Questions and Answers

Loose Shift Linkage Q. Dear Vincent Ciulla, I am driving a 1995 Ford Aspire with a manual transmission. I went out the other day to start the car up and the shifter was extremely loose. I could move it up and down rather easily. It's still able to shift and be driven but I refuse to drive it until I find out what's wrong with it.

I don't have any experience working on manual transmission and I've been searching the web extensively in hopes that I would find the answer. I came across your site and I believe that you are the most qualified person to answer my question. Your site is great, it has helped me in the past with questions that I've had before. This one just has me stumped. Any input you may have on this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Marty

A. There are several pivot points in the shift linkage. At each point there is a bushing or some other ball type joint. Any one of these could go bad or break and cause the shifter to become loose. I'm afraid in this case the best thing is a close visual inspection of the shift linkage to see where, exactly, the problem lies.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific.

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