weird ass problem

[Thomas Reynolds]

Jennifer wrote:
>I was driving home tonight on the highway- in 5th
>gear.  Getting off the exit, tried to downshift.
>Wouldn't move out of 5th.  Getting into neutral was
>forced but finally did it.  Now the car is stuck in
>neutral- any ideas what this might be?

I had this same problem last year. Unfortunately for me it ended up as
internal tranny failure. I tore my tranny down and discovered the problem. A
circlip on the end of the input shaft broke(5th gear assembly is right next
to this clip) and it allow the 5th assembly to partial dissamble itself
which resulted in a lodged piece. Even though I could force it into neutral
it was also hard to get into any gear, and notably 5th. The reason is
because if the shift forks don't return to the proper alignment when
shifting out of a gear, it won't line up to go into another one. Here are
the steps I would recommend in finding the problem:

1. Check your clutch for adjustment; problem could be as simple as this
2. Get under the car and check the shift linkage for proper function (make
sure there are no rocks or debris lodging the shift linkage, as well as
making sure all nuts/bolts and bushings are tight or not missing)
3. Disconnect the shift linkage from tranny and try to manually shift the
tranny by grabbing the shift yoke itself (I eventually did this to realize
it was internal). You have to use a little effort to move the yoke around
but it's not that hard.
4. And finally if you have gotten to this step, its time to pull the tranny.
At this point you can determine if your pressure plate is defective or
something foreign (i.e. clutch disc spring) is preventing proper
disengagement of the clutch.
5. Crack the tranny case and have a look.

I should also note that when draining the tranny fluid you can also
sometimes determine if something has gone wrong internally by metal bits in
the fluid, metal bits stuck on the drain plug magnet, and finally the color
of the fluid. My fluid was black and very thin because when that clip broke
the grinding of the input shaft into my case housing caused a tremendous
amount of heat which changed the composition of the fluid.

Good luck,
Thomas Reynolds
97 200SX SE-R
FMAX Stage II Turbo