knudsen (02/17/83)
My '81 Honda Civic has once again developed any annoying problem with the shift lever being hard to move in the for-and-aft direction, but not side-to-side. This problem feels like a very cold morning, except for being limited to for-aft motion AND the fact that it first struck suddenly in August in Maryland (not exactly cold). That time it slowly went away after a few days, which *might* be due to my pouring some enigne oil into the base of the shift lever under the boot, but I doubt it. It's been here several days now (30-40 F weather) and isn't going away by itself. Both times I check the transmission oil level, it was full. Have I got a strange seal, or what? Any Honda (4-wheel) owners ever experience this? TIA, mike k
mickey (02/17/83)
The problem you describe is a common one for Honda users. The bushing in the shifter linkage is directly over the catalytic converter...The heat/cold /heat/cold cycle takes it's toll more quickly where there is a greater variance in temperatures. On my '81 Civic GL I got 14,000 miles before it went. It is a dealer replacable item and costs about $35 with labor to perform (1981 prices). Mickey Levine decvax!cca!mickey