Seeking Honda M2F4 transaxle guru- 92 to 94 Prelude 5 speed

Jay Lutz

Well-known member
Help!!

Does anyone have rebuild experience with this particular M2F4 transaxle? We have now experienced our 2nd different failure in roughly 15 test session laps on our chumpcar......clearly we are missing some kind of trick. Please call to bail us out!!

Thanks, Jay Lutz c: 317-473-2124
 
An unmodified H-series transmission is a little fragile when used on track. On my old ITS Prelude, we had to install a pretty elaborate transmission cooler to help it out, and even then you had to get real good at heel-toe down shifting and never, ever forcing the gear lever any faster than it wanted to go. After all of that, we could finally get one to last for a while. It's these little snap springs that are in with the 3-4 and 4-5 sliders that just get stressed and begin to bend and break. Starts out as being hard to do downshifts into 3rd or 4th, and then progressively gets worse from there as more stuff starts to go. Eventually you start losing gears altogether.
 
Thanks Kevin.........no real solution/fix/modifications? What are the mods you have suggested? Is there another less fragile "stock" gearbox we should be using instead?

I'll send an email to Loshak as well. Is that what is in his old EP car.......who bought it again?

Anyone else have some thoughts?? THANKS!!!

Thanks, Jay 317-473-2124
 
Jay Lutz":5m63jb8l said:
I'll send an email to Loshak as well. Is that what is in his old EP car.......who bought it again?
Thanks, Jay 317-473-2124

Rob Coffey
Thunder Bay, ON Canada

You might also contact John Schmidt E Prelude

Or Kan Patterson E Prelude
 
Talk to the guys at M-Factory. www.TeamMfactory.com
They know all there is to know about your particular transmission and can rebuild it or help you rebuild it.
They also have parts like bearings, seals, synchros, gears, final drives, LSDs, etc...
Good guys there and very helpful!
The M2F4 you have, is the one to have, because of strength and parts availability.
Also beware of using parts from other similar looking transmissions with a different code as they are not the same.
 
Keith,

Your thoughts are interesting particularly since you and Kevin Ruck seem to have different opinions. ???

Anyway, I emailed Loshak..........but as you can imagine he's kinda busy defending his HP pole at the Runoffs right now. He's a good guy and he'll get back to me when he gets back to the land of cheese on everything and pubs on every corner.
 
Jay Lutz":3n85vwpw said:
Keith,

Your thoughts are interesting particularly since you and Kevin Ruck seem to have different opinions. ???
Not really. :lol: Yes, if you call the guys at M Factory and they beef it up a little for you, it'll probably work just fine. For me it always seemed to be the same little part that failed, but it led to larger failures, and that was before being nicer to it. I was always working within the IT rules though, so had to use completely stock Prelude Si (H23A1 engine) transmissions, which was actually the M2S4 transmission. The M2F4 you have is from the USDM Prelude VTEC model, which may very well be different and beefier somehow, as Keith alludes to. But again, I always had to stick to the Si stuff, so it would be news to me.
 
I'll bet the TeamFactory guys know the differences as well as all of the subtle but important tricks. We'll figure it out I'm sure.
 
Yes the M2F4 Prelude VTEC transmission is beefier and different internally than the M2S4 Prelude Si transmission. They look the same on the outside but are different on the inside. The M2F4 shares some internal parts with the Acura Integra GSR/Type R that the M2S4 transmission does not. The M2F4 is a much better transmission when the rules (or lack of rules) allows. Parts availability is a big part of it. I learned this from the guys at MFactory.
Tell them Keith at Hasport sent you!
 
Interesting comments on the H23 transmission. Raced my SI Prelude for 10 years in EP most of the time at the front, and never had any transmission problems. Used both the VTech and SI boxes bone stock, they are also the same except for 3rd 4th ratios being closer. Every 3, 4 years changed synchros normal maintenance. MT90 lube.

Mike
#48 FP
 
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