Right now, I have an intermittent problem with the shift level going into the 1st gear position when I am stopped at a light. Sometimes it goes in without any problem and sometimes the lever won't move forward at all. When it does happen, moving the lever to 2nd gear or reverse gear and then back to first gear usually overcomes the problem.

Somebody told me that this has something to do with the synchronizers in the transmission? Does this sound right to all you 5-speed experts?

Also; in terms of labor and parts costs, is it easier to put in a whole new transmission or to open it up to replace synchros?

Thanks.

 

Also forgot to mention that the car has 130K miles on it. It is a 1995 SE.

 

Rebuilding a transmission is not an easy task, getting everything right in the specs and in tolerance requires good tools and very good knowledge. On the other hand, replacing the transmission itself is not very difficult and depending if you every did it could take about a day overall. If you're not doing the job yourself, a used transmission will cost less than having it completely rebuilt. If you can do the job yourself and you have all the tools and the time, I would rebuild it.

My 2 cents.

 

the chariot just went down this morning also, clutch feels soft and goes all the way to the floor without the same resistance.

yesterday had trouble getting into gears while driving, this morning she is putting up a hail of a fight and refuses to go into any gear.

New clutch and tranny time for me !

 

Ceasar: It might be that the master cylinder is out of clutch fluid. That happened to my Max. 2x.

Any leaks or liquid spots under the car?


My transmission just died yesterday as well it seems - but different. My shifter will NOT budge into any gear but Reverse or Neutral. Previously when I had issues with the master cylinder, the clutch pedal would go 'dead' on my, like you describe. It would depress very easily, and even get stuck at the bottom. I couldn't shift gears either.

Fortunately, the fix was cheap, IF that's what it was (master cylinder fluid). If not, you're maybe not looking at a total new clutch/tranny, but some other parts replaced. If it's the clutch/tranny, you're looking at $1500-3000 U.S.