93 Sundance will not shift into any gear.

Can anyone help me with this?

My 93 Sundance was backing up today and after I tried to shift (it's a
manual trans) into first, I was unable to push it into gear. I'm
unable to push it into any gear whatsoever -- 1 thru 5 or reverse. It
starts to move that way but don't go past the point where it would
click into gear. It will move side to side, but won't go into the gear
position.

Any ideas on what's wrong? How would I fix this?

Thanks!
Shaun

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005, Shaun Q wrote:

> Can anyone help me with this?
>
> My 93 Sundance was backing up today and after I tried to shift (it's a
> manual trans) into first, I was unable to push it into gear. I'm unable
> to push it into any gear whatsoever -- 1 thru 5 or reverse. It starts
> to move that way but don't go past the point where it would click into
> gear. It will move side to side, but won't go into the gear position.
> Any ideas on what's wrong? How would I fix this?

You've probably got a bad (kinked) shifter cable or two. The failure point
is usually at the shifter end. If you'll slide the shifter boot down, you
can lift the tab that holds on the shift knob, then lift the knob off the
shift stick, then lift up the boot. Now you can see the shifter mechanism.
From there you can inspect for evidence of bent/binding cables. If you see
nothing, the damage is probably elsewhere in the cable(s). On the other
hand, you may find that something has gotten into the shifter mechanism
and is physically blocking it, though this is not as likely.

Shaun Q wrote:
> Can anyone help me with this?
>
> My 93 Sundance was backing up today and after I tried to shift (it's a
> manual trans) into first, I was unable to push it into gear. I'm
> unable to push it into any gear whatsoever -- 1 thru 5 or reverse. It
> starts to move that way but don't go past the point where it would
> click into gear. It will move side to side, but won't go into the gear
> position.
>
> Any ideas on what's wrong? How would I fix this?
>
> Thanks!
> Shaun

Since it is a manual transmission, does the problem occur with the
engine off? If so, it is probably a shifter linkage problem, as Dan
suggests. If you can shift it with the engine off, your clutch may not
be disengaging. This can be caused by a fluid leak, or a bad master or
slave cylinder. I am not sure whether the clutch on this model is
hydraulic or mechanical.

-Kirk Matheson

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 wrote:

> Since it is a manual transmission, does the problem occur with the
> engine off? If so, it is probably a shifter linkage problem, as Dan
> suggests. If you can shift it with the engine off, your clutch may not
> be disengaging. This can be caused by a fluid leak, or a bad master or
> slave cylinder. I am not sure whether the clutch on this model is
> hydraulic or mechanical.

The clutch on that car is cable-operated.

I didn't know that.

Just curious. Is the gear shifter also cable operated, or integrated
into the transmission?

I have not owned a manual transmission car for many years, so I haven't
kept up on it.

-Kirk Matheson

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 wrote:

> Just curious. Is the gear shifter also cable operated, or integrated
> into the transmission?

Cable operated, completely independent of the trans. That's, er, why my
initial response to the question dealt in detail with the probability of a
faulty shifter cable causing the problem.

I'm getting some feedback from people saying it's a adjustment that
needs to be made... yet I'm being told that it's impossible to adjust
on this model and that the entire clutch would need to be replaced....
Any thoughts?