1999 SE 2.0L VCT Manual Trans

[99contourSE]

The transmission has been scraping for quite some time now in 1st and 3rd gear. If i go easy on it, it doesn't scrape. I replaced the clutch(It had the original at 230,000miles) I know this because the car was my grandfather's and he was the only owner. Anyways, It didn't fix the problem and found it to be the synchros. The other night, driving home from work, I took a corner and lone behold, I had no second gear!!! I tried to downshift but it would only let me into fourth. The really weird part? I could physically slide the shifter over to where second gear should have been without the clutch being pressed in and without lifting it out of gear it just slid. After a couple minutes the shifter locked back into fouth and I was able to downshift to second again. Why is this? Has anyone ever run across a problem similar to this before? It's happened to me twice now, and it's really got me scratching my head. Any help is appreciated.

 

[BrApple]

I was going to say it sounds like the shift tower bolt ... but if that was the case then it wouldn't start working again. There is a possibility that its a newer shift tower and the weld failed ... but then the pieces still move together .... not sure.

Have you check the condition of the end links? Perhaps the linkage got stuck or loose and then came back together.

 

[99contourSE]

I haven't had the chance to pull the transmission, as that would mean dropping the subframe and all sorts of other fun stuff. Is there any sort of a rebuild kit for these transmissions and do you know how much a new one would cost. I'm not really worried about the cost or "if the engine will last that long," because I am throwing a new block in come next tax return.