2004 gt can't shift past second

[KJones]

Have a 2004 Vibe GT and this AM it won't shift past 2nd gear, can't physically move the shift knob over. 1st and 2nd and even reverse are working fine. No funny noises have been noted recently. Took a quick look under the boot thinking something might have got down there but didn't see anything, can't see how it could jam there anyway once I looked. Also looked under the hood and I think there are 2 cables coming from the shifter and turning to the driver's side into the tranny which both looked OK.

FYI I'm not an mechanic, but have done tune ups, brakes, swapped trannys, replaced intake manifolds, rebuilt carbs and the like.

Any and all ideas appreciated!

Ken

[Nasmfell]

In other words, you only have 3 gears? Have you checked the fluid, is it it's normal color if you did?

Hopefully you don't have a bad/failing tranny.

[joatmon]

One cable moves the shift mechanism on the tranny forward and back, the other moves it side to side. When uncabled from the tranny, you'll see the shifter is freely gimballed, can move it around in circles, figure 8's, etc. The tranny is what locks the shifter into the standard shift pattern.

If you are lucky, then perhaps there is gunk on the bushings where the cables attach to the tranny, and cleaning that and throwing some grease on there will solve the problem.

First step would be to remove the clips that hold the cables to the tranny shift levers, and verify that the shifter can move the cables freely. Can't remember if its possible to swap the cables when reconnecting, so if you think that might happen, then either mark them before you take them off, or do them one at a time.

If you are not lucky, then it could be something internal to the tranny, which would be rather uncommon. The 6 speeds have had few, if any failures reported here. Seemed to have been a high rate of premature clutch failure with those, but the actual tranny holds up well, especially compared to the early 5 speeds.

So pull the cables off the tranny, verify the cables move freely, and also see if you can shift the tranny at the tranny side, with the cables removed.

[KJones]

Yeah, 3 gears, reverse, 1st and 2nd. Reverse does use the left-right cable, so I'll be surprised if the cable binds in just one direction. Gear box oil was changed out with a new clutch installed last year. Had to work on a different vehicle today (something in the weather here?!?)so just getting back to the Vibe. Seems odd that there were no symptoms up to this point - balky shifting, new noises, etc.

Any hints on the best way to get to the shift levers on the tranny - I can see them from above but at first try couldn't get hands on them that way, and it looks like they are directly above the control arm from below but haven't lifted the car to check that yet.

TY for the ideas, more are welcome.

KJ

[sideshowalan]

The cables can be easily accessed through the drivers wheel well, even easier with the tire off.

Purely a guess, but it sounds like something went wrong with the previous clutch install.... either they used the wrong fluid or the clutch failed early.

[KJones]

Late update. Linkages all looked fine, checked fluids for lack of better option, they were on low side but in range. Oil change was overdue so did that. Also brought brake/clutch fluid res up to a tad above max. Took her out, wound her out high and the gate to 3/4/5/6 was opened.

Has been running fine since, knock on wood. Go figure...