I bought my 2003 6mt a few months ago and it has been running great... up until a few days ago. Out of nowhere I find myself shifting into second when trying to shift to fourth. It seems that unless I make a real conscious effort to avoid it I run into the problem.

I do not drive the car hard, and it's driving me crazy that the problem just seemed to appear out of nowhere after months of driving and never having a problem.

I'd really appreciate some suggestions/advice/info on what could be going on.

Thanks

 

bump for some help

 

There are a whole bunch of pieces between the shift **** and the forks that move the various parts of the transmission to shift gears. It doesn't take much wear to let these parts move incorrectly.

The first thing I'd check is the exposed parts on the back of the transmission below the shift ****. That parts looks like this:



You might be able so see if something is amiss from under the car. Unfortunately, you cannot do much more without taking the transmission out of the car.

There's a very slight possibility that changing the fluid in the transmission would help. There are some spring-loaded ***** inside the case that guide the shift mechanism. If one of these ***** is stuck, it would make it easier for the selector to get in the wrong place. New fluid might loosen things up.

There's also a possibility that worn engine/transmission mounts are letting the whole assembly move around too much, making it difficult to feel the right position as you shift gears.

I'd suggest just practicing keeping a light pressure on the shifter toward the 5-6 side of the pattern. Unless the problem gets much worse, it's probably not worth the effort to take the transmission out and tear into it.

 

Thanks for a GREAT response, it was exactly what I needed to hear.