Hello,
I am having what I consider to be a bizarre problem. I have never seen anything like it before.. but that is why I am posting to a forum I looked through all of the current threads and read the FAQ, but I don't see anything like this. Whenever I drive in 5th gear (manual '02 civic sedan) for more than about 20 to 25 minutes, the gear shifter pops back into neutral. It made me giggle the first time, and I just popped it back in. Except... after I shifted back into 5th, it popped out again. And again. And again. It got to the point where I couldn't drive it in 5th, until I stopped the car at a toll and went through the entire shift cycle again (which gained me 20 more minutes of driving time). It does this now on a regular basis. I noticed that pressing on the gas seems to "push" the gear out of where it should be, and the grip on shifter is "loose".. I feel like the gear is not gripping it properly. I feel like I should also perhaps note that my 1st gear is almost un-usable, and has been since I bought the car (used). I'm hoping to get some advice before I take it over to a mechanic, so I can go armed with knowledge, as I know transmission problems can get pricey... So.. anybody know what could possibly be the issue?

 

You may want to have it checked out. You could have a bad slave cylinder which is what is used to engage and disengage the clutch. If you are have difficulty shifting this could be a cause. You may have bad syncro's which would cause the it to pop out of gear...and you may need to either have that transmission fixed or replaced.

 

thank you very much for your reply. replace? haha i have a great habit of driving stuff till it falls apart... but yeah. I was thinking this might be a serious problem... thanks again