Happy to say that I picked up a 87 GL D/R. 5sp non-turbo for $100 to swap into my 93 Loyale wagon S/R 4wd 5sp. . This trans is not installed, I checked D/R linkage and it moves back and forth easy, seams to ok. The problem is trying to shift into gears 1-5, the rear shift lever will only go back and forth, no side motion. I'm no rocket scientist when comes to transmissions, but Google searches make it sound like internal damage. May something to do with shifting forks/synchro ?? Is there a good write up on how split the case? I planned on resealing anyway. I will post pics of trans in a day or so. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thank you

It will only tilt side to side when it's in "neutral"

 

so you need to push/pull until you feel it stop in the middle click.

 

then it should pivot.  It won't feel like much only about 30 degrees of swing.

 

I did a writeup on front seal replacement in an EJ AWD trans.

 

the D/R is almost identical......the one difference is you will need to unbolt the reverse lockout (2, 10mm bolts, and 1, 14mm bolt with spring and ball under it) to access the shiftrod lock bolt in the rear section.......After that the entire rear section will slide right off (after remove the rear case bolts too)

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by Gloyale

Thanks Gloyale. Great write up! I appreciate the push in the right direction. I was expecting the shift linkage to move side to side into each gear. Like I said I'm not familiar with transmissions, but ready to dive in... I hope to get a reseal kit and get her installed next month. Thank again

Yeah think of the shifting as 3 tracks, 1-2, 3-4, and 5-R  each with a gear at each end, and N in the middle

 

You can only move between "tracks"  side to side when the shifter is in N....once you pick a track by moving into a gear.....you must come back to N before you can skip tracks again.

 

This is partly just the design......and partly intentional that on;y one gear can be selected at a time....(if 2 gears try to engage things start binding/breaking)

Duh.... I get it now. I went back and did what you said and I cycled through all gears. I feel dumb for asking but at least the light bulb is on now. This is one the major areas of my car that I have never touched, I will make sure to take lots of pics when I pull her apart. Thanks again