I was driving today and went to shift from 2nd to 3rd and heard a pop where the stick enters the gearbox. Now the car won't change out of 2nd and the stick is loose forward and backwards, but won't move side to side. The clutch seems to be working fine, it disengages the engine, just can't shift because the stick won't gain any traction. Is this a transmission problem or merely something wrong with the shifting mechanism?
I had this same problem with my 1998 SL2 after about 170,000 miles. There is a plastic bushing at the end of the shifter cable that holds the cable to the shifter - it probably broke. Remove the center console inside the car to access the bottom of the shifter. I checked my local Saturn dealer to find the replacement cables (come as a set) are more than $200. So I went to Lowes and bought a beam clamp and a large washer to hold the cable to the shifter. It has been working fine for more than 28,000 miles and cost less than $3
Sounds like a bent linkage or "horseshoe" clip that holds the shift cables to the transmission. A diagram can be found here and I think you will find your problem; the transmission should be ok if no previous problems existed.
http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/49087/size/big/cat/
I am working on my 98 right now and am having troubles with the shifting mechanism. The shifter is very loose feeling and sloppy. I went to the parts salvage yard and bought a used shifter assy. with cables and installed them. After closer inspection, I found that there is a plate on the top of the transmission under the hood. The shifting linkage is mounted to this plate. I noticed that a linkage arm is mounted to the plate via a very poor design, it's a pin that has been peened over. Mine was so loose, it almost fell off. I took it apart to repair it and when that arm is off, the trans will be stuck in a gear, but is able to move side to side, just as you describe. The design of this linkage assy. is horrible, I can't imagine it lasting 150,000 miles like it should. I bet this is a very common problem when these cars hit five years old. I didn't want to take the plate off to repair, so I pushed out the pin and welded the arm onto the pin with a washer on both sides. I than pressed the assy. back into the plate, it was by no means an easy or a proper repair, but I couldn't imagine buying Saturn replacement part to fix this. I wonder if there even available. I can send you pictures of what I.m talking about, email if you want, I have a hotmail account and my name is
colin-pm@***********
How to fix leaking transmission 2001 sl2 Saturn manual
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