Honda Civic UK (2001 - 2005) - 02 1.4 petrol, noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Tue 11 Mar 2008 21:18
02 1.4 petrol, noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - vans10
Hi, My car is a 02 civic 1.4s, done 73k. It has some grinding, whirring noise in Neutral and becomes quite loud in 1st and 2nd gear. However there isnt any noise when the clutch is down.

I took it to nationwide for a check but all they said was some internal problem with gearbox..... and quote me for at least £1200 to replace it.


Is it likely to be problems with bearings or i will need to replace whole gearbox ? which one will be cheaper ?

also i want to know roughly how much will be the labour cost for gearbox change.


I'm extremely worry as i cant go to work without my car, hope someone can help, Thanks

Edited by Pugugly on 11/03/2008 at 22:47

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Tue 11 Mar 2008 22:19
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Screwloose

Your best move is to ask around the local motor factors who is the local gearbox repair expert. Contact them and get them to remove and repair your gearbox.

Don't keep driving it, or the bearings will come apart and smash it beyond repair. There are no second-hand boxes available [very common problem] so that would write the car off.
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Tue 11 Mar 2008 23:50
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - vans10
so thats likely to be bearing problem??
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Wed 12 Mar 2008 00:02
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Screwloose

Yes; very likely. Grinding, whirring noises are usually bearings - and if they come completely apart and the balls fly into the closely-meshing gears, it's Goodnight Vienna.
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Wed 12 Mar 2008 11:43
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Obiter Dicta
Welcome to the ever expanding club. Both the Civic and the Jazz have this sort of problem.
My 2001 Civic, FHSH and 60000 miles on the clock suffered exactly the same. Despite the FSH Honda were not interested, so after 5 Hondas, all of which covered far more miles it has been P/EXED for another make. I will never buy another Honda. My daughters Ford Fiesta, home serviced, has done twice that mileage. Honda are going the way of some other manufacturers and stupidly sacrificing a hard won reputation for quality and reliability. It is time HJ included this problem in his 'what's bad comments.
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Wed 12 Mar 2008 21:55
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - vans10
Thanks for the info. i arranged for a check to see if it is possible to repair

i also got some quote from 24/7parts.com for gearbox, managed to find quite a few but cheapest one still need £400 (used, mileage no known yet)

do you reckon replace the bearings would be cheaper?

{'txt' talk substituted for real words as you're not limited to the amount of letters used here, as you are a mobile phone}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 13/03/2008 at 00:57

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Wed 12 Mar 2008 22:52
noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Screwloose

The costs will depend on where you are and the local repairer's charges. Ask.

Be wary of the mail-order breaker's parts scam; you get sent, usually wrong, junk and getting your money back is very hard. South Wales and Yorkshire are the areas to watch.

[Breakers bits always seem to have done "40-50,000" - odd that.....]
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Fri 28 Nov 2008 16:45
02 1.4 petrol, noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Guy01
Its the input shaft bearing, get it sorted my gearbox was on its way out. i argued with honda and managed to get the price down to £390 gbp from oringinal qoute of 800. that was for a full bearing overhaul, labour & VAT incl.

My car is running nice now but..... always a but....
When this work gets carried out, make sure they dont replace the bearing's with ones of the original design. the same bearing has been redesigned to stop it from breaking up again.make sure you get a quote for all the bearings to be replaced like i done.running with 1 or 2 broken bearings cant be good for the rest.also make sure you get a guarantee, honda gearbox's are quite tricky. We're all human. mechanics do make mistakes from time to time.

finally honda will tell you it takes 4 days to overhaul it. pink fluffy dice. 2 days maximum for an expeirenced mechanic.

hope that is of use to all the civic owners with the bad bearings.

{not read the forum policy on swearing I see!}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/11/2008 at 18:11

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Tue 11 Oct 2011 23:02
02 1.4 petrol, noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - galledin

Seems like this has gone a bit quiet, just found this problem with my 2001 1.4 civic.

Any updates on this issue?

Any suggestions on talking garages down on the price?

Ross

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Sat 10 Mar 2012 09:41
02 1.4 petrol, noise in N 1st 2nd and 3th gear - Markycarter

My 1.4 Civic Max 96000 miles, has developed the same problem. Noisy in the 1st to 3rd gears on acceleration and noisy thrust bearing at idle , clutch out.

I had it on the ramps at a garage yesterday and the knocking was quite apparent.

Looking now for a new gearbox, will relace the clutch at the same time. Any good suppliers of recon gearboxes in the North East?

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