98 Manual Has Trouble with 5th and Reverse

[Fair Warning]

I picked up a sweet 98 Camry with a manual tranny. 140,000 miles. Generally good shape. The car has always been hit or miss when trying to shift into 5th or into reverse. The car can function perfectly for days, and then all of a sudden you cant shift into reverse.

Upon inspection under the hood at the cables and linkage next to the tranny, I can see that for 5th and reverse, the transmission lever pops in toward the trasmission for those two gears (when functioning properly). When the car gets into this funk, the cables and linkage there next to the trans does not properly pop the tranny lever like normal. I am wondering if there are any missing parts in and around this linkage. Does anyone have anywhere where I can see what it is supposed to look like?

There is a little knub (for lack of a better word) that I see in the linkage, whos job it is to pop the transmission lever in and out. It appears to be too short to positively pop the transmission lever in and out.

Thanks in advance!

Louis Papai
Torrance CA

[Hajoca]

look at the bushing/guides in the shifter compartment under the shifter boot, see if anything in there is jamming the linkages too.