Help replacing shift cables....is my tranny toast?

[Ejnovinsky]

Had a shift cable break last week, car had to be trucked home on a flatbed already had a set on order as I knew they were in poor shape. Well I got them today...put them on and having tranny issues now......Standing in front of the car facing it there are 2 levers on trans...left one moves left to right, and right one moves up and down. Im sure you all know that. The issue that the right lever will not move at all. I can get 2 positions out of the left one more than enough to attach the cable but can get no movement out of the right one at all...in fact it was a bear just to get the cable over the stud on the lever as if the lever is back too far.....is there a trick Im missing here? I assumed this would be an easy straight forward assembly. So at this point Im thinking the worst i.e. my tranny is shot. The car will roll with the clutch in.......and when the cable broke there wasnt any noise or anything that would indicate the tranny exploded......Any help appreciated....Thanks!

 

[DannyHart]

Try taking both of the cables off the tranny side, have a friend pressing the clutch petal in and see if you can move the lever on the tranny and let us know, could be as simple as the cables being diferent length.

 

[dylnwit]

Do you have a little movement or none at all? If there is a little movement to it, it could be as simple as the gears aren't lined up well enough to just slide in. Normally the syncros help with this, but it all works better spinning, especially if they're worn. Think about how much of a pain reverse can be from time to time...

 

[Ejnovinsky]

I did block down the clutch pedal and try to move the levers with cables off...no dice....left one will move to 2 different positions, right has slight movement...it clicks back and forth maybe a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch.....havent tried it with car running yet, going to try and rock it a little running tommorow if I can find a gear somewhere by hand. do both levers have to be in a certain sync? would one being out of position in relation to the other cause the other to then freeze up? does anyone have a diagram or know which gear is which lever position?