I was driving to work 2 days ago and i went to shift into 3rd and my shifter went limp. I could rotate it 360 degrees, it freaked me out. Instantly i thought i blew my tranny. I pulled to the side of the road and fooled around with it a bit. I ended up pulling the shifter upwards (towards the roof) and to the left or something and it popped back in and seemed to work fine. When i was leaving to go home from work and warming up the car i decided (like an idiot) to fool around with it to see what happened. Well i got it to break again and spent the next fifteen minutes trying to fix it again. The best i could do was get it so that 2nd, 4th and reverse worked. I just finished pulling it apart and seeing what was wrong. The one thing i noticed is that the spring that rests between the 'gear shift control lever guide' and the 'shift lever ball' is broken in two, so i am sure this is part of my problem, but even with that broken shouldn't the lever still be able to put the tranny in 1st and 3rd gear? It feels like it's hitting a wall when i try. Any ideas? Also, it doesn't look like that spring would be easy to replace (the size of the smallest part of the spring is smaller than the biggest parts of the shift lever). So would i have to get a whole new assembly or do you just somehow thread it on?
Thanks for help, Robert.

I would say the spring is most likely the problem. Also check the shifter itself. They are a two piece design and maybe it has loosened up?

Ya i guess i'll just get the spring or the whole shifter and see if i still have the problem. While i'm in there i wouldn't mind putting in some sort of after market shifter, but i doubt they make any sort of short throw shifter for a tracker, do they?
Robert

Oh i guess it's worth mentioning that my Tracker is a 92.
Robert

So i figured it out. The broken spring caused problem number 2 which was not being able to use first, third and fifth. The reason i couldnt use those gears was because the donut that the end of the shifter sits in was out of place and blocking the shifting. It would have helped if i knew that piece existed. So i got a new shifter, put the donut where it belonged and it is fixed in perfect time because it snowed today, now i'm going to go have some fun.
Thanks for the input.
Robert

Wow

This is exactly the problem I am facing right now.

I pulled the manual shift lever on my 90 tracker to put in a 3" body lift and when I reinstalled it I've lost the front gears (1st & 3rd).
2nd 4th and rev. are there just not the front ones. Theres no binding on the lever and it appears to seat in the tranny properly.

What does the donut look like that the shifter ball seats in?  When I look in \to the tranny I see an approx. 1" circular space.  Does the donut fit into this circular space???

Hope someone can help I'm dead in the water.

It is a rubber/plastic piece that sits inside the metal part that shifts the gears, (name of metal part?) Stick your fingers in there and see if it's actually sitting in there or not. Move your fingers all around that metal part and see if you feel anything else, i didn't even realise it was in there until i felt it move, then i had to get some hooks in there to pull it out. If you find it there are two ways to put it back in, make sure the bigger side is facing up. Also keep in mind if the spring was broken at all it could be a piece of the spring blocking your path. And on another note, from what i have read, when you do a lift you have to bend or add to the shifter to make it fit better, that could be your problem too. Hope this helps.
Robert

Oh, i re-read your question, yes the metal part that i speak of has the 1" circular space that you are talking about and that is where the donut rests. When you put your shifter back in the ball at the end of the shifter goes into that space, and it will go in regardless of whether you have that donut in place. Just works alot better when that donut isn't stuck behind the metal part.
OH and i can also add that the donut will probably be up against the back wall, (closest to the rear of the car) that's why you can't get 1, 3 and 5 gears.
Robert

Huh.  I bet this is why I have so much trouble with the Gnewt in 1, 3, and 5...

Guess I should open her up!