'86 Prelude reverse gear grinds...

I just bought an '86 Prelude. ~10,000 miles on the clutch, ~194,000 on the
transmission and ~90,000 on the engine.

Most of the time after I first start it up when I put it in reverse it will
grind slightly. It's a fast grinding then it slows down and goes into gear.
When this first happened I thought maybe I was not pushing the clutch all
the way down, but it's all the way against the floor.

I'm thinking it's a simple matter of adjusting the clutch as it must be
dragging a little. Oddly it seems to only do it the first time I put it in
reverse after I start the car. After it has been running and I put it in
reverse there is no grind. It also never grinds in any forward gears.

Any ideas as to waht this is? How would I go about adjusting the clutch if
that is likely to be the problem? Thanks.

Cory

 

Sounds like the clutch is not quite releasing fully. If you have a hydraulic
clutch, perhaps the slave is leaking, or there's wear in the pedal pivots.
In any case, there's no synchro on reverse, and when the oil is cold, the
gears spin due to viscous drag.

If there's no slop in the pedal or hydaulics, just push in the clutch, wait
a bit longer then select reverse.

Stewart DIBBS

 

Sounds like the clutch is not quite releasing fully. If you have a hydraulic
clutch, perhaps the slave is leaking, or there's wear in the pedal pivots.
In any case, there's no synchro on reverse, and when the oil is cold, the
gears spin due to viscous drag.

If there's no slop in the pedal or hydaulics, just push in the clutch, wait
a bit longer then select reverse.

Stewart DIBBS

 

Or just pick another gear first. Start the car in first, and then shift to
reverse.

 

Or just pick another gear first. Start the car in first, and then shift to
reverse.

 

That prelude should have a cable clutch.

 

That prelude should have a cable clutch.

 

Or you might try pumping the clutch twice before selecting a gear. Maybe
the clutch cylinder leaks down a bit. It's free to try!

 

Or you might try pumping the clutch twice before selecting a gear. Maybe
the clutch cylinder leaks down a bit. It's free to try!

 

If the pedal has an inch of very light pressure before it gets hard, the
freeplay is OK.

Are you letting the tranny spin in neutral before setting off? (It's good
practice to do so.) If so, I'll bet you're just trying too quickly to shift
into reverse. You need to give the countershaft ten seconds or so to stop
spinning.

You can force it to stop by moving the lever into first or third, and then
into reverse. This uses the synchros in the forward gears to stop the
counterhsaft so reverse won't grind.

 

If the pedal has an inch of very light pressure before it gets hard, the
freeplay is OK.

Are you letting the tranny spin in neutral before setting off? (It's good
practice to do so.) If so, I'll bet you're just trying too quickly to shift
into reverse. You need to give the countershaft ten seconds or so to stop
spinning.

You can force it to stop by moving the lever into first or third, and then
into reverse. This uses the synchros in the forward gears to stop the
counterhsaft so reverse won't grind.

 

try shifting into 2nd & then reverse, 1rst isn't a synchronized gear. my 87
si prelude is like that

matt

 

try shifting into 2nd & then reverse, 1rst isn't a synchronized gear. my 87
si prelude is like that

matt

 

First gear is synchronized. If it were not you'd have to come to a complete
stop before putting it in first. If you get a grinding in your prelude, you
may have something wrong.

 

First gear is synchronized. If it were not you'd have to come to a complete
stop before putting it in first. If you get a grinding in your prelude, you
may have something wrong.