[chaunceybailey]

I have an 06' zx3 5-speed and I guess something has gone out in my transmission but I don't know what. I was driving to work yesterday and randomly at a red light my car just wasn't in gear anymore. I didn't hear any noises before it happened. I just tried to shift into to hear at the red light and there was nothing for the shifter to go into. The clutch still has pressure but the stick just moves freely around. The car starts and sounds fine I just can't get it into gear. Is there any common answer as to what the problem is and is it something I could fix on my own or requires me to take it to a shop?

 

[sailor]

Moved to General Tech Chat

Couple possibilities, the trans is cable shifted, and having the cable for front to rear movement of the lever come unhooked would make nothing happen (not unheard of). Some have even managed to zip tie an end back on a lever to shift again indefinitely before replacement.

Second, there's a "roll pin" in the shift tower of the trans that can break making it not shift, usually that gets sloppy before breaking completely. There's a thread in here on replacing that.

gotta do some investigation to see where things aren't moving right now.

 

[chaunceybailey]

Moved to General Tech Chat

Couple possibilities, the trans is cable shifted, and having the cable for front to rear movement of the lever come unhooked would make nothing happen (not unheard of). Some have even managed to zip tie an end back on a lever to shift again indefinitely before replacement.

Second, there's a "roll pin" in the shift tower of the trans that can break making it not shift, usually that gets sloppy before breaking completely. There's a thread in here on replacing that.

gotta do some investigation to see where things aren't moving right now.

I know in the past my roll pin has broken, maybe two years ago. I was having trouble shifting before that happened though, before it finally gave out. This time it just went from fine to not fine in the time it took the red light to turn green and I had been driving for twenty minutes before that with no issue. I am going to pull the battery housing out tomorrow to get a better look, I can see movement from the cable but I can not tell if it looks okay or not.

 

[sailor]

That sounds more like the cable's unhooked this time.

 

[chaunceybailey]

Okay I was just seeing if I could get to the cables under the hood to see if I could notice anything and I got to a stopping point when I got the battery out and got the housing for the battery out. Under the housing is five bolts, four smaller and one larger in the center. Under the plate is where the cables seem to be attached but I don't want to remove the plate not knowing what it is. I have done several more than basic repairs to the car as well as taken it to a shop. Since its the holidays and all I don't have much income to put towards taking it to a shop so I was really hoping to make the repair myself.

 

[sailor]

You're looking at the driver's side mount for the drive train, you wouldn't want to try to unbolt that as if you managed the trans would just drop.

Look at the large cables running to the trans from the firewall to see where they attach.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

I have pics of all that stuff somewhere on here..... did you try looking at the shifter in the car? That's the easiest place to look. Under the hood, you should only have to visually check- with a flashlight- to see if the cables are attached. I bet something broke on the shifter in the car console.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304574

 

[chaunceybailey]

You're looking at the driver's side mount for the drive train, you wouldn't want to try to unbolt that as if you managed the trans would just drop.

Look at the large cables running to the trans from the firewall to see where they attach.

Here is the plate I'm talking about, I can't really see under where the cables actually attach to the transmission. The "hammer" that I've circled in the one photo still moves when I move the shifter inside the car. I'm guessing since that is still moving that it may be the roll pin.

 

[chaunceybailey]

I have pics of all that stuff somewhere on here..... did you try looking at the shifter in the car? That's the easiest place to look. Under the hood, you should only have to visually check- with a flashlight- to see if the cables are attached. I bet something broke on the shifter in the car console.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304574

I was going to pull up the center console to see if everything was attached on the inside but wasn't sure if I really needed to since I can see movement from the cables under the hood when some one is moving the shifter on the inside.

 

[sailor]

Could be, Whynot's link gives the best pictures of that whole assy., his thread is the reference for roll pin repair.

Peeking around the mount to see the cable connections isn't the easiest.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

You can feel the cables working the mechanism on top of the transmission without removing the transmission mount. I used the supplied emergency jack to hold the transmission in place. You actually want to loosen those bolts, then jack up slightly so you can see that all the weight is off the mount before removing it.

Look on the side of the mount closest to the firewall, you'll find the cable connections. You should be able to hear the shifter flopping around inside the car while you operate the cables by hand.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

I thought I had better pictures of those connections in that thread..... shame on me

 

[cheap sleeper]

Yo before you go too much further under the hood, lift out your shifter boot and look and see if your whole shifter base is broke and freely moving with the stick. Also, if the base is good, check when you move the stick around and make sure the cable end is attatched to the bottom of the stick.