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This is going to be a very un-technical post... but I'll do my best to describe my problem...

About 3 years ago i was shifting hard and all of a sudden my gear shift dropped about 3 inches... boy was I pissed... I was able to hold it up and shift through the gears for a while... then I had a friend throw it up on a hoist... I'll try to describe what I saw...

it looks like the gear **** goes pretty much straight down, and it links to a rod that runs forward (to the transmission?)... it is where the rod and the shifter meets that something is missing... it should be holding the gear shift up (and on a guide maybe?)

So it sounds like something rusted off and just fell off the car... I'm going to a junk yard to pick up some interior pieces and a front bumper assembly tomorrow and was wondering if anyone on the board knows what I should be looking for to replace this guide/bracket thing... (There isnt a guide anymore for where the gears are.. you just need to know heh)

anyway.. thanks to any and all that respond

Jeremy

if it looks like it's broken, you need the complete shifter stabilizer. there are two rods that come from the tranny. one is for the actual gears, one is to hold up the shifter.

pic
that's a pic of the one i sold to marlon. you can ask him for a better picture if you need one.

Thanks for the reply man! I think thats what I need.. but I *will* need a better picture.. do you have this guys email addie so I can request a few pics?

thanks for your help!

I had the same problem with my car. All you need to do is go to a local junkyard and buy a new shifter. It will include the actual stick for the shifter and two long rods which connect underneath the car. It was only $25 bucks for mine and was easy to install. You will have to loosen the exhaust pipes to get it in but it only took me an hour and now it works great!

you are lucky there, my shifter stabelizer bar decided to break its slef off the bell houseing destroying where it went into, it broke first, then right at the start of winter my shifter broke like yours did, so i know what you are expiraning right tehre

before I bought my car my friend owned it and the shifter dropped. His dad welded a metal plate underneath the shifter so it would not be able to drop anymore. Exact same thing happend to him as you have described and the plate has been on for years. still works great!

the same thing happened to me and all it was just the bolt that holds the shifter into the shifting rod so I went to mazda and got new busings and bolts for ten bucks and shifts like brand new.

I got the shifter bolted back up into place as well.. and its been holding steady for almost two years.. the problem is that there is no guide for the gears.. its fine for me because I've had 2 years of practice but anyone else driving the car has serious problems.. the distance between geers seems to be very long... like i said, i've gotten used to it but would like to get it fixed if i ever sell the car. I'm not sure what exactly is broken under there.. I think there is supposed to be a housing of somesort that bolts it up to the underside of the car where the shifter stabilizer thing meets the other part that is vertical and goes up into the car (yeah, real technical.. i know lol)

does anyone have a good close up of how it is supposed to look? I'll get my car up on blocks sometime and take a look-see this weekend and bring my digi cam with me to post what mine looks like

i had to laugh when i saw the post heading. My shifter dropped last night when I was coasting to a stop. So I thought I'd find the problem or the part right there. Vanished. I see mounting holes for something in the tunnel area ahead of the armature. I would like to know what this thing looks like. For now I guess a nylon strap will hold it up. are there any active pics/links?

i had to laugh when i saw the post heading. My shifter dropped last night when I was coasting to a stop. So I thought I'd find the problem or the part right there. Vanished. I see mounting holes for something in the tunnel area ahead of the armature. I would like to know what this thing looks like. For now I guess a nylon strap will hold it up. are there any active pics/links?