Hey all,

I couldn't find any other threads on this topic in the forum so this has me concerned. When shifting into 5th, if I push the gear **** all the way over to the right and up, it won't go into gear at all (it feels like I'm to the right of the 5th gear gate). If I move it to the left about 1/3 of an inch, it goes into 5th just fine. (fyi: I don't have any synchro grinding issues.) I thought this was normal, that the 5th gear gate was slightly to the left of the maximum right until I drove a friends car (both are 04.5 touring roadsters) and trans didn't do this. You could move the **** all the way to the right, push up and it goes into 5th (it wasn't even notchy, felt very precise and Honda like).
I'm wondering if my trans is somehow misaligned. No accidents on my car accept the previous owner slid it into a ditch and ended up replacing the front bumper. It goes into all the other gears just fine (one would that that if the entire mechanism was shifted left, I'd have problems finding or going into first...not the case here).

Thanks,

 

The shifter may be installed backwards.

There's a nub on the shifter that should line up with the guide plate hidden under the boot. If the shifter is installed backwards, the nub will be facing the driver's side of the car.

If it is backwards, simply remove and reinstall correctly.

 

i have an 03 and mine does that. what i think it is, is that the gate for going into reverse is open when it shouldnt be. you're not suppose to be able to go all the way to the right and into the reverse slot. When i first noticed it, i was like, wth? i cant get into fifth and then six, with out it getting hooked in the gate. So what i started to do was just be more careful when i shift and got muscle memory of where my fifth gear actually is. I havent seen anything on how to fix it. the only major problem with this is that you might miss 5th gear.

 

You need to adjust the guide plate.

See here......https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...to-adjust.html

Specifically, follow Step 13 on the instructions from Rogue Engineering.

 

This. The procedure is in the FSM as well. If the transmission or shifter has ever been out of the car you need to go through the alignment procedure. It literally takes 5 minutes.

 

Holy crap, that completely fixed the problem! I'm a little surprised since the trans has never been out of the car (although the previous owner landing it in a ditch may have shifted things) but the guide plate was misaligned. Also, there was very little grease at the base of the shifter (for which I only had WD40)...all said and done, the entire mechanism shifts better now.
Thanks for the tip guys...

 

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