Sticky Shifter/

[dblvsn]

I was pulling into my driveway this evening and the car seemed to stick in 2nd gear (it's a 5spd). It was really hard (almost impossible) to shift into 1st gear . I pulled back out of the driveway and drove around the block. The shifter seemed 'sticky' or 'hard to shift' between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; 4th and 5th seemed to be ok.

After driving around the block and up and down the street a few times things seemed to loosen back up but it seemed that I still have to exert more force than I used to when shifting into 2nd gear (and 2nd gear only).

As I bought the car used at 90K (it now has 116K), I'm not sure if the gearbox oil has ever been changed (this is on my list of things to do, but I want to change the 5th gear to something that will give better mileage when I do it).

Any suggestions?

I'm going to go out again this evening for an extended 'test drive' to see if things change or (hopefully) return to normal.

[from Margaritaville...]

Please lemme know about the 5th gear change, rpm difference and the cost if you would...

[dblvsn]

I just got back from driving around an empty parking lot and the shifter seemed to loosen back up. I'm 95% sure that its back to where it was before the incident .

Anyone know why it would have done this? Is it possible for the linkage to bind up?

[dblvsn]

I've put about 200mi on the car/shifter incident and all seems to have worked itself out - hurray!

[Beetlemania]

I hope it stays that way. I've had that issue for a few years, and it's getting progressively worse over time, though it seems to go away some days. I often have trouble getting into reverse, too.

I've heard there's a way to adjust the linkage, I just haven't heard what the method is.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?