Festiva Manual Tranny Problem! HELP!!!

[Vinlandfrost]

I have an 89 Festiva L with just over 50k on it. The other day I noticed I lost 3rd, 4th, and Reverse. Thus I jacked it up and found that the Shifter Support Bracket piece( Im not sure if thats the correct term, but its the piece that keeps the stick shift upright and I believe lined up so all the gears engage correctly) was broken/rotted totally away. Would this piece affect how the car engages the 3 gears I lost? I think it does anyhow and I cannot find a part anywhere here in Central NY. Any info would be greatly appreciated as this is my only car to get back and forth to our firestation as well as work.
P.S. The piece Im referring to is mounted by 4 nuts to the frame accessible under the shifter boot.
VinlandFrost :twisted:

[Vinlandfrost]

Added info

I have found that the 'shift stabilizer' is welded to the same part I need. Here is a link to the piece I need. PLEASE HELP!! http://www.festivamotorsport.com/pro...ftassembly.JPG
Thanks!
VinlandFrost :twisted:

[Festy46]

Does the gear shift lever drop down through the "4-bolt housing"? Could you flip the shift assembly upside down and take a picture of the botttom side of the shifter assembly and post it? If it's what I suspect is wrong, it can be a fairly easy fix.
John

[Vinlandfrost]

I cant post a pic. But I can tell you this... The shifter would drop out from the housing so I took the shifter assy. off along with the stabilizer bar, and made a new bushing for it as well as realigning the mount with shifter and put a few prick punches on the casing so it wont slip out again. After all this, still wont go into 4th or Reverse. Linkage seems ok but Im not familiar with transmissions, it acts like it wont go into those 2 gears.

[Festy46]

Make sure your repairs are not preventing the shift lever from moving far enough to engage the gears. Jack up the front of your car and put some saftey jacks under the frame. Place the transmission in neutral. Try turning the wheels to be sure you have it in neutral. Once you are sure the transmission is in neutral, have someone try to put the transmission in 4th gear while you watch the linkage at the transmission. If the transmission won't go into 4th, try rotating the wheels a few inches. If it is still in neutral, remove the bolt that holds the shift rod to the yoke on the transmission and hold the rod below the yoke where you removed it. Have the person inside the car pull back as far as they can on the gear shift in the 4th gear position. The shift rod should move farther forward so that it would now not line up with the yoke bolt hole. If it doesn't move farther forward, then you have a problem with your shift repair job. If it does move farther forward, then you may have an internal problem with the shift gates, possibly a roll pin has come out of the shift fork or been broken. If the transmission has been abused by "speed shifting" or slamming the gearshift lever into each shift gate, this could possibly have broken a roll pin.
You said that 4th and reverse were the only 2 gears you couldn't engage. The above instructions are assuming that you can get the transmission in 3rd. If you can't get it in 3rd either, then you could have a different problem than what I described above.
John

[Vinlandfrost]

Thanks for the great post. I tried that and same thing. Its inside the transmission I fear.....thanks again for the outstanding reply!
Darrin :twisted: