manual transmission stuck in 1 st gear , any idea ?

[David T]

Thanks guys for your help , the cable was out of aligment....

Now I would go over ALL of the gearshift adjustments and make sure all of the linkage is well lubricated. That adjustment doesn't change by itself. Somebody (a DPO maybe) was messing with it. Who knows what else they did. Check the fluid level too. If you don't know what is in there (what kind of oil that is) change it.
David Teitelbaum

[Josh]

Now I would go over ALL of the gearshift adjustments and make sure all of the linkage is well lubricated. That adjustment doesn't change by itself. Somebody (a DPO maybe) was messing with it. Who knows what else they did. Check the fluid level too. If you don't know what is in there (what kind of oil that is) change it.
David Teitelbaum

since lubrication was mentioned, how does one lubricate the crossgate cable?

[krustydmc]

i changed the oil last year, and clean and lub. everything in the shifter...like i said , new clutch kit , new slave and new master , new stainless hose... it's why i was affraid of the transmission

[David T]

since lubrication was mentioned, how does one lubricate the crossgate cable?

Normally it shouldn't need any but you can try spraying in some silicone lubricant and working the cable in and out as you spray. The parts that really need lubrication are the relay lever (#13) and the crossgate lever (#29). Actually it is the pivot bolts that get lubricated. If they feel sticky and are not moving smoothly it should all be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled. I never had much success trying to lubricate things where there was old, sticky grease. On one car the crossgate lever wouldn't budge at all! The car had been sitting for years on dirt. That lever was stuck. Had to beat the pivot bolt out and clean and lube it up to get it working. A couple of other things about the gearshift linkage. There are eight rubber bushings (#7 100776). They wear out and then the shifting gets sloppy. New ones tighten it right up. Pivot bolt (#17 110183) is prone to breakage. Once it breaks you are stuck. IMHO every owner of a 5-speed should have a spare in the car so if it does break at least you have what is necessary to fix it. Even if you can't do it yourself, at least you can have a mechanic get you going quickly. It is easy to replace once you can get under the car. The tighter and smoother you can get all of the linkage to work the nicer the car will shift.
David Teitelbaum

[Josh]

Normally it shouldn't need any but you can try spraying in some silicone lubricant and working the cable in and out as you spray. The parts that really need lubrication are the relay lever (#13) and the crossgate lever (#29). Actually it is the pivot bolts that get lubricated. If they feel sticky and are not moving smoothly it should all be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled. I never had much success trying to lubricate things where there was old, sticky grease. On one car the crossgate lever wouldn't budge at all! The car had been sitting for years on dirt. That lever was stuck. Had to beat the pivot bolt out and clean and lube it up to get it working. A couple of other things about the gearshift linkage. There are eight rubber bushings (#7 100776). They wear out and then the shifting gets sloppy. New ones tighten it right up. Pivot bolt (#17 110183) is prone to breakage. Once it breaks you are stuck. IMHO every owner of a 5-speed should have a spare in the car so if it does break at least you have what is necessary to fix it. Even if you can't do it yourself, at least you can have a mechanic get you going quickly. It is easy to replace once you can get under the car. The tighter and smoother you can get all of the linkage to work the nicer the car will shift.
David Teitelbaum

Thanks for the insight. I did in fact clean and lubricate both of these points when re-assembling my frame. My shifter is much better now (before you couldn't even find a gear!) But it does need some extra work. It also doesn't help that I do not know what a proper functioning shifter feels like. The delorean has about the heaviest clutch in the world, I guess it makes sense to compliment it with some stiff shift linkage, haha. I will buy a pivot bolt with my next order, thanks!