I was curious never had a standard shift with your problem. Found a guy which had similar problems but only fifth gear would work. He put some final notes which I will post maybe it will help. His problem was the cable broke so he was not really shifting into gear.(96 Saturn)
1. If you are having the problem, first visually check the cables under the hood - make sure they are still connected
2. Then check the cables visually, inside the
engine compartment. The lower cable is hard to see
3. Next thing to check would be where the cables connect to the shifter. You'll need to remove the center console. 2 screws in the back of the console, two at the front behind the
fuse panel door, and in the same place on the drivers side. Popout and disconnect the
power window switch assm. Pop out the cup holders, twist out the
little light. Disconnect the
cigarette lighter. The shifter **** is a friction fit - pull up but watch out - mine let loose with a lot of force - watch you head.
Check the cables to make sure they are still connected to shifter. A common problem reported often (not my problem), is the cable bushing breaking. The end of the cable has a
plastic ring. In the ring is a bushing that snaps over a piece on the shifter. If the busing breaks, it needs to be replaced. Google it, there is a lot of information on it and after market parts to fix it.
If, you are unlucky like I was, and your cable is broken, you'll need to replace it