Ok, well 1st let me say I have done some research prior to asking for help, but I would like some opinions or some people to clear up my thinking.

Timeline of relevant info:

Feb 7 2008

bought 88GT. It had been sitting, not run much in the past year. prior to that it was a California car.
after the first week or so of driving it it started being difficult to shift into first and shift from 2nd to 3rd. reverse was kinda difficult, but not too bad compared to first. once the car warmed up it was better, but it was still not easy.

Mar 31 08
I drive 1000 miles out to rhode island where I am now. car drove pretty well, but it was still kinda tough to shift.

after a few weeks it was hard to the point where my arm was sore after driving it from working so hard.

Thursday I could barely get it into first gear

Friday I could NOT get it into first gear, and shifting into 3rd was nearly impossible.

So now I am here. Yesterday I was doing some research on here. I checked to see if i could shift with the car off, and I cannot. That means the slave cylinder is most likely NOT bad. ok, good. I then took the shift cables out which took me much longer that it should have (4 hours) The select cable was run behind a heat shield where it took me FOREVER to get it out.

After getting them out, I looked at how easily the shift cable moves. VERY easy. select cable is MUCH much harder. Could that be the only issue? I havent checked the fluid level yet, I need to drive it somewhere else, my drive way is not level. for now, I am trying to smooth out the select cable. Should this cable slide very easy or is supposed to be harder?

I tried to shift with the cables off at the transmission itself. It wasnt too difficult to shift, but nowhere near as difficult as through the shifter.

Any thoughts? Ideas?

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www.USBcar.com<--Car Flash drives.

A bad select cable can definitely make it impossible to shift into first gear. I had one go bad on me too. Bad hydraulics would not prevent you from shifting with the car off. I would suggest replacing the see what you have.

You probably need a new cable. The select cable should not be hard to move.

ok, thats what I thought. Thanks guys! + to you guys!

Im gonna try and lube it up, at least enough to get it to last until the end of summer. I doubt i will be able to afford one until then. I may have one laying around somewhere.

If anyone else has any other ideas as to what it might be, shout out. Ill work on this and report back. Its already gotten easier to slide. Hopefully it will get much better today.

[This message has been edited by UCFieroCharger (edited 05-24-2008).]

plug one end of cable ,,use paper and tape ..form small funnel at top and fill with pb blaster or liquid wrench Hang cable so it is completely off the ground ,after soak as well as possible let penetrent flow out and respray to help drain rust and trash .. see if cable moves freely then spray or drop favorite lube in cable go ahead place a big dollop in thier and let drain..wipe wire cable at both ends and clean ALL lubricant from wire,, this will prevent excess dirt cinging to wire.. there should be NO binding, reuse insulation
clean dirt from shift mechanism.. a small amount of wd 40 around shift
shaft let flow in and wipe clean ..of course check for frayed wire ,a frayed cable wire can be soldered and will function great,,bent ends are trimed with a sharp pair of diagonal cutters

check ajustment of hand shift lever mechanism page 7a 5 in Haynes manual//page 186 in old chilton manual//under shift cable ajustment in new chilton in drive train section

Never do shim ajustment unless you know what you are doing!! if it wasn,t for pick pockets Id have no sex life

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 05-24-2008).]

Connect the trans end first then the shifter end.