Hello, I drive a 2001 Ford Escort ZX2 5-Speed Manual; never really had a problem with it, she’s at 130k miles, replaced the tranny and clutch at 115k, the other day when at a red light however the car refused to shift into gear. Well, the exact symptoms are as follows: The clutch has the same pressure it always has, when pressed down the car will roll as if in neutral, when the hand shifter is placed on the N position the car will stall out when the clutch is depressed as if it were in gear. When in -any- gear, including reverse, the hand shifter will “click” into the gear position like normal, but when gas is applied the RPM’s increase but the car doesn’t move.
Now, luckily I managed to have a friend hold the clutch while I pushed her into a parking lot, took a look at the shifter linkage (only had one jack so it was a tight fit, couldn’t get a good look,) and pulled the lower shift bar into what I had assumed to be neutral (looked to be straight into linkage box,) and managed to get the car home in 4th, and not much else. When in “Reverse” the tail lights do come on, the top shifter bar, however, is completely rigid and does not budge a centimeter, is this intentional? What kind of damage am I looking at here? Repair costs?
Any and all help is really appreciated guys, looking to leave for US Coast Guard later this year, and just need this baby to pull through for a few more months.