It's a 2.2L 96 manual-transmission Cavalier, and it's actually in a shop tonight and I'll be called about the verdict tomorrow, I'm just asking for impressions here to comfort me (yikes).

It's got 140000 miles, drives very well, but a week ago I noticed that starting it for the first time in the morning, it didn't want to go into reverse. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. could all be shifted into while the car was parked and the clutch was in, but trying reverse would just give me a grinding noise.

Once I'd driven the car for a bit and warmed it up, it would shift into reverse fine. Also, if I then stopped the car and came back 20 mins later, it would reverse fine then as well. But if it cooled back off, reverse would grind again.

Yesterday I found that it didn't want to change into any gears anymore - but it wouldn't grind. With the car parked and the clutch in, You could try pushing the stick to the 1st position but it just wouldn't go - there was no grinding, but something was holding it back. Reverse still grinded. After letting it warm up for a while 1st, 2nd etc. all worked fine again.

People have told me that the transmission fluid may just need changing, the clutch pump is bad, and a couple other things. I'm hoping for a best-case outcome, but the more I think about it the more I feel like the transmission is committing suicide. Anyone have any other impressions?

One other technical question - why was it grinding? I thought that if the clutch was in (there's no power from the engine to transmission) and the car was still (no power from differential to transmission), there would be nothing moving in the transmission at all. so what was grinding?

Im thinking cables are going bad? Try putting the car in first, then reverse, i hear it helps align the synro's better (works for me atleast) fluid change doesnt sound like a bad idea if its been a while, id recommend GM Synromesh, great stuff about $20 or so from the dealer.

I bought the car at an auction, the last owners seemed to do a good job on most fluids, but the power-steering fluid hadn't been changed over the life of the car from the looks of it (it was very dark instead of the desired light pink, or some such). Seems the transmission fluid would have been neglected too.

Here's hoping.