I have a dependable 2003 Honda Accord. 110,000 miles. Very dependable.
My son borrowed it tonight, called me an hour ago. It starts fine, but it won’t move in any gear—1,2,3,4,5 or reverse. No unusual noise associated with it.
I can’t get a shop to look at it until Monday, but any ideas on what’s going on? Cost, from simplest problem to worst?
If the car won’t allow itself to be put into gear from neutral, probably either the clutch isn’t disengaging or is broken. If it’s just not disengaging, the car could have a hydraulic clutch linkage gone bad. Either the master or slave cylinder could be bad, or both. If the car goes into gear and then won’t go, it could be a broken clutch disk or worse.
It’s not hard to check the clutch fluid. If it’s empty, the hydraulic linkage is at fault. If it’s full, it still could be the problem, just not as likely.
A quick Googling (2003 Accord clutch) shows master cylinders from about $61 to $92 and slave cylinders around thirty.
Clutch. See above.
If the gearstick is like a wooden spoon in soup, but it can crash into gear, then it’s the clutch “H” plate.
If it won’t go into gear but it grinds like crazy, it’s the clutch itself.
If it isn’t making nasty noises but it won’t go into gear then it’s the clutch hydraulics.
The latter happened to my Focus about 3 months ago. No way in hell would I attempt that myself.