How reliable is manual transmission? (acura tsx)

[kontakterr61]

i was wondering how reliable is the manual tranny? i am worried b/c i have a tsx, with which i have learned to drive manual with.
i have stalled many times, grinded my reverse gear, have many unsmooth upshifting and downshifting causing the car to buck, overreving on take off and the occasional "didnt reve match".

for example, the other day, i was at a very steep up hill parking lot, and got nervous and tried parking brake method, but ended up launched at 3.5k rpm (but i do have acura tsx with low tq) and wheel spun a little bit in front...

i am worried that my new car wont last long bc of my accidental hardness on the tranny through learning process. i have gotten much better, but i still have the occasional mistake. it just bothers me that i have already damaged the longevity of my tranny and car.
should i be worried?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Well, it is quite possible that you shortened its life, but most likely it's just the clutch that you will end up having to replace sooner. Not the end of the world. It would have made more financial sense to learn how to drive a manual on an old beater though.

 

[rjundi]

If your grinding gears(you'll know) it shortens their life. If your slipping the clutch excessively that simply a clutch replacement.

IMHO manuals are about many orders of magnitude more reliable than automatics due to simplicity.

 

[Pablo]

Yeah you may want to drop the fluid after a few grinds - even the pro does a grind every couple years.

I have to ask - on steep hills, you do know the parking brake trick?

 

[VeeDubb]

My 2002 Passat 5 spd manual was abused. My wife drove it and would over-rev, lug, and sometimes leave the parking break on while dropping the clutch. Also, when I first bought the car, I hadn't driven a manual in 10 years so my shifts were not smooth and I'd over rev on launch. After 71,000 miles, no signs of slippage and tranny seemed fine. I traded it in, but it had nothing to do with the tranny.

 

[D189379]

I wouldn't worry about it. I've never seen a manual transmission that needed a repair. In fact, I don't even remember changing the fluid on one of my own manuals.

 

[Steve S]

I have rebuilt many manual transmissions .Reliable is how it is designed ,the quality of the parts ,how it is assembled .and how it is taken care of. Some tramsmissions have a record of poor design on certain models.Some are bulletproof.

 

[surfstar]

Quote:

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In fact, I don't even remember changing the fluid on one of my own manuals.

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I replace my fluid with Redline every 60k or so miles. Never touched the fluid in my Mom's manual cars and her's shift smoother

(Mazda vs Nissan gearboxes)

Both have 200k+ miles on factory clutches.

Once you learn how to drive a clutch comfortably, you can reduce the wear and tear to near zero IMO.

 

[CivicFan]

I once put Redline MTL in my Accord and the shifting became difficult. Replaced it with 10W30 and everything became nice and smooth again. So your Mazda might be suffering from the Redline, too.

 

[Drew99GT]

I had bad experience with Redline as well.

Manual transaxles are pretty tuff, especially Hondas. I bet you took more life off the clutch and tires than anything, but I would change the fluid once you learn to drive it more smooth.

Hondas are notorious for perfect clutch action and easy shifting, so be glad you're not learning on a Mack truck or an older car like mine that has a glazed up disk and pressure plate; the clutch action is like on/off and you really have to be gentle with it!

 

[Al]

The TSX tranny is silky smooth and reliable.

 

[rpn453]

Don't worry about it. If you ever get really smooth with your manual, you'll realize that many drivers aren't. If you ever ride with a driver that thinks his car is a race car, you'd be amazed at how much abuse they can take. Keep driving it and soon you'll be taking off on steep hills without using the parking brake, without moving backwards more than an inch or two, and without revving over 1000 rpm!

 

[MrCritical]

I think you mean how much abuse will it take, not reliability.

 

[Al]

Eventually you will not ever need a parking brake on any hill.

 

[kontakterr61]

im not so much worried about clutch wear, since it is inevitable anyways...
i have made many mistakes of early clutch release without perfect rev matches, causing significant jerks to the car and probably the transmission.
in fact i did one today...i was shifting into 3rd gear, but i let the clutch out too quickly, and the car jerked forward and made a rought sound.....
with things like this, how bad is it for the mounts and tranny?

 

[Mr Nice]

Just caused you learned to drive stick shift on your TSX, you will have no trouble getting 250K miles out of that trans.....but your clutch won't last that long.

 

[fatjack]

IMHO a clutch replacement is an expensive repair. Its probably better to buy an automatic initially.

 

[JHZR2]

A clutch isnt an expensive repair compared to an AT rebuild. Assuming about 160k typical life of an AT (could be less for a Honda unit, IMO theyre not the best), and a rebuild price of $2500 for a good quality job, that would be the same as a $1250 clutch job every 80k.

I learned on an E30 BMW 318i with 72k miles. At 90k miles, my brother learned. Now at 110k miles, the clutch is still perfect, and is still the original one that came with the car when it was built in 1991. I doubt you did terrible damage if the clutch is half what a BMW one is.

Then again, the MT in our integra, at 188k miles, is about the worst Ive felt and used. And its not mileage, my friend's integra with 75k on it was about the same... I tried to learn on his first, and wasnt the most successful. IMO, Acuras are tough cars to learn on, because of the clutch action and light flywheel.

Worrying will cause more issues than anything else. Are you a 3-year car swapper? If so then there are no worries anyway.

JMH

 

[kontakterr61]

i got my car new, but i plan on keeping my car for over 6 years.
im not worried about clutch replacement since its not that expensive, but i am just worried about the tranny or motor mounts being damaged from my bucking, stalling, too fast clutch release and mis-shifts that i have done to it.

i have driven my car 8,000 miles of noob shifting, but i am finally confident in my shifting now.
i am now just worried that the first 8,000 miles i drove it could have greatly shortened the life of the engine or tranny.
i have to admit though, i am very anal and slight ocd. hehe

 

[Camu Mahubah]

No worries...ocd is good for a car...I learned to drive with a 1970 Ford F100 three-on-the-tree...I have dropped the clutch at 5000 rpm on a Ranger and a 1982 BMW 320i...a clutch is strong...but not made to be abused...they can take an ocd learner no problem...just don't ride the clutch...you would know for sure if your clutch was going out...manuals are tough...