Shifter can be put in place farther right thatn 5th gear
 

So driving home tonight I found that I can put the shifter farther over than fifth gear. It will stay in place, but is not in any gear. I can hear a slight grinding noise from the transmission when I do this. The "notch" seems to be right of and slightly below fifth. It does not make a difference if the car is moving or stationary.

My two thoughts: broken/worn engine mounts or worn shifter bushing.

Having had no experience with either I am going to inspect the engine mounts tomorrow according to the shop manual and go from there. Since the car had 130K miles on it and very recently 8psi, the mounts should probably be next on my list anyways.

Any ideas folks? Some searching revealed that others cured sloppy shifting with new mounts, but it seems to shift the same as ever, though the shifter is considerably sloppier than my parents' NB with 60K miles.

Thanks!

I would yank your shifter out of the tranny, Its like 4 nuts holding the upper rubber shifter boot and another 3 holding the lower. I wouldnt doubt your lower one was torn to pieces and maybe the little plastic ball on the very bottom of the shifter is all worn out too.

If you have oem mounts, they are probably shot as well. I would bet the shifter moving more right than normal is due to the lower shift boot that little plastic piece being worn out.

Wow, thanks for the quick response.

The shift boots were replaced 2 years ago, but the plastic ball on the shifter was not, AFAIK.

In the Haynes manual, the picture shows a plastic bushing right below the lower shift boot. Is that the one you're talking about that is allowing the extra movement to the right?

I think I'll go ahead and order new mounts and the appropriate bushings this weekend.

Maybe you found the secret gear.

lololz^ in all seriousness I wants the secret gearz.....