HELP! My car won't shift into gears!
 

Hi everyone, my name is Lee.

I have an emergency and please need some help!

I got a 02 Accord 5-speed that is in great shape.

Until just now..

Here's the story:

I was teaching my wife how to drive stick shift and we were learning an a little slanted driveway. The driveway is long so enough space to take off and everything.

So after a while of getting the hang of it, I told her to practice on the slight hill. Its always harder to take off on a slant and she stalled a few times.

But then out of nowhere, as she was taking off, the car jerked forward but didn't stall. However, I heard a loud pop and then all of a sudden, the car won't shift into gear.

I have no idea what's wrong with it now. I can't shift into any gears whatsoever.

Can someone please help and let me know what it could be? I just hope it's not the tranny. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

When the engine is off, does moving the stick feel like you are physically putting it into each gear?

When the engine is off, it just feels a little loose. I turn the engine on and when I engage the clutch and put in any gear, it just won't go.

With the engine off and in neutral, can you push the car forward? If in gear, can you push the car at all?

Check the fluid level in the clutch master cylinder. Is it low? Do you see any fluid near/below the master cylinder? How about signs of fluid loss near the slave cylinder? Pull back the slave cylinder boot to see if it filled with fluid.

Yes, with the engine off and in neutral, I can push the car forward and back. That's how I had to park it in the parking slot. If I put it in any gear, it's as if the car was on neutral.

It's the first time this ever happened. Car just jerked forward and then pop, heard something that broke and the car won't shift into any gears at all...

This is starting to sound like the clutch went out on the car, or something with the transmission/engine. To me, the next step would be to remove the transmission to see what is happening with the clutch.

How may miles are on the clutch?

The clutch has about 40K miles on it. We changed it at 138K miles, the car has 177 now. It's hard to explain because the car was driving fine with no issues at all.

I drove it today without any problems. Of course, I've been driving stick shift for years so I had no problems but in the beginning when someone is learning the whole technique of taking off, using enough gas to accelerate at the same time easing off the clutch, it could be kinda tricky at first.

So I don't know if the car just took a beating from all the stallings or what because when the car stalled, it would jerk forward pretty hard. But then it started up with no problem.

But that final time, she took off a little but not enough gas, the car jerked forward and we heard something break and that was it....

If I had to guess, the clutch disc broke. The flywheel or the transmission input shaft are a possibility. You won't know until the transmission is removed.

The good thing is that the 98-02 manual transmissions are pretty reliable, so the clutch is more likely. Plus, if you would need a new manual transmission, there should be plenty available from junkyards. I would have zero reservations installing a used MT transmission on this vintage accord.

Dammit! Guess I gotta call the mechanic and see how much this is going to cost.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

Before removing the transmission, check whether the speedometer shows anything. Put it "in-gear" with the stick, let out the clutch pedal, & watch the speedometer.

If an axle has simply popped out of the differential, the speedometer will still indicate a speed.

But don't hold your breath. I think if the axle popped out, it would probably leak transmission-oil & you would've noticed that.