I'm not too car savvy, and am a bit curious about a couple problems my civic has. Thanks in advance for any advice

#1 - 5th gear is shot. I am thinking about having the transmission built, but am weary about the cost, since I couldn't do it by myself. Is that a possibility, to only have them fix 1 gear? Or would I be better off replacing it completely.

#2 - The shifter is extremely lose throughout the entire shift pattern. This seems like an easy fix, but I'm clueless as to what to do.

I think that's all, thanks for any help

 

welcome to the fourm, before you overhaul the transmisson, have you already changed the fluid with Honda fluid, is your shifter adjusted correctly, and are the shift cables in good conditon. If all the above have been done and in good conditon, then yes, you may have to overhaul the trans.
If you get a civic service manual, it may have instructions on how to adjust and check your linkages, cables, shifter.

 

Ok so 5th gear is gone. If I were you I would resort to a salvage transmission and while you had the thing apart replace the clutch, throw out bearing. Depending on how bad things are inside maybe the flywheel and rear main seal. If you have it apart do it right.

The linkage may need some new bushings to give you a tighter feel when shifting. I believe that the clutch is hydrolic on this generation so there are no cables.