Missing 3rd Gear. Sometimes... Options

[yeahmag]

Had my first autocross in 3 years this weekend and everything went better than expected. Towards the end of the day (dual entered the car), 3rd gear started acting up on me. It was acting like it was physically locked out... It wouldn't go in without a fight even in the pits.

I simply ran the last two runs in 2nd and figured I was out of luck. Packed up and low and behold, 3rd was back. A bit notchy compared to the other gears, but didn't grind and really didn't make much of a fuss.

Anything I should consider other than a linkage issue?

Here is my current setup:

Rennshift
Bronze side shift console bushing
Swepco 201
...everything else normal.

I have one of Chris' fancy firewall bushings to go in, so I'll be taking everything out (linkage wise) to inspect. I half wonder if that bronze bushing worked it's way out...

[Dave_Darling]

A problem with only one gear is more likely to be inside the box than a problem with all gears.

I had 2nd gear become unselectable for a while (it came back after a while) when some very weird damage happened to some of the hub parts in the box. I have pics posted around here somewhere.

By all means try all of the adjustments and such that you can; they are a ton cheaper and easier then disassembling the gear box. Just keep in mind that you might wind up having to dig in there...

--DD