1986 SE w/ 2.8 V6 and 4-speed

First off, I know squat about transmissions. Here's the issue:

After driving for about 10 minutes today, shifting became very difficult. Then, I noticed she would not shift down from 3rd to 2nd, but I could go from 1st to 2nd. Limped back home (just a little joy ride with my daughter) and turned her off. Quick look at fluid levels looked fine. Came back out 15 minutes later and now, she is stuck near 2nd gear and the shifter will not move at all. If I pull down on the shifter while the car is running, it grinds and sounds high-pitched.

I'm assuming this is a clutch issue of some kind, but again - I do not know transmissions. This has not happened before. Any suggestions on where to start would be very much appreciated!

When the transmission grinds while trying to put it in gear, that's a sign that the clutch isn't disengaging entirely. The most likely causes are either not enough travel in the clutch slave cylinder or a worn out clutch disk.

If you're not getting enough slave cylinder travel (about 1-1/8" measured at the pushrod on the transmission), you either have a leak in the master clutch cylinder, or slave cylinder, or a bent clutch pedal (common problem). If you are getting full movement of the clutch pushrod then the most likely problem is that our clutch is worn out.

Awesome, thanks for the reply! I will start digging in from there and see what I can find.

The clutch pedal arm looks bent due to the way it is made, the only way to tell is by comparing with a known good clutch arm.
I will go on to say that in 20+ years of messing around with Fieros, I still have never seen a bent clutch arm.
Check the carpeting on the driver side up under the dash, if the master cylinder seal is bad there will be staining on the carpet, possibly even wet. Check fluid level in the reservoir, add if needed, rebleed the system. If you need new master and/or slave, Rodney is the way to go....

quote Originally posted by Mantioch: One question: would that cause the shifter to physically not be able to move in any direction?

If the clutch isn't fully disengaging, then you won't be able to move the shifter when the engine is running (except side to side). If you can't even move the shifter when the engine is stopped, then the problem is a mechanical one with either the shifter mechanism, the cables, or the shift levers on the transmission.

If you can't move the shifter even when the engine is off, then first try removing the shifter console (shifter knob and the four screws under the ashtrays) and make sure there isn't any obstruction like loose coins or other objects that may have fallen into the mechanism. If that's not the problem, the while you're there, have a good look at the shifter mechanism itself. A number of folks here have had cracks develop in the shifter assembly which prevented them from shifting properly since the entire mechanism would bend or move in way it wasn't supposed to.

Lastly, if that's fine, then get a helper to move the shifter as much as possible while you watch the levers on the transmission. A side to side motion of the shifter should result in the shaft coming out of the transmission to move in and out of the case. A fore and aft motion of the shifter should result in the shaft rotating. Some people have experienced broken cable ends, worn levers at the transmission, and broken cable brackets at the transmission. Look for all of these things.

[This message has been edited by Bloozberry (edited 05-18-2014).]

Great help - thanks, guys! The carpet under the driver side was wet when I took it out last week - I had assumed it was rainwater coming in from a windshield leak somewhere - but now I'm thinking maybe not

Just to close out this thread (I hate it when problem threads do not include the eventual solution) - the issue was a seized shift cable. I disconnected the cable from the transmission and the cable would not move but the arm on the transmission would. I ordered a new cable from Rodney and just put it on. Apparently, the cable had always been an issue because now it shifts smooooooooth. Before it was always very clunky.

Thanks, all, for your support!!