Automatic Transcmission – difficult to put in gear

[Scott Henderson]

I Have a 2000 Honda Civic sedan with automatic transmission & about 140,000 miles. Pretty well maintained. Sometime in the last year, when it is in park, and I go to put it into gear from park, it’s very difficult to pull it out of park and into reverse or drive. I had it in for some other maintenance & asked my mechanic about it & he thought we spilled a soda into the shifter. I know it never happened, but worth a shot. So he disassembled, cleaned it out and lubed the area. Not fixed at all. I can’t figure out what’s going on. It doesn’t get better when warmed up or anything & I have gone over past maintenance & think I had the trans fluid replaced around 60 – 90k or so. Whatever the recommended time is, I can’t remember.

The only other thing I was thinking was maybe an engine mount going bad or something? I did have a fender bender back several years ago when I was rear ended. It was repaired. But again, this was at least 6 or 7 years ago & this problem has been noticeable for 6-12 months.

Any ideas of what to look for? Thanks!

Topic

[Frank Heiser]

I’m not sure about a Civic but I had the same issue with my 2003 Kia Rio, and it’s the shift cable that’s the problem not the shifter. The cable is out of lube and binding inside the cable sheathing. I took mine to the dealer and they said they “lubed it” but it made zero difference. I ended up going to Pep Boys and asking them to just replace the cable and it did the trick, shifted like new after that.

[none]

+1 for shifter cable binding.

[Josh]

Per my copy of the Factory Service Manual 1996-2000 Civics should have their fluid changed at least every 30k. I have a ’98 LX and the FSM was a good $75 investment.

Go to the local auto store & get some SeaFoam TRANSTUNE-add that to your trans & drive around (getting up to highway speeds) for 10-15 minutes.
While you’re at it drive to your local Honda Dealership and buy some new A/T fluid (the older ATF-Z1 was found to sludge up and solidify in the tranny-Honda changed the chemical formulation in 2010 and now calls it Honda ATF-DW-1). The 2000 sedan takes 2.9 US qts per the FSM but double check at the dealership just to be safe.
Once you get home put your oil catch pan down & pull the AT drain plug. Be careful to avoid burning yourself.
Add the new reformulated ATF and drive around.

This happened to fix the problem for me-exact same issue as you. If this DOESN’T fix it get your mechanic to install a new shift cable.

[Author]

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