yun..para lang manual shifters ng other matics, manual mode pagshift..or to be safe ang gawin nyo na lang po shifting from D3 to D4, bitaw muna sa gas then lipat sa D4..kaya po D3 ginagamit ko sa city driving kasi parang hirap yung makina nagsskip kasi sya ng 3rd gear eh..dati naman hindi yun ganun..nung pinachange oil lang sya ng dad ko saka sya naging ganun..don't know why