my honda civic has trouble going into reverse. why?
April 16, 2011 6:14 PM Subscribe
our 2006 honda civic EX sedan (automatic) is having occasional problems shifting into reverse. we're taking it in to be fixed, but i want to try and read up on this beforehand. fascinating
posted by patricking to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)
the day after our blizzard (we're in chicago), the boyfriend got stuck on a snowdrift.
the front end of the car was stuck with packed snow underneath, so boyfriend basically had to dig out and back off of that in reverse (that being a summary of about two hours worth of effort), which caused some damage underneath.
firstly, a plastic shield was ripped off from the undercarriage/front bumper. that's like a hundred bucks to replace, so i don't care.
secondly, the car will occasionally refuse to go into reverse. when put into reverse, it'll act like it's in neutral and just rev.
we can make it drop into gear, but it's not really safe—we have to either shift into drive then back into reverse until it drops into gear, or gun the engine in reverse until it catches.
it'll drop into gear after about three tries of either method. this only happens with reverse, none of the other gears.
during driving after it's needed to be forced back into gear, it'll jump somewhat as it shifts between other gears. (this happens every time, so i assume that to mean it's connected). it feels like something slipping for about a quarter-second before changing gears.
what does this sound like to car folks? i'm not sure what portion of the engine to familiarize myself with. ultimately, i'm going to trust a mechanic making repairs, but i do want to have a general idea of what we're getting into before taking it in.