I have a 1994 Saturn SC-1, 110,000 miles, manual transmission. I use the car for short trips, on local country roads and small towns, with lots of stops. Two days ago, I started having problems getting the car into gear- any gear- and chaging gears while driving. This is only a problem when the engine is turned on- if I turn the car off, I can change gears very easily. I’ve had this problem before- last spring (2007)- but it just suddenly went away on its own. In conjunction with this problem, the weather just turned a bit colder where I live after an extended summer- coincidence?
The transmission in the car is not the original- I had it replaced probably about 5 or 6 years ago. Do I need to invest in another transmission, or is there something else going on?
It might be a matter as simple as a new clutch cable.
You could try replacing the gear oil, and If you do only use the factory specified oil.
I think your Saturn may have the same trans axle thats in my Stratus. There was a huge difference in shift quality after the oil was replaced at about 100K, and that was 50K ago, still on original clutch.
The clutch hydraulics are probably failing. Either the clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder is probably giving up and when either fails, both should be replaced IMHO. When one goes the other is usually not far behind.