Unable to shift after putting my transmission back together?

[michaelmiller85]

93 Festiva L 5spd.

I rebuilt the transmission and after putting everything back together, yet still out of the car and am unable to shift freely and consistently. I took the second half off to see what was binding. The some of the shift rails have to be coached, either to adjust it a little up or down in order for it to shift.

What could be the cause?

[Festy46]

It's possible that everything is ok. Trying to move the gears without having the shift lever assembly attached is difficult. Look at the length of your gearshift stick. This stick acts like a pry bar to push the shift linkage back and forth. I'm sure you've tried to shift the gears (with the transmission in the car) without having the engine running. If the gears don't perfectly align, it can be hard to get it in gear even with the leverage of the stick shift. It's also possible that it's something else, but if you are confident of your mechanical ability, I'd put the cover on and go for it.

[iceracerdude]

+1 Did you think to pour an ounce or two of atf over the shift shafts and gear clusters before you set that cover in place. You'd see a difference from that, but it's just like F46 says, it's not the same as with the engine attached spinning the input shaft cluster at idle.

[georgeb]

If you spin the input shaft slowly while shifting it helps. Make sure you have diff plugs or CV caps to prevent shifting of side gears.

[Nerd Racing]

I have had this problem before, but it was because my shift plate warped when I had it repaired.

[michaelmiller85]

Fixed it! Thanks for the help