Wont stay in 5th gear

I was driving down the road the other day and out of the blue my car popped out of 5th gear. Now it wont stay in 5th gear. I can hold the shifter in 5th and it will drive. It runs fine when I hold the shifter, but from time to time it still wants to pop out even while holding it. Is that a tranny problem or some linkage?

Could be several things... Could be bad syncros, linkage or possibly tranny damage... I would at least do some tests with the car off and see if you can pinpoint where the problem lies... When this happened to my car it was the result of the intermediate shaft breaking in the tranny... Hopefully it's nothing that bad though. Also it could possibly be a broken motor mount on the tranny side causing the tranny to sag and not be able to go clear into 5th gear... Just some of my thoughts... Good luck though.

Agreed with Brian. Could be any of the above. But since it was fine the whole time, popped out and now not staying in it definieltey sounds like something broke.

When my syncros started going out, if driving on the highway it would pop out of fifth about once every 30+ mile trip. Wasn't that bad but still was a problem. When I got the trans rebuilt, never had that problem again.

When I read that first thing I thought was synchros as well

On the 1g, theres a nut that backs off inside the tranny and that causes the same conditions your experiencing. Idk if your tranny has the similar setup but you can check into it anyway.

Also check the shift linkage, it could be the lobes around the shifter arms could be worn or stretched. Idk anything about the 420a so if they have a different setup then just ignore me.

IM just going to get it rebuilt and be done with it. I have been hearing prices around $600.00 so I can handle that..hehe love tax time.

That's cheap for a rebuild but why rebuild it if it doesn't need to be? You may throw money at it and find out that it was a cotter pin on the shift linkage. At least do some trouble shooting before going all in. my .02

That's cheap for a rebuild but why rebuild it if it doesn't need to be? You may throw money at it and find out that it was a cotter pin on the shift linkage. At least do some trouble shooting before going all in. my .02

Shifter linkage on the 420a is very similar if not the same to the 4g. You would feel a pull on the shifter itself if the linkage was causing it. Would also be able to hear it pop out with either a slight grind or hear something through the shifter. Would also have problems with 1st and 3rd as well then. There's nothing there to stretch out like that neither. It would either go in gear or not, not pop out.

As far as I know, there's no 'nut' like that on the 420a/neon trans.

That is really cheap for a rebuild. But then again, when I got mine done I got ripped off heavily (FML). But still really cheap. Most places just to pull the trans around here are $250-$300. Make sure it's a good place. Also make sure they have a warranty

Yup it was the syncros. Thanx guys.

That's cheap for a rebuild but why rebuild it if it doesn't need to be? You may throw money at it and find out that it was a cotter pin on the shift linkage. At least do some trouble shooting before going all in. my .02


My cousins girlfriends dad did it for me. Why it's so cheap. Why it's good to be in the south, we all know each other...