My car is stuck in reverse

[martinz]

Hello all, this is my first post and I would really appreciate any advice.

I own a 2004 pontiac sunfire that has been sitting outside over the winter (not driving)
and yesterday I went to start the car and everything is fine except the shifter is stuck in
reverse.

Its a 5 speed manual transmission. I have tried with all my strength to shift into another gear
and the shifter just won’t come out of reverse.

Any ideas ?

Edit: I should also mention that the clutch peddle works fine and i’m able to drive in reverse.

Topic

[Bret]

Linkage somewhere maybe? Synchros worst case scenario probably?

Im guessing you probably know how to change gears but did you put the clutch in even if its off, if the weight of the car is resting on the gears it probably wont budge but if you put your foot on the clutch it moves easily but seeing you said you can start and drive in reverse it probably isnt relevant =]

[martinz]

[quote=”Yavion” post=133836]Linkage somewhere maybe? Synchros worst case scenario probably?

Im guessing you probably know how to change gears but did you put the clutch in even if its off, if the weight of the car is resting on the gears it probably wont budge but if you put your foot on the clutch it moves easily but seeing you said you can start and drive in reverse it probably isnt relevant =][/quote]

I have tried to put the clutch in with it off and no luck. Its still stuck in reverse. I have also noticed today that my clutch peddle does not go all the way down to the floor. Feels if i push harder, something will break. I had to use a lot of force on the clutch peddle to be able
to start the car, With the clutch down ( and far as it will go) the car rolls in reverse when i release the parking break.

[Bret]

Is it one of those cars when you need to push in the clutch to start the car(its a safety thing) could just be peddle adjustment? if it hydraulic or cable, but I don’t see how the peddle will have the box stuck in reverse

At least the clutch disengages seeing the car rolls

Did you manage to start the car and drive it in reverse like you said in first comment or did it just roll with the clutch to the floor? theres kinda a big difference

Did it all work properly before it sat? I don’t live in the states we don’t even have that model car nor does it reach freezing even in winter where I am, so I may not be the best help with this

[martinz]

I live in toronto,canada and we have bad winters (very cold/lots of snow) and the car was working fine last November 2014
when i last drove it.

Its been sitting for 4 months without driving and yesterday I decided to start it to see if everything was okay. Everything was fine,
except I coud not take the car out of reverse after trying everything. The clutch worked normal and I was able to reverse the car, although I have tried again today and now the clutch only goes 85% down to the floor and I had difficulty starting the car today because
yes, the clutch needs to be fully pressed down in order to start the car.

I have read the manual for the car and located the Clutch Master Cylinder Reservoir which I found was low in fluid. Could this be the problem ?

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

[Bret]

So yea its hydraulic clutch seeing its low could possibly maybe be a leak? because hydraulic fluid isn’t consumed when used it stays there until its taken out usually it doesn’t just disappear, otherwise it has a leak somewhere which could introduce air which will mess with the clutch I don’t see how that effects the shifter might explain the peddle though

If it has an airlock in the lines that made its way in there since it sat could of cycled the airlock around yesterday when you touched it and moved it further along the line and made the clutch act differently so your kinda just compressing air with your foot to the point you cant compress it anymore

To be honest though i really don’t know sorry all that is just kinda a stab in the dark and a theory

[Nick Warner]

I think if you had air in the line you would have the clutch going all the way to the floor. Just like a brake pedal goes to the floor when you blow a line and get air in it. If the throwout bearing was binding on the trans input shaft it could keep you from getting all the way to the floor.

As far as the shifter, you need to unhook the linkage from the trans and see if you can now move it. If the shifter now moves freely you have an issue in the trans. If not you need to find where in the linkage it is bound up.

[Lorrin Barth]

If it were a clutch problem you should still be able to shift through the gears with the engine off. Since you can’t then the problem is with the shifter mechanism or the transmission. Maybe something has fallen into the shifter arms on the transmission.

[Ryan Wofford]

here is my best guess, Rust from not using the car all winter on your input shaft has your clutch stuck just barely in the into the engaged position not enough to make the car move per-say but enough to make it not shift, this would cause the clutch not going all the way down, the reverse situation has kinda stumped me but I believe there are 2 cables (or linkages depending on the car) that go from your shifter to the actual transmission if one is rusted in place it would cause the stuck shifter.

[Lorrin Barth]

Since we haven’t heard recently from the OP my theory is that he found the problem and has set out for Florida.

[Author]

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