The hoses to the transmission broke and leaked fluid all over the raod. After I fixed the hoses and refilled it with fluid, it wouldn’t go into reverse. It was acting like it was in neutral when it was in reverse. Then it acted like it was in drive when it was in neutral. It seemed like it was one place away from where it should have been. I removed the linkage from the part labeled in the manuals as “manual shift lever shaft” on top of the transmission under the battery tray. It seemed to look fine to me. This is a part that goes into the transmission. Now, that “manual shift lever shaft” won’t turn in any direction when moving the shift lever. So, the shifter can’t even move at all now. Does anyone know what would cause this?

 

Did you ever figure out what the problem is?

I was given a '95 Neon that has been sitting for a few years. After I removed the battery box to replace the starter I noticed the shift cable clip had broken off the bracket (I'm assuming it's not in Park which is why it won't start). I tried to manually shift it using a pair of vice grips and I cannot for the life of me get it to shift.