Well, just got word from the garage. Apparently the clutch pressure plate collapsed, and that was inhibiting the ability to change between gears. I'm kind of stunned that the last pressure plate only lasted 24K miles (and was replaced with standard clutch parts), but what do you do, it's outside warranty.
I guess the good news is that the tranny was fine, so they say.
Paul
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OK, I seem to have some issues getting into 1st gear on a 1996 > > manual
> 4WD sport. Also you have to delay some to move to other gears. > > Pedal
> seems 'springy', or close to normal - hard to say.