I have an 86 944 NA. 88k on it, maintained. I was getting on the freeway and shifted into 2nd, the car lugged down a tad more than normal, I tried to **** to third and no go. I was able to get it into fourth, though the shifter was vibrating a bit, I went into 5th and tried to get back to 4th and it would not go in. So I got off of the freeway and stopped the car, went into 1st, second was slow and third impossible. So I let the car coast and parked it.

What am I looking at here?

Thanks for the help

 

First two things to look at:

1. Shift linkage has come loose somewhere. Lift the shift boot and inspect there 2 joints there. Then work back to where the rod connects to the top of the tranny. Check for problems there.

2. Check the health of the clutch disc (if rubber center equipped still). <with car in neutral> Under the forward portion of the transaxle there is a trapezoidal shaped rubber inspection cover. Pry that out and reach in to find the drive shaft. Grab and try to rotate. If this turns more than just a bit (more than ~5 degrees) then your rubber-center has failed, or is failing. Two things happen when this fails... the rubber chunks can get lodged in the friction surfaces, and, the clutch is now operating against the metal cogs... in what is referred to as "limp home mode".

It is very unlikely that the problem is within the transmission case... there are instances where a blown syncro or slider can lock out one gear, maybe two... but your problem sound more like engagement/disengagement.

If it is the clutch, I would recommend you go with the updated spring center type.

Good Luck! Let us know if these 2 ideas don't help, and we'll try to move on from there.