Hard Shifting 1997 5 Speed Honda Civic Manual Transmission

My 1997 honda civic lx is very hard to shift and when i get it to shift sometimes it gets stuck in that gear what could be the problrm and how can i fix that?

If its manual transmission, when moving in any gear try stepping on the gas pedal, does the engine feels like its running away? if it does it maybe the clutch lining is expended expensive job.
If not you have to check the clutch fluid level or a leak in the master cylinder (at the foot pedal) assembly or in the slave(clutch lever actuator) the clutch actuator may not be traveling (pushing) sufficiently to give you an adequate clutch separation in other words you are trying to shift the gears with little or no clutch at all.
There is an overhaul kit that you can buy (cheap) for the master or the slave. easy to do really just remove, disassemble, replace the rubber seals and cups, reinstall, bleed the air out.

It sounds like 1, your using the wrong fluid, most manual trannys on hondas and acuras take a 10w30 motor oil yes motor oil. 2 you could have bad syncros. 3 most hondas have hydrolic clutches your clutch resivor maybe low check it, its l,ocated right beside your brake fluid. honda manual transmision are sapose to be serviced every 15k too 30k the guys at lube shops arent tryn to take your money u need thes servises done acordingly its just like changing your engine oil. hense the reason ther called prevenitev matinences.

Broken gear selector or worn shaft and synchros.

I have same issue with Integra Type R, 1.8DOHC Vtec, S80 tranny. Already replaced Honda MTF but no good. Gears are smooth as butter with the engine cold (I\'ve checked all Gears, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and even Reverse) but when operating temp is reached it gets more n more difficult to shift and this isn\'t a problem with one gear. The shifter takes more effort to put it into gear. There is no grinding, no squealing at all. By the way with engine hot, even if I shut the engine try to shift it is still hard to shift. This I believe rules out issue with pilot bearing or clutch, has to be something in linkage cuz with engine off shifting the crankshaft isn\'t turning shouldnt be hard to shift. I suspect some swollen rubber bushing or i dont know. Please help.

I asked a Honda repair technician and he said that it sounds like the throw out bearing and due to it's location, we are looking at a $1,500 repair.

For a manual transmission, if you open the hood and look to the left of the engine on the side near the bottom of the engine compartment, you will see a large nut that, if removed, is where you put your gear oil, but that did not help me. If you have an manual, look up gear oil and there will be a diagram.

I had the same problem. Someone put gear oil (SAE 90) in my transmission, and the shifting was very hard. I Replaced transmission fluid with honda transmission fluid. It has been very smooth now.

Well the gear oil is now fresh. It almost took an entire quart.
What is a dog clutch? Never heard of that before.

Hi
that is 2 parts could be happen: 1. hydraulic system or clutch breake disc system.
hydraulic system have master cylinder, line, hydraulic switch (attached with engine and hydraulic pipe line)
clutch break disc system have clutch disc, pressure plate, switching bearing, switching fok.
in 1997 honda civic have a menual oil for sure. you can see the rectangle shap nut hole conner of transmission, you can see the drain plug blow of transmission, You need to replace every 30k or 1 and half years.
Try to shift gear number one to back and back to one. if you cant do that could be clutch disc too thin. if you can't do every shifting number one to 5 that meant your shifting switching something wrong. you need to check hydraulic system.
I hope that would help you .
Alex

I am recogment that honda should never replace with gear oil period. honda only take honda mtf. older honda may take motor oil. new honda only honda mtf or atf. hard shifting i recogment to change your mtf it will solve the problem. honda have this kinds problem for many years. hope this will help you out there.

Could be a lot of things. What's the gear lube look like?
Most common would be dog clutch...a pretty in depth repair unless you're somewhat familar with the beasts.
Could also be as simple as cable adjustment