What should I do?

[neoryan7]

Well, I went to Honda today to get my axle replaced again due to it ticking. The service advisor tells me the bad news. There is a lot of play with both axles and that means NEW TRANSMISSION! The tech said it was a pretty good chance it was the diff in the AUTO transmission.

So what would you guys do? I really like my car and have a lot of mods done to it but I am thinking of parting it out, do a manual transmission swap or stick another reman auto tranny.

Its and '03 4cyl Supercharged AUTO with 100k+ miles.

[slipkord]

It all depends on how much money you have to throw at it.

Can you afford a 6spd swap?
How long did the trans last when you SC'd it?
Reman swap is only about $500. How much hp/tq are you running? If it's high odds are if you throw another reman auto in there it's going to break.

[CrackerTeg]

I'd do a manual swap. I'm one of those that sticks with a car that I love for a long time. I get attached to vehicles, unlike Jeremy. Personally, I would have never bought an autotragic but you play the cards you've been dealt.

[neoryan7]

I really don't know if its from the supercharger per se, its been on for about 8k miles. Im only at 225hp/190tq. It could have been me abusing it on the twisties over the 7 years but I also have been having problems with axles in the last two years. Im on my third set while i've seen people slammed on their original ones.

Yeah I wouldn't have purchased an auto either but I didn't really have too many options at the time.

[slipkord]

I get attached to vehicles, unlike Jeremy.

Just been trying to find that right car Z, can't go wrong with an S2000 
Like I said before, I can't really say what I'd do unless we know your limit. Manual swap isnt cheap. 5spd would be cheaper, but still looking at a few grand at the least. Honestly if I had the monies I would do the swap, if you've already gone through the trouble of SCing it, why not take it one step further?

[timot_one]

I think you should do a MT swap.  Your car is awesome Ryan.

[thisaznboi88]

MT swap ryan. You have all the goodies already. Why not take it up a notch.

[neoryan7]

Thanks guys. Got the car back from the dealer. Said the previous axle was slightly smaller than the hole that goes in the tranny(damn aftermarket). They gave me a new one under the axle manufacture's warranty. He also said a there is still some play in the axles but it bought me some time.

[timot_one]

Is it still the aftermarket axles that you're using?  I've had some pretty bad luck with aftermarket axles.  Some brands are better than others of course, but OEM may be the best fit.  If it were me, I'd go with a MT swap if you're going to invest the money.  You've put a lot into your car to get where you are today.  Sure, the MT swap will be more expensive.  When you compare it to fixing your AT or replacing it with a remanufactured one, there shouldn't a ton of extra work to do with the MT swap.  I think it really comes down to the cost of parts.

[Mike]

The MT swap is the best way... Spend the money and reep the benefits!

[CrackerTeg]

Maybe you should take your own advice Mike. 

[Mike]

My car isn't modded that much. My investment into it is minimal.

[CrackerTeg]

True.

[CrazyCreashunz]

Well I had same problemo in the summer... ended up spending $3700 to replace auto trans and ecu. It all depends how much longer you wanna keep your ride, which by the way looks awesome. Either replace or do a manual swap is what I would do!

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

Just some food for thought. I too wanted to do the MT swap, so i asked Skippy for some information. He said that to do a 5AT to 5MT swap, it would be about $5000 - $6000 for parts and labor, not including shipping. He also told me that a lot of custom fabrication needs to be done, and that it's no easy task. From the looks of your car though, you should have no problem doing the swap. In my case, i would be competely clueless on what to do. It's probably not worth it for me anyways when i could take that money and put it into trading for a better car, like a v6 accord.