all new rods and shifter

it was a bmw and was driven alot

over 180,000 miles and it was a 98

 

i see..

so did you guys just have a transmission shop do that for you or something? did you remember whether or not the shifter NEEDED replaced with the rods or did the shop just convince your mom? it's ok if you don't remember any of this... i'm just curious.

 

Well not trying to call you out on anything BUT when you said you have to pull down and to the left, well of course you do, that's where the gear is. If you just tap it down there is a good chance that the return spring is letting the stick retun to the rest position. And as for the tranny and the synchros being good, how do you know that for sure? Also there is a good chance that maybe the shifter set screws are off a little

 

yeah.. i realize the angle at which i should shift, but i'm pretty sure you don't need to yank it into place cruising down the road at normal speeds. i've had a few other fox owners drive my car as well and they also tell me it's not normal. i'm not 100% positive that the tranny/synchros are good, but like i said, i can always shift into 2nd perfectly along with every other gear and you would never know there was a problem. it's just a hell of a pain to shift in that fashion. i don't know.. it's hard to explain what exactly is going on without someone actually driving the car.

 

My guess would be a bad shifter...those forks in the tranny are pretty beefy and the rods are too, buy a new shifter, or remove yours from the tranny and inspect it to be sure that it moves in that position easily

 

ok, so to remove the shifter.. do you just unscrew those 4 bolts holding it down to the chassis? like i said, i'm just worried about messing with any of that since someone told me about little clips or screws or something that i might lose.

 

Theres none on mine. But I have a Pro 5.0 shifter. All you do to remove mine is pop the cover with the leather boot off. Reach in there and there is a rubber piece for sound deadening. Pull that out and there is four bolts. Pop those out and lift up and the shift lever should slight relatively easy out and you can see the inside of the tranny where the shifter goes. Just a little box but you get the idea.

 

to take off the shifter just take off the shifter boot and ****, then there are 4bolts (1/2 inch) going in the top of the transmission.
take them out and pull up on the shifter, it is sealed there with silicone, so it will take some effort to get it off.

 

Yup, like they said....maybe your friend it thinking you will lose the clips that hold the shifter bezel in...don't worry, you shouldn't have a problem. Also, when you put it back on, use some RTV black or some other kind of gasket maker to seal it back up. Also, with the shifter out is a good time to change tranny fluid b/c it is much easier to fill.

 

those shift rods arent that beefy. i've seen them tweak on a few t-5s. but thats the last thing i would check. are you sure that when you're shifting to second you have the shifter all the way to the left? you're not like, letting it pop towards neutral a little before it goes to second?