I've not been on here in ages, but here's the deal.

89 gxl with 87TII tranny and rearend.

I can not shift into 1 3 or 5 but I can shift into 2 4 and R

The shifter feels like it is blocked. I did a search and looked in the FSM. All I can think of is that the control levers are stuck but I'm not sure exactly if that is possible because of the gears that are out.

doesn't each lever control just 2 gears like 1and2 3and4 5andR? If I'm thinking right, I should be blocked out of 1 and 2 not just 1 if that control lever is stuck right? The same goes for 3/4 5/R combo too. Could this be a broken shifter?

The car is stuck on the side of the road a mile or so from my house so any help is appreciated.

 

bump

 

Can you get it into gear while the car is off? Have you tried starting the car in 1st and then rev matching to shift gears like when your hydraulics are out?

 

The gears are blocked with the car on or off.

 

Did you look down in there to see if a piece of spring or shift bushing is in the way of the shift lever? This DOES happen...

 

Yeah, I felt around the piece that holds the ball end of the shifter. I didn't really feel anything out of the ordinary. the bottom has a sort of cylindrical hump in the middle. I'm pretty sure that is supposed to be there. Is there a way to take that piece out to examine around where the little box that the **** inserts into?

 

Rob from Pineapple has told me in the past that the shift fork can bend or break. There are also pins in there that can come lose or break thus preventing the shift.

He suggested to remove the lower cover to take a peek in there to see if any major metal shards are loose.
-a

 

i had something similar happen a couple of years ago when i was driving home. when i went to pass a vehicle i could not shift into any other gears, but 1st or 2nd! i limped the car home in 2nd keeping the revs down. a couple of days later i was in a shitty mood so i took the car out and did a burnout with drag launch then all my gears were working again!

 

I just finished installing my tranny (new ACT clutch ) and had a very similar problem.

I couldn't shift into 5th or rev.

If your's is anything like mine, there was a bolt on the back of the shifter box that had a ball and spring in with it.

If you don't properly reinstall these per the FSM (eg. make sure you are pushing the control rod in while reinstalling the ball, spring and bolt) then shifting problems arise.

Hope this helps.

 

Sounds like you have something jammed up in the shift control box. Whatever it is is keeping the rod from pushing back all the way to engage the 1,3,5 gears. I think that is what Kevin is talking about--some piece of bushing or spring got dislodged and is jamming it.

You may be able to take off the shift control box cover and look in with a mirror--otherwise you're gonna have to pull the tranny.

HTH,

Scott

 

Clipped from the manual:
As you can see there's not much clearance behind the selector.