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[MR2Red]

Hey guys I just picked up an 86 MR2. One of the major problems is has is the 4th and 5th gear don't feel like they are fully engaging..

The shifter rod is hitting the metal around the shifter housing, so I'm thinking it might be an issue with the cable that runs from the shifter to the trans being stretched, looking for an opinion, 2nd gear would grind but I put some thick gear oil in and it quit.

So if anybody has any experience on the matter please give your opinion and a reason why your opinion would make sense.

[mr2tim]

Jeez, nobody wants to help you out guy. Bad breath or what?

To address your inquiry I've attached a picture of a typical shifter with cables attached soas you can compare yours with one that is correct and functional. I'm also sending along a picture of the typical cable termination, again soas you can compare yours to a correct working cable.(stretched cables? never saw one in 19 years and 6 cars)

Ok Red, if your stuff looks like this it's good and we'll move on to the shifter "tree" which mounts on the side of the tranny. It's a butt ugly thing with several attachments to the transmission to engine bolts. You gotta crawl under the car and shake it, look for weld breaks and loose mounting bolts, make sure the cable clips that hold the cables are inplace and solid. If any of this or the cables aren't perfect that's your problem.

Let's say you check all of this crap, it's fine? The next area of concern will be the arm that extends from the tranny itself with the levers that do the shifting. Again, check for looseness, wobble or any issue that prevents this arm from being solidly attached to the transmission.

That's it for what you can do and check out!!

Anything else will be for the transmission rebuilder to address.

One experienced note: if you pull the tranny yourself be sure to pull off the crank pulley! the engine doesn't have to come out, (it tilts on the front engine mount) but you won't get enuff "angle" on the engine to have room to successfully get the tranny off.

Well, I'm glad we could have this shifty little chat. Feel free to write me I'm in the club member directory and have done this procedure about 7 times and know all the secrets to not fudge up other parts and to make it go fast.

Good luck, you can do most repairs on this car, take your time, and don't forget to use a good set of jack stands!!

mr2tim