Hey everyone new member here I have a 2002 Accord EX 4cly. I'm having a problem shifting into third gear. If im shifting at higher RPM's it will grind every time but if the RPM's are low and im gentle it goes in smothly. This started happening after my wife let her friend use her car for a week and now I have this problem.

Thanks for the help.

 

If clutch engages smoothly and car shifts into 1st easily as it should, the clutch is probably OK. If not, a worn, dragging clutch can cause difficult shifts (all gears).

If problem is strictly 3rd gear related, the problem is likelya worn synchronizer ring. This ring allows the gear shaft to match speed w/ drive shaft to allow easy meshing of the gears. If it's worn too much it won't provide the shaft spin-up and grinding will occur. Only fix is to pull the trans and replace the sychronizer, a pretty big job.

You could teach your wife the art of double-clutching which allows gear meshing w/o grinding, but requires good technique. Basically, you shift out of lower gear to neutral, release clutch for a second, reengage clutch, and shift up to next gear. Before synchronizers, this was the only way to shift w/o grinding the gears. No such thing as "speed-shifting", which is what wears and damages synchronizers. Following are the details: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-double-clutching.htm

good luck

 

Yeah I already have her double-clutching lol. Well thanks for the quick help that only took about ten min. I look into weather it something I can do or if its easier to let the Mech's here on base to it. They do good work for a good price.

Thanks Texas