I just bought an E81 4sp. dr m/t with the transmission stuck in gear.  I tried looking for other threads that might already cover this, but had no luck.  I would like to get it working if possible, but I am not too worried because I have an E82 5sp. dr m/t that I am going to swap it with anyways.

My first guess would be a broken shifting fork, or something broke and is jamming the shifting fork keeping it from moving. First thing would do is pull the stick and see if you can see what the problem is.

Just my $0.02

Pulling the stick won't help since it's not a top loader tranny. If you can get it out of gear running by trying different shifts in 2wd & 4wd then you've got something bound up or broken internally. You'd have to pull it and split it open. If you're going to do that, may as well just do the swap.

Oh ya I forgot about the stick being differant on these.

Pulling the stick won't help since it's not a top loader tranny. If you can get it out of gear running by trying different shifts in 2wd & 4wd then you've got something bound up or broken internally. You'd have to pull it and split it open. If you're going to do that, may as well just do the swap.

 

 

I am going to do the swap, but I would like to put in the other to sell it running.

Have you lifted the shifter skirt and made sure all the bolts are in place, and the shifter shaft isn't bent too far? Dumb question, perhaps, but sometimes those are the most easily overlooked.

I remember doing some drift busting after I got the d/r swapped into mine. Ready to drive, get on the road and...won't leave 4lo??? Stop, pull over, poke around. The bolt that secures the FWD/4WD shift lever to the actual push rod that goes into the transmission? Yep, that bolt was nearly slid out, just hanging (literally) by a thread and jammed the entire shenanigans until I jimmied it back into place...unlikely, but it can happen.

The shift linkage was initially missing the nut but I found one and put out on. The bushing for the linkage is pretty sloppy but it doesn't even seem like the rod going into the transaxle is even moving. I also am pretty sure it is not the clutch because I can actually start the rig and drive it with enough gas.

With the shifter skirt up, can you manipulate the rod by hand? That would tell you if it's a linkage problem or an internal problem. A linkage problem is a $10 fix you can do in an hour; and internal problem...probably isn't worth it unless you're building a rig.

I can move it very slightly, but it doesn't actually sound like it is moving in and out of gear.  How much throw does just the rod have?

The rod is not moving but maybe a mm.  Going to try some other fixes, I found on the web, tonight. I post if I get it fixed.