[Walt Fricke]

Have you driven around with the rubber boot on the shift lever pulled up, so you can observe the position of the lock out cam? It is easy enough to set the shift linkage length such that you get into 5th just fine, but don't go quite far enough so the pawl pops into its locking position. Or you can get the pawl to engage if you push harder forward into 5th, but not if you push just enough to get into 5th. Easy to test with the car at rest.