Gear Shift Problem

[Guest reattalove]

I've had my 1988 black Reatta (136,000 mi.)for over 7 years now, with minimal repairs (knock on wood). I'm now experiencing a strange problem -- when I try to put my car in park, my gear shift lever sometimes gets stuck. It will only let me shift into neutral. In order to get the lever up into park, I have to keep going up and down about 6-10 times (between drive and neutral) until it finally glides up to park. Has anyone else had this problem/does anyone know how to fix this problem/how much does it cost to fix/etc.? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Guest]

I had a problem very similar to this in my '88 Reatta last year with coincidentally 136,000 miles also. I, however, could not shift into park. The problem was that a small retainer clip fell out of the shifter knob. The cost of the part was $1.00 with tax at the dealer. They installed it for free with a special tool. I'm not 100% sure that this is your problem, but it sounds familiar.