172 Stuck in 5th

[HemiHusky]

Hey all so i have a bit of a brain twister that im not entirely sure whats happened.

did some work to the clio as its off the road for rust repair including fitting a new exhaust, thought a good idea would be to put the car in 5th so i know how close the selector linkage can be to the new PMS o2 sensor positions.

did the work, the car now refuses to leave 5th gear i went to pull the stick out it kinda got half way but wont return to neutral, and even more bizzare, if you turn the car on with the stick pulled back, it wont drive, push it forward slightly it drives the wheels but with zero grinding going in and out of these phases, without touching the clutch.

i thought it was my short shift knob despite having driven around for weeks with this fitted so i dis-connected that but even at the gearbox end it is still seemingly stuck i cant get the selector going into the gearbox to do anything at all, forward aft or up or down.

i can hear something happening behind the hat for 5th, is this something someones encountered before? or has my JC5 just grenaded itself without even being driven.

 

[Cads]

Sounds like one for @NorthloopCup

 

[NorthloopCup]

Hmm bit of a strange one that! At this point, the best thing to do is drain the gear oil, lower the gearbox off its mount and remove the end cover for 5th gear.

Take a picture and upload it in here so I can see what’s going on

 

[Gus]

Have you checked the clutch cable that goes to the gearbox - get a friend to move the clutch manually by pulling the cable by the gearbox.

 

[Gus]

Also get under the car and see if the gear linkage rod has come loose - is the bolt still tight? Also whilst under there can you move the gear selector manually with your hand