if i sit in my car idling or with the engine off, i can shift into all 6 gears easily w/o any problems at all. when i start rolling 1st thru 4th shift perfectly. when i go to fifth, it won't go. 6th is very hard to get into also. it doesn't grind or anything...it's just like there are no shifter points for 5th and 6th. i stopped and put it into 5th and lugged the start but 5th was there and worked fine then 6th shifted perfectly. i also can now not get it in reverse. the same issues...like there is no slot for it. reverse was working fine.
also at about 55 mph, the speedo is reading 34 mph, what would cause this? i just bought the car from a bank that repo'd it, so i can't talk to the previous owner


are there solenoids that "block off" gears or what is the problem?

 

Well, first of you don't own a WS6 if your car is a 1994, they didn't come out in 4th gens until 1996.

It almost sounds like a combo of this... There is a Reverse lockout selenoid that's mounted onto your tranny, as well as a skip-shift selenoid. It sounds like those may be screwed up, as well as your VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor).

Or it just may be that he had some sort of Re-programming done with the car and it got screwed up so you may need to have the PCM re-flashed.

These are just ideas.. but how strong they are I can't really tell you.

 

yep

 

Hmm...sounds "syncros" to me. What is your milage?

 

106,000 miles
with the engine idling and shifting into fifth or sixth, wouldn't it grind if the synchros were bad? this feels like there is no slot or groove for fifth or sixth as i drive. it also feels almost like the shifter wants to hang up between gears if i keep trying to find fifth or sixth. i have to go back to fourth to find a groove.

 

it almost sounds like your CAGS is reversed or something and is locking out those 2 gears. But that also doesnt seem right since cags only activates at low speeds.

 

I'm not postive but I doubt think cags can lock out your 5 and 6 gears only 2 and 3. It sounds like his synchros are going out.

 

i took it out and drove it for about thirty minutes and it seemed to really help it. it shifts pretty good into all gears now except reverse...it won't go there idle, engine off, or anything. it went in reverse okay when i unloaded it off the trailor and drove it the first time..now it won't go at all. the car has been sitting in a repo yard for a few months. this shifter really feels touchy though.
i see the bolts that hold the shifter lever onto the shifter have been taken off before, they are rounded a little. how can i tell if this is the stock shifter and how do i diagnose the reverse problem?

 

Mine always has a problem going into reverse unless I put it in 6th first to get the tranny to stop spinning.