OK, my shifter is acting weird. I can shift it into 1st, but move it all over the place while being in first gear. It does this with all the gears. It feels like there is nothing guiding it. I’m a n00b as far as manual trannys go so some help would be good.
EDIT: Maybe Shift Stabilizer bushing?
either the bushings themselves, or it is possible that one end of the shift stabilizer bar is disconnected. the shift linkage has 2 rods, one that actually activates the transmission, and one that attaches to the trans on one end and under the car on the other. that second bar is the shift stabilizer bar.
I doubt that any of the bars have come off, you would hear them dragging or clanking
against the exaust., and the shifter would be useless. (He said he could shift it was just
really loose)
One bar does the actual shifting into and out of gears, and the other keeps the shifter
and the tranny an equal distance apart from each other. (Stabilizes it)
Go buy the shifter bushings, you can get them from Energy Suspension. I did this and
added a nice “E-bay special” short shifter, and its now shifting nice and crisp and not
“stirring the soup” in every gear. This was the first thing I replaced, as I did not like the
feel of the sloppy shifter.
A friend of mine had a 91 LS with a seriously screwed shifter. I never had a chance to look under it and see exactly what they problem was, but it moved way farther than just bad mushings would allow. maybe with the front bushing completely gone and just the metal ring held there by washers…
both of the G2’s i have and had were 5speeds. and both had kinda weird shifters in them, its like when it is in gear you can grab the shifter and wiggle/shake it side to side, and it acts like it is in neutral but its not. i just figured its the way it is supposed to be since they were both like that and i mean they shifted fine and all. or is it just my cars that are weird like this?
No, its not just you. 
There is a bushing on the tranny(18), for the stability bar(15), and there is
one that sits behind the shifter under the floorboard(19). See the pic below,
and the #'s that coorespond to the parts I listed.
A shift bushing kit from Energy Suspension has 18 and 19 in it. (atleast
the one I bought off of E-bay did)
That fixed most if the sloppyness of exactly what you described.
if you have that much play, something is broken/disconnected. My 91 with 180k miles did not have nearly that kind of play with the stock shifter bushings.
http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81552
That thread might help and/or shed some more light. I had similar problems awhile back, but mine was more then just the bushings being bad. But rather then repeat myself, just take a look at the above link. Obviously make sure to read my posts in it.
HTH, and I hope your prob isn’t as bad as mine was!
– Kevin
ive had a very similar problem for years ive known for a while its the bushings… but something happened last night and im not sure how to diagnose and fix it… comin to a slow stop there was a pop noise from that point on the shifter could hit the exhaust heat shield when moved side to side and now all acceleration and deceleration and shifting is accompanied by obnoxious jolts and jerks and you can literally watch the gear shifter jerk forward/backward anytime the gas is applied or let off on… ive heard 2 stories so far… broken motor mount (but i was stoppin from a 5 mph roll outside of my neighborhood) and the shift stabilizer rod… since nothings hanging down how do i know which it is? ive looked at my mounts they all seem to be intact if any of them are possibly damaged it would be the dreaded rear mount.