Help !! Daily driver wont shift
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 601
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From: Texas
Help !! Daily driver wont shift First off this is a non-LS1 (91 Saturn SC 5 speed manual)related question so please help if you can since this is my daily driver to and from work.
Left my work parking garage in 1st gear - no problems at all. Pulled up to the garage entrance and put the car in 1st waiting for the gate to open. Once opened I moved forward and reached down to shift to 2nd gear - this is the weird part (I know nothing about manual transmissions). The clutch engages and disengages fine (plenty of pedal resistance) but the shifter wont shift into any gear. Its like the gears are gone and the shifter loosely falls from side to side. So basically the car is stuck in 1st gear, when I shut the car off I couldn't push the car back (stuck in 1st) - I had to start the car, push in the clutch and push the car with my leg.
So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy
Left my work parking garage in 1st gear - no problems at all. Pulled up to the garage entrance and put the car in 1st waiting for the gate to open. Once opened I moved forward and reached down to shift to 2nd gear - this is the weird part (I know nothing about manual transmissions). The clutch engages and disengages fine (plenty of pedal resistance) but the shifter wont shift into any gear. Its like the gears are gone and the shifter loosely falls from side to side. So basically the car is stuck in 1st gear, when I shut the car off I couldn't push the car back (stuck in 1st) - I had to start the car, push in the clutch and push the car with my leg.
So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift You may have lost the bolt that connects the shift linkage rod (I don't believe that Saturns are cable shifted) from the shifter handle. Or, you may have broken a shift fork (it seems unlikely).
If you can get into 3rd and 4th gear (but the car won't move, but you feel it go into gear, it could be a shift fork. If you lose the 1-2 fork and it is stuck in gear, you will still be able to select 3rd or 4th and the transmission will bind up and the car won't move at all. However, since you said the shifter "just flops from side to side", I suspect that there is a problem with the shifter linkage (it has come loose, broken, or if it is a cable shifter, the cable may have broken). Just my thoughts, I hope this helps....Good luck!
If you can get into 3rd and 4th gear (but the car won't move, but you feel it go into gear, it could be a shift fork. If you lose the 1-2 fork and it is stuck in gear, you will still be able to select 3rd or 4th and the transmission will bind up and the car won't move at all. However, since you said the shifter "just flops from side to side", I suspect that there is a problem with the shifter linkage (it has come loose, broken, or if it is a cable shifter, the cable may have broken). Just my thoughts, I hope this helps....Good luck!
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 601
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From: Texas
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift Trackbird and Wrencher, a BIG thanks for replying so quickly. I have to make a decision in the morning on what to do (tow it home or to the dealership).
Trackbird : It wont shift into any gear at all, just stuck in 1st.
Wrencher : Any ideas on how difficult this is to fix ? (i.e. accessibility) I can have it towed home to work on or the dealership to pay big $$$
Trackbird : It wont shift into any gear at all, just stuck in 1st.
Wrencher : Any ideas on how difficult this is to fix ? (i.e. accessibility) I can have it towed home to work on or the dealership to pay big $$$
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift Kinda hard to tell ya not knowin' what broke. Up to you, may have to crawl up under it to diagnois/fix. Just pull the "boot" & **** off shifter & inspect that end. Then have a buddy dry shift it while ya check it out under the hood.(strait down from battery & master cylinder)
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 601
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift I'll have it towed home tomorrow then pull it apart to see if anything broke/came undone.
Thanks again
Thanks again
Kinda hard to tell ya not knowin' what broke. Up to you, may have to crawl up under it to diagnois/fix. Just pull the "boot" & **** off shifter & inspect that end. Then have a buddy dry shift it while ya check it out under the hood.(strait down from battery & master cylinder)
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift I thought it was the "link and tube design", make sure the bolt is in both ends of the linkage, I suspect ither the nut came off or the weld broke and the linkage is now disconnected from the tranmission on one end or the other. Should (hopefully) be easy enough to fix. Good luck!
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Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 601
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Re: Help !! Daily driver wont shift Well you guys were dead on, the link broke off of the shifter assembly. Seems its held in place by nothing more than a plastic fitting that according to Saturn "breaks" around 150K miles.
I had to replace both cables ($190.00, one assembly joined by a rubber block to keep from shearing the tube).
Anyways my daily driver is back on the road again thanks to you guys.
I had to replace both cables ($190.00, one assembly joined by a rubber block to keep from shearing the tube).
Anyways my daily driver is back on the road again thanks to you guys.
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