Nissan Almera (1995 - 2000) - 96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear

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Wed 23 Jan 2008 21:31
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - LinuxGeek
I've got a 96 plate Nissan Almera 1.4. Stopped the car at a friend's house without turning it off and then put the car in the first gear to drive off and then the gear won't change. Now the gear knob is in a position far below than where you'll have the second gear engaged but the car is definitely in the first gear. I can't change the gear even when the car is switched off. I've even tried forcing it out of the gear its engaged in but without any luck. The clutch seems to be OK because I turn the car on with the clutch down and when I release the car the car starts moving. Its really dark now so can't see much but I could see few drops of fresh oil under the car when parked in the driveway. Please advise what could be wrong?
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Wed 23 Jan 2008 21:37
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - mfarrow
How far away is your friends house? Do you need to drive it home or is it OK there? Sounds like the selector mechanism has been goosed, either internal or external.

Which side (near or off) is the oil coming out of? Is it black engine oil or clean? If the former I'd say it's OK to drive home at low speed if the roads allow.
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Thu 24 Jan 2008 08:45
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - LinuxGeek
I managed to drive back home last night, it was couple of miles and I mainly drove through the local/less busy roads. In the dark I couldn't see much of the oil but by looks of it its cleaner oil and my gut feeling is, its the gearbox oil but I could be wrong. I'm at work now but my brother would have a look at it later today.
Could it be something expensive to sort out?
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Thu 24 Jan 2008 12:30
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - RichardW
Worst case it needs a new gear box. Suspect you could get one 2nd hand, probably looking in the region of £300 for the box + £300 to fit it.
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Thu 24 Jan 2008 15:19
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - LinuxGeek
Thanks Richard, my bro had a look and he's told me 3/4 screws are missing for the mountings. Sounds like the person who sold the car to the trader, had the gearbox changed but someone didn't do the job properly!
Oh well another visit to the scrapyard on my day off then I guess. But I'm just hoping it won't be anything expensive at the end!
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Mon 7 Sep 2009 11:18
96 1.4, Stuck in 1st gear - Devpanesar
I have the same problem, did you change an gear box or did it turned out to something different
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