Today for some odd reason, I lost 2nd, 4th, and reverse in my car. I was making a turn and decided to down shift into second. The gear engaged by the shifter felt real mushy, like cotton. I pulled over and noticed all gears that are toward the driver (2,4,Reverse) are VERY MUSHY, and wont engage. All gears toward the dash (1,3,5) are fine. Now I can sometimes get the gear to engage, but can barely feel it. I think the shifter arm cable is busted. I dont think the transmission is busted.

What u guys think?

you are correct, it is something in the shifter linkage, not inside the actual tranny itself. should be an easy fix

Remove your center console, exposing the shifter.



The shifter linkages circled in pink have a 'narrow' black plastic covering. The black plastic covering on the left (see pic) may have loosened it-self out of place. Just push it back into the shorter black plastic mount. Push really really hard! You should hear it snap back into place. Good luck dude.

EDIT: Btw the pic is from a 1g but it is very simliar to the 2g shifter layout.

Thanks alot. But that isn't the fix. Something is wrong with my shifter cable. Looking at the above picture. Something is wrong with the cable nearest the shifter. That cable goes forward and backwards. It goes forward for gears (2,4,R) since the arm has to swing back, the fulcrum pushes the cable\rod forward.

When i try gears 2,4,and R, I hear a slight crushing sound, kinda like metal popping. The cable goes in back slides right back out. Now I have managed to get 2, 4 back. I took the console apart and noticed that 2 is kinda lose, but engages, 4th is real lose and sometimes engages, Reverse is VERY VERY lose and doesn't engage at all.

I need to figure out how these cables work, so I can replace or fix it.

check out the lingages on the tranny, as those can cause issues too
This is how it works(should be close anyway)

1st gear- center cable goes backward, side cable goes backward
2nd gear- center cable goes foreward, side calbe goes backward
3rd gear-center cable goes backward, side cable stays stationary(not
forward or backward)
4th gear-center calbe goes forward, side cable stays stationary
5th gear- center cable goes backward, side cable goes forward
R gear- center cable goes forward, side calbe goes forward

Im not 100% positive if the side cable goes forward or back ward when pucshing the shifter lets say to the left to go into 1st and second, but if not, then just reverse the positon of the side cables above. The side cable moves back and forth when the shifter is moved from left or right of shifter center (N position), which designates gears 1 and 5 for center cable moving backward, and gears 2 and R for center calbe moving forward. When the side cable stays non moving either front nor back, that designates gears 3 and 4 with the center calbe moving foreward and backward

Okay I tried to push in that black plastic cover on both cables, but neither snapped or moved and I pushed hard. The car does something really strange. With the car turn off, I can shift into any gear, but with the engine running I am not supposed to be able to shift into any gear unless the clutch is pressed down, but I can shift into 2,4, and reverse while engine is running.

What is the device that keeps the car from shifting into gear unless the clutch is depressed???

with the car off, I can shift into any gear without using the clutch. With the car off, it really doenst matter. Now with the car running, and you try that, you should grind some gears, if not using the clutch
There really isnt anything to keep from not shifting with the clutch

Your problem is inside the engine bay. It sounds like the sleeve retaining clip on your shift linkage for the y cable (the one on the right in the picture) came loose and the cable is being pushed out of the sleeve (and then flexing) when trying to push the y fork on the transmission. (Unless the cable get's caught on something, it should work fine going into 1st, 3rd, and 5th, because you are pulling the flexing cable, not pushing it.)

Get a person to try shifting into those gears while you look under the engine bay at the shift linkage and you will see exactly what I am talking about.

It's possible you could peice it back together (will the linkage out of course), but it would be very time consuming and may not hold for long.

You'll need to order a new shift linkage if this is the case.


P.S. It most likely got damaged by trying to force the car into gear (such as when the clutch wasn't all the way in).

How in the world would I go about fixing this? My grandfather is a mechanic and has plenty of tools, but I need to know what to buy. I think I will get a new cable put in, but where can I buy one for cheap??

oh ouch 3 gears hehe I lost all 6 in an instant here's what my problem is maybe same with you

thanx to my dynomite shifting I destroyed this roll pin that help my shift linkage arm to the tranny. It really sucked I had to get the car towed home and i was like 50 miles from home.

Here's how I fixed it I bought a nice strong bolt (this one is a allen head) and a nylon lock nut and put that sucka in there and I've had beautifully restored shifting ever since. I had to drill the opening up a bit though and man the metal on the tranny parts is pretty freakin hard broke like 3 drill bits doing it!


take your battery out and check and see if that cable is still attached there. Was your shifting sloppy like mine was like I had a 1 or 2 inches of place up and down on the shifter b4 it would grab another gear. Your is probably just hanging on there barely that's why you can still get some gears.

I checked the cables and they looked fine. I still think it is the y cable but not on the transmission end. When I shift into the missing gears I hear a clicking, popping noise coming from the cable near the shifter. Like when the rod pushes on the cable it misses or jumps causing that clicking noise. I guess I need a hole new cable.

Where in the world can I buy that at?

If your having problems going into 2nd, 3rd, and Rev, it's almost a 100% chance it's the y cable flexing, because the hard sleeve (in the engine bay isn't holding right, or is free sliding because the retaining clip came off/loose.

Man you are absolutely correct. The bracket and clip on the Y cable was off on the transmission side. This caused the cable to flex when I tried to go to 2,4,and rev.

Now I wonder how it just came undone?

Probabaly from trying to force it into gear as I noted earlier in this thread. (ie: trying to slam it into gear w/ the clutch still engaged)

People are telling people to put JB Weld on the clips to keep it in place, don't do this!!! How the clips work is that they need to be curved (bent) a little bit so that the bend comes out about to where that little top part pokes out to, and then the legs of the clip back, not to much or you won't be able to get it back on.

If it's tight enough you will need a hammer to tap it into place.