Well i happen to do it twice in less than 4 months. First time was with the gaybay short shifter, and got stuck in reverse, took the trans out, removed the tail shaft housing, put the shift rod back where its suppose to be (it poped out of the fork collars), and reassembled it. Now im running the stock shifter, I had on order a new bottom bushing for the shifter but that fell through (it was a sleeve type that drops in) so im currently running nothing in that area. Now to what i did, to make it happen again (mostly my fault... ) but i tried a quick 1-2-3 blast but while i slamed second it didn't catch. Didn't hear any loud pops, or sounds of it devouring itself just nothing. So im dicking with the shifter, take it off on the side of the road, thinking that the shifter itself has poped out. Well i take off in first then try to shift and it hits neutral, fumble it around some and its stuck in 2nd gear again... oh great im 30-40 miles from home hope I can just do what i did before and slap myself later.

Car has 144,000miles on it, runs great, just the damn transmission. Doesnt grind, but i am getting issues with the clutch (i think the actuator/slave cylinder is going bad). During certain situations when the trans is hot, inching around traffic/stop light it will continue to grab with the pedal down, and i have to yank it out of gear. Other than that there is no issues. Just wish I could keep the transmission cool, may try to shield the exhaust in that area

Okay I'm done writing a novel lol. I will report back tomorrow with updates, looking forward to see any solutions you guys may have.

Thanks!

 

drain tranny fluid. get a oem shifter kit with bushings and all. or mazdatrix shortshifter kit. replace old wit new. get new clutch slave cylinder. stainless steel clutch line. should be good. or just get new trans but replace all those parts regardless. its rare unless the o-rings faile, to replace the clutch master cylinder. my tranny grinds third on hard fast shifting. and pops out of gear once in a while. but millage is high,so its understandable.

 

My friends buddy had the same odd problem, at one point it got so bad that when he was sitting idle in first the trans popped into reverse. The problem was some wierd bushing or washer that would slip out of place. The kid could move it back from under the car so its fairly easy to get to. Ill check with him tomorrow to find out all the details.

 

"During certain situations when the trans is hot, inching around traffic/stop light it will continue to grab with the pedal down, and i have to yank it out of gear. "

This may sound crazy, but I had an Opel GT where the tranny input shaft was welded to the Pilot shaft bearing in the Crankshaft. The above situation sounds like something similar may be happening.

Just a thought.