1996 Honda Civic Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THE TRANSMISSION INPUT SHAFT BEARING IS HAVING ISSUES. MAKES NOISE WHEN CLUTCH IS NOT PRESSED IN BUT ITS OK WHEN PRESSED. I HEARD HONDA DID RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE.. NEED HELP TO FIX IT.. *TR
I JUST BOUGHT THIS CAR FROM THE DEALER LAST WEEK (96 HONDA CIVIC WITH 140,000 MI). I NOTICED RIGHT AWAY THAT WHEN I PRESS THE GAS, IT REVS UP A LITTLE AND CATCHES. BASICALLY, ITS CHOPPY WHEN I PRESS ONTO THE GAS AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE COMMON RECALL. IT SEEMS DANGEROUS BC IT SHAKES THE VEHICLE A BIT. *TR
WHEN THE CAR IS COLD IT IS HARD TO PUT INTO 1ST GEAR AND WHEN RELEASING THE CLUTCH IT JUMPS UNTIL IT HAS WARMED UP.*AK
GEAR SHIFT WAS STUCK AFTER VEHICLE WAS TURNED ON WHILE SITTING AT A RAILROAD CROSSING. WHEN THE MOTOR WAS TURNED ON, THREE MINUTES LATER, THE GEAR SHIFTER JAMMED. THE CONSUMER THEN PLACED THE GEAR INTO NEUTRAL AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE BOLTED INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE WHICH WAS TRAVELING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. THE GEAR SHIFT WAS REPLACED BY THE DEALER. *SCC JB
THE GEAR SHIFTER BECAME STUCK, WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SURGE FORWARD AND CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. *JB. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE STARTED IN OVERDRIVE. *TT *JB
THE GEAR SHIFTER STUCK AND CAUSED TO SURGE FORWARD RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT. *NLM
TRANSMISSION WAS MAKING A RATTLING SOUND. DEALER FOUND TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *AK
AFTER SLOWING TO MAKE A TURN OR OTHER MANEUVER, TRANSMISSION SHIFTS ROUGHLY AS YOU ACCELERATE UNLESS THE GAS PEDAL IS DEPRESSED VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. I'M ASSUMING THE CAR IS DOWNSHIFTED TO 1ST OR 2ND GEAR, BUT THERE'S A VIOLENT JERK AS YOU INCREASE THE SPEED FROM THERE AND I'M AFRAID THIS MIGHT HARM MY TRANSMISSION, SO I TRY TO "BABY" IT, BUT I HATE THAT I CAN'T ACCELERATE NORMALLY.
TRANSMISSION BLEWOUT. HONDA MADE THIS TYPE OF TRANSMISSION FOR ONLY ONE YEAR. CONSUMER WAS UNABLE TO PURCHASE ANOTHER TRANSMISSION FOR VEHICLE. ONLY HONDA COULD REPAIR THIS COMPONENT FOR $ 4000.00. *AK *SLC
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
CONSUMER HAD PROBLEM REGISTERING VEHICLE, THROUGH A TITLE SEARCH A COMPANY REVEALED ODOMETER FRAUD. NLM
TRANSMISSION INTERMTTENTLY, WHEN IN REVERSE, 1ST,$2ND GEAR WILL MAKE NOISES OR WILL NOT MOVE ( GEAR SHIFT WILL BE IN GEAR BUT CAR WON,T GO. )WILLKEPT TAKEN CAR BACK, CUZ OF SAME PROBLEMS .VISTA MORE LAST WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING TOOK IT TO OXNARD HONDA THEY FOUND IT HAD THE WRONG OIL IN THE TRANSMISSION. THEN FIND OUT OXNARD SAY'S IT'S NOT UNDER WARRENTY, SO I HAD TO PAY $70.00
NO SIMMARY LISTED FOR THIS VEHICLE. *AK
I WANTED TO WARRANTY MY TRANSMISSION, BUT THE DEALER WOULD HAVE TO CHARGE ME JUST TO CHECK IT OUT. MY TRANNY GRINDS IN 3RD WHEN I SHIFT. I REPLACED CUPHOLDER 3 TIMES ALREADY. MY FRONT BUMPER IS STARTING TO PEEL. I JUST WANTED MY CAR WARRANTIED. MY CAR IS IN EMACULATE CONDITION.
BOLT BROKE FROM POWER TRAIN, CAUSING TIRE TO EXPLODE/LOSS OF CONTROL/ACCIDENT. *SD
WHILE DRIVING EXPERIENCED MANUAL TRANSMISSION SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER BETWEEN FIRST THROUGH FOURTH GEAR WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE. *AK
5 SPD-TRANSMISSION SHIFT COLUMN LOCATED FLOOR CAME COMPLETELY OUT. VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY INOPERATIVE. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. TT
VEHICLE TRANSMISSION HAVING TROUBLE GOING INTO REVERSE.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 1996 Honda Civic has 18 Power Train complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.