Gearshift free play

Having problems with a lot of free play in their shifter in the fore/aft direction ?

If you've checked and the plastic at the gearbox end of the (OEM) cross-shaft cable isn't broken, or if you have AB cables, pull the shift lever and check the connection at that end.

I had this problem with AB cables installed; I could move the shifter in the fore/aft direction at least an inch (measured at the top of the knob) without any effect. It made shifting sloppy, specially shifting down from 3rd to 2nd, as I had to move the lever back to get out of 3rd, then forward to be able to move it left before moving back into 2nd. (This is a problem I had before I got the AB cables, but then it was due to the deteriorated bushing in the cable end where it goes over the pin on the gearbox lever).

This time, after inspecting everything at the gearbox end, I removed the console and pulled the shifter out as far as I could (I had taken the cables off at the gearbox end, but not loosened them at the bracket). I thought I might be faced with needing to replace the shifter. What I found was the nut securing the cross-shaft cable to the shift lever had worked loose. When I tightened it down and put everything back together, the freeplay was gone (really just reduced to less than 1/4 inch). What a huge difference in shifting!

--Lifted from Tweetdriver63's post