I have a J-spec S4 T2 tranny with 41k mi. Since installed I've put about 80 mi. on it and have had no problems. Just the other day when I went for 3rd gear I found it would barely shift, same for 4th gear. A couple more blocks later when I got home I realized the shifter wouldn't even move far enough right to even get close to finding 5th or reverse. Does this problem sound Familiar to anyone. I don't know if it matters but I do have a lightened flywheel, counterweight, and 6 puck clutch. I had to tighten the tranny to the block using the bolts by about a quarter on an inch. Please help!
Thanks,
Damon

 

either shifter bushings or you have a check ball sticking, start by checking the condition of the shifter and bushings. you can do a search for the check ***** and find some info on it.

 

Cool. the shifter looks find. It just seems like the seat the shifter sits in is locking up for some reason. I'll do a search to check my *****.
Thanks,
Damon

 

we had the same problem on my friends mr2 last nite, a nut had come off of the linkage and fallen underneath jamming it and preventing from shifting into 1st and 2nd, see if something has fallen underneath

 

That does sound very similar to my problem. I'm not very familiar with trannys at all, What should I disassemble to get a better look?
Thanks guys,
Damon

 

your shifter extension housing could be dirty and could be making the select lock spindle to jam.. this has happened to my 7 before, i could shift from 1st and 2nd really easy then going into 3rd and 4th is really tough and 5th and reverse doesnt seem to exsist... umm what i did first was just force it over (not recommended) until i moves, doesnt work most of the time... but i would jack it up and remove shifter, go underneath the car and theres a drain plug of the extension housing, drain the oil from extension housing, use brake clean or something to clean the inside of the housing, and temporarily install the shifter and again and see if it could shift into 5th and reverse and if it does, refill and do all that stuff hahah hope that helps and makes sense hahah good luck

 

That is sounds identical to my situation. However I think the only way I can get the shifter over to 5th and rev. is with a hammer, and that would just be stupid. I'll try what you recommended and let you know if it works. By the way what you said makes complete sense.
Thanks AirCeo,
Damon

 

hehe

 

I had that happen to me, was driving around and then out of no where I could not shift into 3rd or 4th. What we did to fix the problem ws take of the boots and surround from the shifter and there were a couple bolts that had come loose, tightend them up, problem solved.

Hope that helps,
Brian

 

Well I've got my gears back. Kind of. I took out the drain looking plug with the crush washer and spring inside out of the back of the shifter housing (driver side), and found I had all my gears back. So I screwed it back in and once again had the same problem. Next I took out the plug again, but this time left the shifter in 5th, and then reinstalled the spring bolt thingy. I now have all my gears but have no side to side spring action and a shifter that's sloppy and has about a half inch play left to right while it's in gear. Third is also very tough to find easily with no spring action in the shifter lever. Does anyone have any advice? I'm just happy it seems to be a problem in the shifter housing and not a major rebuild.
Thanks for all the great tips guys,
I'm sure I can fix this problem without paying a tranny shop a ton of unecessary money.
Damon

 

sound like your sincros are takeing a dump on you man.....when it gets really hard to get out of gear you have a big problem....mine cost me 1000 bucks for a rebuild....

 

I would have a tranny shop just look at it and see what they say. They prolly will tell ya info for free as long as they don't have to get to dirty.

 

when was the last time the tranny fluid was changed? try that, then go from there.

 

Check the fluid. Mine eventually went out on me because of my stupidity after 170 thousand miles. I found another tranny for $65.00 had it installed for $150.00. Our tranny's are approx 3hr labor. Most tranny shops charge around $50.00 an hour. I've been shifting smoothly ever since. My old tranny when taken apart had the sincros all messed up.

RXXXED

 

I just recently had that happen to my S5 turbo tranny, all you have to do is buy a new tranny, convince some sucker (close friend) that it will be easy to swap in your own garage with the car only a foot and a half maybe 2 off the ground swap the tranny (this takes longer then 3 hrs if you are opperating off the ground, and have a custome exhaust) swap it out, then you have 2 trannys, now that your car is drivable you can take the time to rebuild your old transmission and get the parts cryo'ed once that is done your old tranny should be good for about 400-450 hp(I think not sure about figures yet) so you swap it back in your car and then sell the tranny you just bought (as long as you didn't distroy it while you were driving around and rebuilding the original transmission) and the fix will be very cheap. (plus you have a upgraded transmission)

 

I hear what you guys are saying. To find another tranny is cheap and I can install it myself no problem. My only concern is that the current tranny I have only has 40k mi. on it. It doesn't make sense that it's already all whacked out. It's weird that 1st and 2nd were fine, but now that I played with that bolt that All gears work fine except 2nd is now a little sticky and my side to side springs are out. I think, hope, all that needs to be rebuilt is the shifter housing, which I'm pretty sure I can do myself. Has anyone ever taken the shifter housing apart? Can it be done while the tranny is still in the car?
Thanks,
Damon