jawolf07

I had my clutch replaced at a dealership. On my way home I noticed that I was completely locked out of fifth gear. Even when I the car is off it wont shift into 5th. What could be wrong? Could they have screwed up my shift linkage? I've researched my issues to no avail and could really use some advise. I'm calling the dealership tomorrow and would like to have some idea of what could be going on.

Thanks for the help ahead of time

Jennifer 2

Jawolf, This is not a big problem, it can be quickly fixed with a small adjustment to the reverse lockout plate. The shift lever has a small squared off tab on its right side. When you move the shift lever over to the right to access 5th or 6th gear this tab bumps up against the reverse lockout plate to prevent you from accidentally shifting over to far and engaging reverse. If you want to access reverse gear, you must push down on the shift lever, which allows the tab drop under the lockout plate and permits the shift lever to move the extra distance over to the right and engage reverse.

When the lockout plate is in proper adjustment it also provides a nice smooth path for the shift lever tab to slide against guiding it between 5th and 6th gears.

Your lockout plate has been bumped or misadjusted a bit over to the left causing it to become a 5th gear lockout. If you lift up the shifter boot you can see the reverse lockout plate and the two bolts that when loosened allow the plate to be adjusted so as to provide a smooth path between 5th and 6th gear.

You might think that dealership mechanics who only work on Nissans would be well aware of every Nissan quirk and would never make a mistake like this. However, they commonly do screw this up, whereas independent mechanics usually take the extra time to properly sort things out before finishing the job. Why is that?

calibredz33

yea, I agree with jennifer 2 (too?)... when I did my own clutch, and assembled everything, I went through all the gears before I had it all bolted down, and I had misaligned the lock out plate... I just lossened it, and moved it over a tad and bam. I was set back to slammin gears!