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I can think of three places it could have stiffened up, and there are probably more. If you want to find out systematically:
You can take off the plastic console/shift linkage cover by unscrewing it from the floor and unscrewing the shift knob so you can slip the boot up and off. Once this is done you can see the whole inside-the-car part of the shift linkage.
You can uncouple this from the actual transmission by disconnecting the universal joint up near the firewall. The two halves of the joint are joined by a taper pin, and unless it's been boogered up by a previous owner this pin will have a little nut on the small end. To remove the pin, transfer the nut to the big end and tighten it down to pull the pin out. If the nut is gone, tap out the pin with a drift.
Once you've disconnected the joint, try moving the shift lever. If it still doesn't move, you know the problem is inside the car, and one good candidate is the big ball-and-socket joint at the base of the lever -- it may be gooped up and stuck. Try cleaning it and working some white lithium grease into it, and see if that makes it easier to move.
If the lever moves freely when disconnected from the transmission, then the problem has to be at the transmission end. This is hard to see because it's down under the steering rack in the engine compartment. Put the shift linkage back together, put the console back on, and transfer your attention to the under-hood area.
One thing you can do to get a quick eval of the transaxle is to remove the filler plug, stick a thin rod or stiff wire down there, and see what you fish up. If the car has sat for a long time, you may come up with dark, ugly, solidified gear lube, and that could be what's making it hard to shift. You can try to flush this out with ATF (automatic transmission fluid; in fact if the car has sat a long time this is a good idea even if the shifting problem is somewhere else.) ATF is good for this because it's thin, slippery, and has lots of detergents in it.
So, go to an auto parts store and buy a whole bunch of the cheapest ATF you can find, maybe a couple of gallons! Then remove the drain plug on the bottom of the transaxle and let out whatever's in there. Once it's drained, put the plug back in and fill up the transaxle with two quarts of ATF. Now turn the transaxle however you can (maybe jack up one front wheel and turn it by hand, with the clutch pushed in) to stir up the ATF and work it around. After a couple of minutes of this, drain and then repeat several times. With luck, the shifter will start to loosen up during this treatment, and you'll be able to stir it around and select gears. If you can get the car running and shifting, you might want to drive it around the block (no more) with ATF in the trans. After several changes you should have rinsed most of the old goop out. Now refill the transaxle with two quarts of the proper 75-80wt gear oil (I like Redline MTL) and you should be ready to drive... although I'd do an initial change in about a week just to get rid of any leftover goop.
If flushing the transaxle still won't make it shift gears, you have to face the possibility of mechanical damage, either inside the transaxle or outside. For example, the gears actually are shifted by a rod that twists and slides back and forth in the transaxle cover; you can see this from the top if you look down at it as someone else works the gearstick. Sometimes the cover gets dented or the rod gets bent, so it no longer moves smoothly. It's also possible that something has gotten caught in the selector forks inside the transaxle, so that they can't move to select the gears.
To really get at this stuff and find out what the problem is, you'll have to remove the transaxle and pull the top cover off. That's a big job (nose has to come off and engine has to come out together with the transaxle) so by all means try checking the linkage and flushing the transaxle first!!!
posted by 204.76.113...
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