Manual Transmission Weirdness When In 4th Gear

[ChessBoat]

Anyone having this issue and/or know what this may be:

When cruising (foot off the gas pedal) in 4th gear, I am experiencing intermittent lags in the speed. What it feels like is if I were to just barely put my foot on the brake for a second or so and let off. One, I can feel the car lag for a second, two I can see the mileage average spike down at the same time I feel the lag, then go back up after the lag is gone.

Happens every 10 or so seconds when cruising, and only in 4th gear.

Any ideas?

TIA

Sponsored

 

[Draken187]

Dude, I have the same problem in 4th but now it's all gears. I brought into the stealership and they gave me every excuse they could think of. It's annoying and I don't enjoy riding it. It's an LX with on 5k!

Thats bull on the dealer... They go out for a ride with you? Especially if its something that is always happenning?

Cant stand it... I wish i had pictures but my 8th gen civic i had an issie with the mt.. Brought it to the dealer to have ot warrantied and they said we have to diagnose amd change the serpentine belt.. I said nevermind and brought it to my shop.. I was a tech working at bmw at the time... Changed the belt and no change... Fast foward 4 days and a hear a large thunk from under the car... Figured i ran over sonething.. But car felt fine i drove about 60 miles on the highway in 6th gear no problem.. Once i got off the highway it was difficult to go into first then 2nd then 3rd so on.. 10 min into back roads driving it started spitting the shifter out of gear by itself.. So i had to hold it in a gear with alot of strength.. I get home and the tranny had no fluid in it.. Wich i had been checking regularly due to the issues i was experiencing.. I turned the wheels so i can see the side of the casing on the drivers side... I never ever saw something like this.. The side of the casing about 6inches by 8inches was gone.. Literally a solid piece of aluminum broke of and not by bolts or something.. Literally like it was cut out... Somehow i made it to the dealer after that... I wasnt worried about breaking it more as it was basically totalled at that point.. Now i got a free tranny installed and honda had the thing sent to japan to see what in gods name happenned

 

[Draken187]

Dam dude, that's quite a story. Still sucks they broke all those seals putting in a new tranny. As for mine, I brought it to several Honda Stealerships. I heard everything from Homda now has 3 motor mounts not 4 that's why I'm feeling that and that the CVT suspended is always engaged but a manual suspension is only engaged while pressing the gas so that's why I feel the shudder and shakiness. Those are the only word I have to describe my issue.

Ya... Car had 120980 miles on it.. The extended warranty ran out at 120000.. But i pointed out my original paperwork with the complaint that it was at 119004 and bitched up a storm and they fixed it with a transmission woth 12k on it from a much newer civic that was totaled.. Oddly enough the new tranny felt better than the original one ever did... Wich i never got to try another as loaners and such were always automatics... Wich led me to believe something was wrong with that tranny since day 1..

 

[LoveToDrive]

Anyone having this issue and/or know what this may be:

When cruising (foot off the gas pedal) in 4th gear, I am experiencing intermittent lags in the speed. What it feels like is if I were to just barely put my foot on the brake for a second or so and let off. One, I can feel the car lag for a second, two I can see the mileage average spike down at the same time I feel the lag, then go back up after the lag is gone.

Happens every 10 or so seconds when cruising, and only in 4th gear.

Any ideas?

TIA

I kinda sorta understand what you might be talking about. At what speed and RPM are you cruising in 4th off the gas pedal? I'm going to watch for that next time I drive to see if it does the same.

 

[ChessBoat]

I kinda sorta understand what you might be talking about. At what speed and RPM are you cruising in 4th off the gas pedal? I'm going to watch for that next time I drive to see if it does the same.

Eh, probably somewhere around 25-35 or so, maybe 1500-2000 on the rpms.

Just cruise in 4th, on a stretch with a slight downgrade is best, foot off the gas, watch that MPG meter go from maxed out (which is 80 on my meter) down to like 60 and then right back up. And you feel a lag precisely when that happens. It's not a jerk by any means, but it's also not subtle.

 

[ChessBoat]

For what it's worth, I think I would have never noticed this issue had I not read about hypermiling after I got this car. I don't hypermile, to be sure, but I now cruise as much as I can get away with. And I think a lot of people never take their foot off the gas so maybe wouldn't even notice this kind of issue?

 

[ChessBoat]

Dude, I have the same problem in 4th but now it's all gears. I brought into the stealership and they gave me every excuse they could think of. It's annoying and I don't enjoy riding it. It's an LX with on 5k!

Damn, that's some BS. Still curious what they said it might be.

 

[LoveToDrive]

Eh, probably somewhere around 25-35 or so, maybe 1500-2000 on the rpms.

Just cruise in 4th, on a stretch with a slight downgrade is best, foot off the gas, watch that MPG meter go from maxed out (which is 80 on my meter) down to like 60 and then right back up. And you feel a lag precisely when that happens. It's not a jerk by any means, but it's also not subtle.

I still haven't driven, yet, to see, but with that RPM, I have noticed that it does something like what you are describing. My theory is that this Civic ends up lugging the engine below 2000 so I have been taking it out of any gear at that point (or at least ~1800) and come to a stop in neutral, or rev-match downshift if I'm not coming to a stop. Hypermiling lets you coast in gear on and on in an automatic transmission but with a manual, engine braking slows the car down a lot faster. When we take our foot off the gas pedal, the car stops sending fuel for efficiency. Maybe it gives the driver the sensation of light braking/MPG falling at that RPM because the fuel is pumped back in the system to prevent stalling? Whatever the reason, I think it's communicating to us that it doesn't like being below 2000 in gear.

I never checked the MPG meter at those times. I will when I drive and report back.

 

[ChessBoat]

I still haven't driven, yet, to see, but with that RPM, I have noticed that it does something like what you are describing. My theory is that this Civic ends up lugging the engine below 2000 so I have been taking it out of any gear at that point (or at least ~1800) and come to a stop in neutral, or rev-match downshift if I'm not coming to a stop. Hypermiling lets you coast in gear on and on in an automatic transmission but with a manual, engine braking slows the car down a lot faster. When we take our foot off the gas pedal, the car stops sending fuel for efficiency. Maybe it gives the driver the sensation of light braking/MPG falling at that RPM because the fuel is pumped back in the system to prevent stalling? Whatever the reason, I think it's communicating to us that it doesn't like being below 2000 in gear.

I never checked the MPG meter at those times. I will when I drive and report back.

Thanks for that.

I'll pay a bit more attention to the rpms and speeds in the next few days. Maybe make a vid.

 

[LoveToDrive]

Thanks for that.

I'll pay a bit more attention to the rpms and speeds in the next few days. Maybe make a vid.

I tried it in 3rd and 4th gear. I think I was getting similar sensations around 1500~2000. But I didn't get it every 10 seconds because I couldn't go that long at those RPMs before getting too close to stalling. Also, my car slowed down too much and cars behind me caught up. The lag/braking sensation I felt was every other second or two. The engine was lugging by 1300ish, and the whole time I kept an eye on the MPG meter. It didn't change at all, staying at the 80 mark. Perhaps, what you describe may be different from mine.....

I have never hypermiled though I read a lot about it. I do 'cruise' often, but more appropriate word for me is 'engine brake'. I like staying in the power band rather than getting caught in not-enough-power situations.

 

[WNC_Civic]

I drive all highway so i am not in 4th gear very long to have noticed if mine does this or not

Sponsored