1999 cougar stuck in gear

[nelson12]

My 1999 cougar is in 3rd gear. The shift lever and linkage is working. I have looked at the top of the trans. and all is connected, but the movement causes no action in the transmission. Can ayone tell me where to go from here? Thanks for the 1st answer re bad cable. but i pulled air box and can see both cables functioning fine. My question is: is there a pin in the rail mechanism that may be the problem that can be accessed by removing the top of the transmission in the car. I do not have a schematic for it yet. I have never cracked this particular type of tranny and don't know what the rail set up looks like. Thanks.

[jakegday]

a trasnmission shop

it kinda sounds like 1, just 1 of the shift cables is bad, not disconnected, but fucked up to the point of not going back and forth anymore, MAYBE!
im not sure if you'd be able to see it with them still connected to the tranny or not, you definetley wouldnt if its the end conneted to the shifter, if thats not it, then it sounds internal, if thats the case then i will wish you the best of luck...

[nelson12]

Thanks so much for responding. I pulled the air box and can see both cables working fine. I updated my post to get to the real meat of my question. Can the problem be in the shift rail mech and be accessed from the top of the tranny without removing the tranny. The next question is can the 5 speed be removed without removing the engine if the suspention is removed. thanks