There’s a ton of small details and confusion surrounding K-swaps and the K-series shifting system in general. Hopefully this article can help set you straight.
K-series shifting system can be broken down into 3 sections:
- Shift mechanism
- Shifter cables & bracketry
- Shifter box assembly
Shift Mechanism.
The shift mechanism (some refer to it as a shift selector) is found on the topside of the transmission and dictates what cables and shifter box you can use. The shifter cables are what bridge the shift mechanism to the shifter box assembly. The shifter box is just that – a shifter box, the device that allows one to bUsS tHrU GeArZ. Thankfully, companies like Hybrid Racing, Acuity, and K-Tuned offer awesome K-series shifting system component upgrades and particular solutions for certain K drivetrain scenarios.
Honda uses 2 types of shift mechanisms on the K-series manual transmissions. For the sake of simplification I’ll refer to them as Type-1 and Type-2 mechs. Type-1 are a kind of early 01-04 iteration shift mechanism while the Type-2 are a later 03+ iteration shift mech. Both types can be visually distinguished by their counterweight style.
Regardless of mech type, 6MT shift mechs have an integrated reverse lockout solenoid, while 5MT shift mechs do not have this solenoid. What is a reverse lockout solenoid you ask? It’s a safety feature Honda integrated into the 6MT transmissions because of their close shifting gates these transmissions have. The solenoid prevents one from accidently shifting into reverse and blowing up their trans while moving forward at speed. The reverse gear is just to the right of 6th gear in the K shifting H-pattern. So you can guess why miss-shifting into reverse can be a possibility during some spirited driving when quick shifting from 5th down to 6th!
Type-1 shift mechs are found on the following vehicles:
- 02-05 Civic Si (5MT) (+ JDM variants)
- 02-06 RSX base (5MT) & Type-S (6MT) (+ JDM variants)
- 02-06 CRV (5MT)
- 03-08 Element (5MT)
Type-2 shift mechs are found on the following vehicles:
- 06-11 Civic Si (+ JDM variants)
- 03+ Accord (5MT)
- 04-14 TSX (6MT) (+ JDM variant)
Shift mechs can be swapped around to virtually any of the K-series manual transmissions, but comes with installation caveats – later on this!
and then comes the shifter cable bracket hurdle….
Shifter Cable Bracket & Cables.
Shift Mechanism Swapping.
As mentioned earlier, Type-1 and Type-2 shift mechs can actually be swapped around to any K-series manual transmission BUT with some installation caveats! 5MT & 6MT mechs do not share the same exact body bolt flange pattern, so its not a 100% bolt-on and go affair. Two of the four holes do not line up and will need to be drilled and tapped in order to complete the swap. It’s also possible to use a 5MT mech on a 6MT trans and vice versa, but requires a small modification to the internal mechanism bracket.
..more soon