I was recently driving down the road and couldn't shift into any other gear but 5th. Like I cant move my shifter at all except down into neutral and up into 5th gear. No reverse and cannot move side to side. Only up into 5th. What are the first things I should check? Any help is very much appreciated beforehand

 

You can check the basics such as fluid levels in the clutch reservoir. But it sounds like a clutch failure to me. How many miles on the clutch?

You could check also to see if the fork has become misaligned (you will need someone to be looking at the shifter fork under the hood while someone else pushes it down to see if it's moving at all.

 

Thanks for the response. I Just put clutch in. All new hydraulics (master and slave cylinders) in system and new fluid in transmission (Honda Mtf) Only thing I can do with the shifter is push it in 5th gear and pull it out. Can't move side to side at all.

 

Sounds like misaligned clutch. I think you are going to have to take it apart again.

 

I've drove it over 3000 miles with all the new parts installed. No problems what so ever. Shifted like butter until this happened.

 

Check the shift cables. They frequently break internally and cause issues. Check shifter mechanism on top of the transmission too. You should be able to move it by hand and select gears with the car off. If you can't then something is wrong with the transmission internally. If you can, and can't get any engagement from the shifter, it's likely the cables.

 

Okay so I finally got a chance to actually check the car out. I messed around and got my shifter moving like normal again. I now have 1st, 2nd, 5th and reverse. 3rd wont let me go in at all and 4th if I pull it in and hold it hard it will stay engaged for like a second then pop out and grind until I let off. At this point I know its inside the transmission. I will not claim to be any sort of a transmission guy. You give me and engine or anything else I can do anything no problem at all. Zero experience with transmissions though. Except pulling them out and putting them in, clutch, etc. Just simple stuff. Nothing internal so any insight on whats going on would be appreciated. I would like to understand what is going on.

 

Internal linkage that moves the planetary gears is misaligned. Something must have loosened in the tranny or the linkage is off/stretched. You will actually find the transmission not that terrible to take apart. it's much more logical than an automatic, straightforward in how each gear will connect as you slide the shifter.

 

What would be my best option then? Buy used or rebuild it myself?

 

I think you can rebuild this yourself. I would think once you have it out and on the ground, you can reconnect the shifter and move it to see how far off it is. It sounds like you don't even need to do a full rebuild, just find what linkage is not right or what has come apart and gotten in the way.