On my 87 GT it's very difficult to shift. The shifter feels like it's moving through molasses and I really have to hammer it over to get it to actually go into reverse or first. It does seem to go through all the gears though. What's likely causing this ? Bad cables ?

I had that problem too, I just replaced the selector cable (Getrag) and it seemed to help alot!

I am interested to find out if that problem is caused by some kind of internal problem?

I have a similiar problem, here is a link to the thread. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/060995.html
I've gone out & bought a new "used' transmission for the car, hope is to get it installed this weekend.

Sk8rfiero
85 2M4coupe
86 SE 2M6
85 SE 2M6

Disconnect the cables and see how easy they move by hand - they should slide very easily, if not you can remove them from the car, hang them up and spray some good penatrant oil inside the cable over a few hours to let it work its way down through the cable. Once it's moving freely, I would them clean them out with some brake cleaner (brake cleaner is safe on rubbers and plastics), then spray in a liberal amount of some cable lube (not oil, but an actually cable lube - can get at motorcycle shops).

If the cables move fine, and the shifter moves freely - than that just leaves the transmission.

I assume you now have the motor running on this car then?

Tim

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 04-09-2005).]

always always check the cables first - its so easy to check em.. if you disconnect them from the transmission you shoul dbe able to push and pull ont he ends and watch the shifter move inside the car..if you can't then go to town with lubricant

Difficulity shifting into 1st seems to be a very common problem. Our shifting improved significantly after doing the items below. Found all of these combing thru forum archives (just giving credit where it's due

· Make sure the nuts holding the selector cables on the transmission are tight and not working their way loose, I had that happen to me a couple months ago. Tightened them down and haven't had any problems since.
· Try replacing transmission oil with GM Synchromesh fluid.
· Try adjusting and greasing the cable bushings.

Note: Short (competition) shifters require more effort. Revert to the stock shift lever.

Hope this helps.

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Steve, 87 Fiero GT, Getrag w/Ultimate Shift Kit, Street Dreams drop spindles, Poly mounts, KYBs, Borla exhaust, Pioneer audio, DashScan

Does yours behave the same when shifting with the engine off? If it shifts smoothly, perhaps the cables are not to blame. You may not have to disconnect them to find this out. If it doesn't shift smoothly, the cables may or may not be involve.

Mine shifts very smoothly with the engine off. So I took the cables out of the equation for now. While running, 1st is a bit hard and 5th is never really smooth, too much of an angled move, I guess. The others shifts vary, with 4th always being silky smooth. Either my car is behaving "normal" or the tranny is showing its age. Nothing grinds, so far. (I was driving an Audi S4 6bi-turbo recently and its smooth shift spoiled me...yeah, the engine too...chip-enhanced 330+hp). My 86 Fiero has a stock Isuzu and the L4 iDuke.

BTW, synchromesh fluid didn't help at all but it may easily be that the previous owner had already put some in. I found Pennzoil's at Autozone. It is much cheaper than GM's...then again, maybe they are not really the same thing and I should have tried GM's.

Good luck!
Beno

Another thing a lot of people forget to do every now and then is to lubricate the shifter itself. If the cables are fine, try lubing the shifter with lithium grease or something. I found even WD40 works to loosen up the bearing shafts a bit.

If you lube the shifter... Valvoline and some others make a spray grease that should work well. WD 40 is a very poor lube but will wash out crud follow it up with Valvoline Synpower spray oil or grease, either will provide much more lubricant. Even 3in1 or CRC 5-56 are better than WD 40 for a lube.

Defintiely install Synchromesh fluid. It is specifically made to adress various shifting issues as well as proerly lube the trans.

DO NOT put any kind of oil based product into the cables! That may free them short term but Will make them bind even worse in the near future. Anything you use in the cables has to be specificaly made to work in that use. Any sort of oil and even some synthetic lubes contain things that will increase damage to the plastics in the cable.

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