I have a 2000 Honda Insight (yes, it’s a Hybrid, no, I don’t have to plug it, yes it sure is small but I like it). When the trouble started, I had 156,000 miles. I’m up to 162,500 miles, and the problems are still not fixed. At first, I had a bit of trouble maybe once or twice a month putting the car into reverse; it would get stuck about half way into gear, and I would have to put it into neutral or sometimes into another gear before I could put it all the way into reverse. Possibly unconnected, my car started grinding when I downshifted from third to second. I ended up having the clutch, transmission (and brakes) replaced. Soon after I had it replaced (about an hour), I heard a big “clunk” coming from near my emergency brake handle when I downshifted from 3rd to 2nd and then popped out of gear into neutral, generally when going around a corner. This happened a few times. Also, the trouble shifting into reverse continued, happening more often. I ended up having a new engine mount (the bottom one) put in. Soon after I had that done (by the time I got home), I had a consistently hard time putting it into reverse, and it would grind and click going into other gears. I ended up having a special new transmission seal put in (the dealership did this for my mechanic, after I had waited two weeks with my car in the shop waiting for a special tool). Now, I still have occasional trouble putting the car into reverse, and every couple hundred miles it pops out of second when I downshift from 3rd to 2nd going around corners. The transmission fluid is full, I fully depress the clutch when I shift, and it won’t act up when I’m actually at a mechanic, and I’m at a loss. Help!
When a manual transmission pops out of gear like that, it usually means it is time for a new manual transmission.
Right, that was the first thing I did. Now what?
I am probably suggesting the obvious. Has anyone checked to make sure the clutch is fully releasing? Has the clutch master cylinder and/or slave cylinder ever been replaced? With the mileage on this vehicle, the clutch master cylinder could be going bad and not completely disengaging the clutch even though you have the pedal on the floor. Just as a check the mechanic might get the driven wheels off the ground; run the engine; disengage the clutch; shift into reverse; and see if the wheels start turning without the clutch being engaged (pedal still fully down). The difficulty will be doing this test when you have the problem.
Hope that helps. Please post back when you get this problem solved.
Maybe it is something as trivial as a broken shifter pivot in the console that doesn’t let you shift completely into gear. It makes me suspect that because you still have problem only when pulling the stick backward and on the sides. You haven’t mention problems shifting to 1,3,5.
I did have the clutch replaced when the transmission was replaced, so could it be that something isn’t adjusted correctly with the new clutch? Or, could it still be the broken shifter pivot, even though the problem is not consistent? The intermittent-ness of the problem makes it tricky to diagnose, I think.
Hmm, “see if the wheels start turning w/o the clutch being engaged”… when the car is off and in gear, if it’s on an incline the car will still roll unless the emergency brake is on. Is this related?
Have you changed the tranny fluid. And use Honda trans fluid or the transmission will shift hard.