general transmission question, 2nd, 4th and reverse do not engage!!

[afyouthbrigade]

i would like to let you know that im asking this question about my friends car, its a '91 prelude Si-- i know this is a camry forum, but you guys are great with helping me out and this is more of a general question anyways.

so, the problem is is that 1st, 3rd and 5th (the top gears) engage fine. the bottom gears or 2nd, 4th and reverse do NOT engage. when my friend and i took off the shift boot and casing, i noticed that when the bottom gears are shifted, one of the cables gets PUSHED away from you, and on the top gears its pulled back. maybe somethings not catching all of the way and so it wont engage? anyways i thought that was a significant enough to note. but, what do you think the problem could be? shouldnt be the gears themselves inside the tranny could it? hopefully its nothing too expensive.

sorry that the question is for a honda but my friend really needs help. its either he drives an 85 accord lx-i or a 91 prelude si. the prelude is cool

thanks a bunch!
jon

[zoni]

probably a bad bushing, or it could go as far as being a bad cable... check the linkage on the tranny and see if you can get a look at that... check the bushings on both ends of the cable and make sure they are all good.