1997 5spd SE.

It's hard to move my shifter. It feels very "stiff" or "dry" or something. Especially when moving horizontally. i.e. moving from 1st to 2nd feels almost normal, then moving to 3rd or 4th is harder, and moving over to 5th or Reverse requires some serious elbow grease. Then once I'm over there, moving back to first is almost as hard.

Trying hard, I can get the transmission into any gear I want and once it's there it will stay there, but shifting does not feel good at all. It does this whether the engine is running or not

This started spontaneously (didn't get progressively worse or anything like that; just started) while my car was at a shop, ironically. I had a rattle from the underbelly while I was out, so stopped at a muffler shop. It was a loose heatshield by the Cat I think so they bolted it and when I tried to drive it off the lift my shifter was stuck -- had a hell of a time getting it into Reverse.

So far, I've changed the transmission fluid, and checked the clutch fluid level. Those things didn't fix it.

I'm wondering if I should take it into a transmission shop to get it checked out? I need it fixed ASAP (I mean technically it's driveable right now but I'm assuming if there's a serious problem it will get worse), but don't want to get screwed, so I'd appreciate any ideas or easy things/ideas I can consider or check before turning it over to a mechanic, and also a rough idea of how serious a problem I could be dealing with

Thanks in advance.

 

Works fine when you took it in..messed up when trying to leave=they messed something up.

 

Before I offer an opinion, I will say that I have not actually worked on thr transmission linkage. That said, if the tail-pipes or the cat is anywhere near the linkage, they could have detached and replaced the linkage in order to get some room for them to work on the transmission. (Sorry about run-on sentance. If they did not put everything back exactly correct, the linkage would be out of adjustment. That might

 

Oops, I meant to say that they unbolted and moved a portion of the transmission linkage to get room to work on the exhaust system. They might have put the parts back together slightly out of adjustment. I agree with Faaki, it drove in there just fine. It drove out of there with the transmission messed up. Nothing wouldhave happened to the transmission unless they took the linkage apart. Or they might not tightensd a linkage bolt less tight than they should have.

 

Hmmm, thanks for the replies. This makes sense. At the time I thought it was a coincidence, because I didn't see how they could damage the transmission without gross incompetence. They literally were only under the car for a few minutes and seems like a really simple job? But that initial reaction could very likely just be me not understanding how a transmission works and where/what all the connected parts are. Guess I should have questioned the mechanic more, but he was not a native english speaker and I felt kinda embarassed for being almost-stuck on his lift at closing time

Assuming they did mess up the linkage what exactly does that mean? Is that really bad (like things will now be broken as a result) or is it something that can just be undone/readjusted? Trying to do research to educate myself, but having trouble finding info.

A little more info on my symptoms: The stick itself is hard to move. Not necessarily into or out of gear (though that's hard too), it's just hard to move period. Most noticeable moving horizontally. Going into 5th and Reverse is hardest.

EDIT: Hmmm, the more I read, the more likely this seems, as every guide I've found talking about repairing shift linkages or bushings references them as being under the heat shield near the Catalytic Converter. Still don't really get exactly what's going on, but seems like you've got me on the right track? Assuming something is up with the linkage, bushings, whatever, is it OK to drive my car to go get it fixed? Also, I'd love to have any more detail if anyone knows more about this stuff, so I can point the muffler shop in the right direction if it's something they can just reverse.

 

Not a good idea to drive it if you can help it. The difficult movement of the stickshift means that the gears are being pushed hard on, and it can cause the gears to wear out. Do you hear any grinding?

Get that car back to the mechanic so he can fix the linkage. They definitely broke something or did not re-install properly.

 

Thanks. I don't think I hear what I would describe as grinding. When trying to move over to go into 5th or Reverse (the hardest gears to get into) I would describe it more as a "rubbing" sound. It doesn't sound good but I think it's much more subtle than grinding. It's mostly during the horizontal movement in the space inbetween gears. Going into the actual gears doesn't produce a notable sound if I remember correctly

The place that did the work only does mufflers/exhaust type stuff. If I'll need real work done I wonder if I should just take it to a different shop at this point to maximize chances of them actually fixing it, since driving it in this condition is bad I feel like maybe I should make sure to get it right in one trip. If it's something simple that the muffler shop can just undo then that'd be preferable for my wallet though since I'd expect them to fix it for free (assuming I can get them to look at it/accept responsibility)

 

It's probably the shifter or linkage binding on the heat shield. The shifter is right above the cat and Y pipe. There are 2 linkage rods that connect from the shifter to the trans. It sounds like they put it back together wrong.

 

My b&m sts makes it more effort to shift perhaps they snuck one onto the car. Change the trans oil. GL-4 spec fluid. Could use amsoil. I spent $70-80 on it but found the trans was 1.6qts low too.

 

This.

I dont think they installed the linkage backwards because its damn near impossible, you'd seriously have to be a special kind of idiot. but heat shield is in the way of the shift linkage. This is no big deal although intially scary it can happen to anyone.

Replace your fluid while your at it. Amsoil or Motul while expensive those have worked the best for me and greatly reduced shifting effort. Most Euro shops carry the GL-4 that we need. NOT GL-5 it will eat away at the brass in our transmissions.

 

Thanks guys! Got it fixed by the same shop. Basically, everyone in this thread was pretty much right.

Heat shield/exhaust assembly was simply too tight/too high and interfering with the linkage working properly, easing it up a bit basically fixed everything and with my new tranny fluid it's now shifting even better than I thought it was supposed to

Yup, seems like it was no big deal ultimately, but yeah was super scary.

Yeah, I made sure to use GL4 thanks to some searching on this forum. Thanks!

 

Glad it worked out for you.


Thanks for reporting back to us regarding what fixed your problem. You will not be the only person this happened to. Future posters will learn from your experience.